Redundancy from govt when company has gone bust

Whiterose23

Hi,
I have just been made redundant after 12 years, along with everyone else at the company.

The company has gone into administration and we are all now applying for benefits/jobseekers etc. We also have to apply for our redundancy and notice pay etc from the government agency.

I have a couple of questions around this, if anyone is able to answer or has the experience:

Is it best to wait out the notice period before securing another job? There is no way I will be able to get anywhere near to what I was paid before, and although I know it’s important to find something else asap, I wouldn’t want to lose my notice pay at the higher rate if it can be helped.

Will my notice period be six weeks or 12 weeks? It says notice pay is paid after six weeks on the gov website, but my notice, had the company not failed, would have been 12 weeks?

Thanks in anticipation. I’ve never been made redundant before so finding it all so daunting :-(.

p00hsticks

I'm sorry for the position you find yourself in - it must be awful. 
According to this gov.uk page, I think you should be entitled to 12 weeks notice. capped at £719 a week
Your rights if your employer is insolvent: What you can get - GOV.UK