First time claiming benefits bit confused!

starlight68

Hi

Been lurking on these boards for a long time but this is my first ever post!

OH left his job a few weeks ago and has put a claim in for Contribution based Jobseekers, had a letter saying what he would get, then a letter saying as he resigned they are looking into whether he can claim. I had read they can do this, if they hold back payment, does this mean we receive nothing at all for up to 26 weeks or will we eventually receive back payments?

We didn't try to claim for the other income based jobseekers as we would have to make a joint claim saying we are both looking for work and at the moment (unless things get very tight) I am still a stay at home mom and not actively seeking work. We do have 4 children though and at present can not claim anything extra for them!! :eek:

We have contacted the child tax credit people and told them OH is out of work and our income as the moment is zero and this week they have made us two payments direct into our bank, totally over £300 which sounds like an awful large amount of benefit!

We are ok financially for a couple of months due to a small amount of savings, but is there anything else I could claim for? Hoping he'll be back in work asap, had about 5 interviews so far so fingers crossed.

Have got the council tax forms to fill in, if we are eligible to claim this do they enforce it immediately or does it take time? That would help a lot not having to pay that next month!

Thanks for any advice

stazi

JSA is not payable for up to 26 weeks if-
*You lose your job through misconduct,
*You voluntarily leave your job without [EMAIL="'@just"]'[/EMAIL]just cause',
plus a number of other reasons.

ukdickie31

We didn't try to claim for the other income based jobseekers as we would have to make a joint claim saying we are both looking for work and at the moment (unless things get very tight) I am still a stay at home mom and not actively seeking work. We do have 4 children though and at present can not claim anything extra for them!! :eek:

You won't be a Joint claim where you both have to sign because you will be caring for the children. Your OH can claim for you and receive the couple rate but the Income Based JSA does ask questions about the whole family circumstances. The couple rate of JSA is just over £90 per week.

We have contacted the child tax credit people and told them OH is out of work and our income as the moment is zero and this week they have made us two payments direct into our bank, totally over £300 which sounds like an awful large amount of benefit!

Tax Credits will pay for the Children. I don't know the exact amounts but I think it's normally £45 ish per child per week.


Try this link to get more accurate information

http://www.entitledto.com/

Eager_Elephant

Apply for Council Tax Benefit as soon as possible, the longer you leave it the less you get. Ideally your claim needs to be in no more than 4 weeks after the JSA award letter is received.
Council Tax Benefit should be assessed within 14 days as long as you have provided all the information they ask for.
If you have more than £16,000 in savings you will not be entitled to this.

The reason your husband is getting JSA contribution is because he has paid enough NI contributions while he was working. The single rate is £60.50 but the couple rate is £94.80 (I Think), he also needs to claim JSA (IB) so that you get the extra money for 2 adults.

Tax Credits sound about right, approx £51.75 per child and this would have been backdated to when JSA started.

EE

starlight68

Hi, thank you all for your replies

So, even though hes put a claim in for contribution based JBA we should still put a claim in for the income based one too?

Our savings are not over the allowed amount, maybe we should go into their offices again and see if anyone will explain fully what we can claim for.

stazi

A JSA claim is a JSA claim- be it (C) or (IB)- and the same sanction rules apply.

ukdickie31

The JSA claim form ask which benefit you wish to claim for. You can decide to tick the JSA (C) parts or the whole form to claim for JSA (IB).

If you just claim JSA (C), you basically just complete the green parts of the form (the first half plus the bank details and declarations signature).

If you claim JSA (IB), you complete the whole form, including partner details, childre, rent details, etc etc etc

starlight68

Oh right, yes we only filled in the sections relating to JBA contribution based, when we read through the sections for the income based it made it sound like we would both have to be actively looking for work to get the joint amount.



Suppose we'll get the letter through soon saying he can't claim anything for 26 weeks then.

ukdickie31

Until any decision is made, the claim for benefit will go through.

Your OH must keep signing on regardless of any sanction to protect his NI stamps.

He should also complete a JSA 3 to make a claim for you asap. The claim will only be changed from the date of contact to report the change so you must do this quickly.

If there is a sanction imposed, it will only affect his part of the benefit so if you have claimed as a couple, some benefit will be payable (on the assumptions already discussed in previous postings).

Obviously, if OH can find a job, there will be no benefit on which to impose a sanction so my other advice would be for OH to consider any work. At least this will pay a wage.

Good Luck

starlight68

Hi

Think I need to phone the tax credit people tomorrow, just checked my bank account and they've paid us another payment today of over £600 :eek: think their system must be going mad!!!!!