JSA / savings

nxss

Thanks for reading

I have claimed £441.73 Job Seekers Allowance over a period of 9.5 weeks when I left my previous job. I failed to declare my savings of £10,800. This money is locked away in a bond that I cannot access until it matures. Most of the money is what was left over from a £9750 student loan which I did not use while at university. I have been for an interview to discuss this and I am worried that I am going to be prosecuted and get a criminal record.

Does anyone have any information to help me?

dmg24

Hi nxss,

Welcome to MSE.

Were you claiming income based or contributions based JSA?

nxss

i think it was contribution based but not 100% sure. my only basis for saying contribution based was that my claim was stopped for a peroid because "i had not been credited with enough class 1 NI contributions"

been through my paper work and i cant find anything more to tell me if i was claiming income based or contributions based JSA?

dmg24

When was your JSA stopped? From what you have said it would sound more like you were receiving income based JSA?

Have you been working for the past few years? x

(Sorry, that wasn't meant to read as all questions - just thinking aloud!)

nxss

i was at university from 2002 to 2007 and i worked part time from 2003 untill i left uni. i got a job in a school after graduating and I left this job because the kids were not well behaved and recievced JSA for 9.5 weeks. then i was told because i resigned from my last job i could not recieve the benefits i was given and was given a sanction for 10 weeks. my JSA were due to start again, then they said i failed to declare my savings.

dmg24

How many hours were you working/ how much were you earning when you worked part time? Do you recall if you were paying NI?

nxss

i had two contrats for zero hours and i would just work when they needed me. i earned about £4-4500 during my last year and about £2000 the other years while at uni. i paid some NI but not much.

dmg24

TBH I doubt you would have qualified for contributions based JSA, but I could be wrong, the only people that can tell you for sure are the DWP.

Did you tell the DWP about your savings, or have they found out about them?

TBH all you can do now is co operate fully with their investigation. You would be best to admit your mistake, and offer to pay back any overpayment.

nxss

well i have worked out using a post i found online stating that for every £250 over the £6000 saving threshold (under 6000 does not affect JSA claim apparently) your weekly benefit goes down by £1. which gives me an over payment in the region of £175. using http://www.entitledto.co.uk i came up with a simlar figure of over payment of £171. I will pay the money back, i just dont want a criminall record.

thanks for help

Oldernotwiser

I hate to be pessimistic but there's been a recent thread (haven't got time to find it) about somebody who was in your position who was prosecuted and, of course, has a criminal record even though she paid it all back. Why on earth didn't you declare your savings? I hope for your sake that they don't take this further because you've co operated with the enquiry.

dmg24

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I hate to be pessimistic but there's been a recent thread (haven't got time to find it) about somebody who was in your position who was prosecuted and, of course, has a criminal record even though she paid it all back. Why on earth didn't you declare your savings? I hope for your sake that they don't take this further because you've co operated with the enquiry.

I think there was more to the other thread than the OP was letting on. It is very rarely that they prosecute, and usually only happens in cases where there have been large overpayments, and/ or the claimant does not cooperate with the investigation. It is still an option though, I agree x