JSA C based - tax credits help

I have just completed my claim for contribution based JSA but have been declined because of lack of credits - the letter says that they have used the tax years ending 2003 and 2004 to judge the claim .

I phoned them up to find that my tax credits are ok for year ending 2004 but 2003 has not got enough - well i know that cos i was a student - however i know that my tax year ending april 2005 has enough as i have worked solid for 2 years. Does anyone know why they don't use the 2 most recent years for judging the claim - or if there is any way around getting the jsa claim valid!

They rub salt into the wounds when they tell you that things have just changed in that you used to only need to qualify in one of the years - which i do to now have changed it to both!

I won't qualify for income based jsa as my husband is working .

please help

Mrs T
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Comments

  • zeryx
    zeryx Posts: 64 Forumite
    Are you sure they are not saying you don't have enough National Insurance contributions? I was under the impression that was what gives you the entitlement for contribution based JSA and not your tax credits.
    Nice to save.
  • Mrs_T_5
    Mrs_T_5 Posts: 81 Forumite
    my mistake - sorry - thats what i meant that i haven't got enough contributions for the tax year ending 2003! but have more than enough for year ending 2004 and 2005

    i am just so mad at the system - the first time without a job for 2 year and they still won't help me out !

    what is the point in paying my NI in the first place!

    Mrs T
  • zeryx
    zeryx Posts: 64 Forumite
    How very frustrating for you! ARe they not willing to give you Income Support instead?
    Nice to save.
  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,110
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    Mrs_T wrote:
    my mistake - sorry - thats what i meant that i haven't got enough contributions for the tax year ending 2003! but have more than enough for year ending 2004 and 2005

    i am just so mad at the system - the first time without a job for 2 year and they still won't help me out !

    what is the point in paying my NI in the first place!

    Mrs T
    They use a certain 2 years. If you were still out of work when the next tax year begins April 6 2006 you would be able to claim JSA-contribution based then, assuming that they'd then be taking 2004 and 2005 into consideration.
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,936
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    Have you asked if you can pay voluntary contributions to make up the year you're a bit short? I don't know if you can or not for this purpose!
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  • Tharweb
    Tharweb Posts: 1,193
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    Mrs_T wrote:
    I phoned them up to find that my tax credits are ok for year ending 2004 but 2003 has not got enough - well i know that cos i was a student - however i know that my tax year ending april 2005 has enough as i have worked solid for 2 years. Does anyone know why they don't use the 2 most recent years for judging the claim - or if there is any way around getting the jsa claim valid!

    They rub salt into the wounds when they tell you that things have just changed in that you used to only need to qualify in one of the years - which i do to now have changed it to both!

    Sorry but there's no way around this. It has been like this for a number of years now though, not "just changed" as they have suggested to you.
    Spendless wrote:
    They use a certain 2 years. If you were still out of work when the next tax year begins April 6 2006 you would be able to claim JSA-contribution based then, assuming that they'd then be taking 2004 and 2005 into consideration.

    You could actually reclaim on this basis from January next year.
    Savvy_Sue wrote:
    Have you asked if you can pay voluntary contributions to make up the year you're a bit short? I don't know if you can or not for this purpose!

    Unfortunately voluntary conts don't count towards benefits like JSA/Incap but keep your NI record up to date for Retirement Pension purposes.

    I presume you are over 21 years of age?
    This site has saved me a fortune :money: ...it's also cost me a fortune! :doh:
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  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,110
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    Tharweb wrote:



    You could actually reclaim on this basis from January next year.


    Tharweb-could you explain more why you'd be able to claim from jan next year since we'd still be in current tax year. This question has come up at least once before and it'd be helpful to know when people can claim. TIA
  • Savvy_Sue
    Savvy_Sue Posts: 45,936
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    Tharweb wrote:
    Unfortunately voluntary conts don't count towards benefits like JSA/Incap but keep your NI record up to date for Retirement Pension purposes.
    Thank you! I have never been sure about this. My experience of paying voluntary conts was when I was self-employed but not earning enough to HAVE to pay NI, however if I paid voluntary conts for those years I could claim Maternity Allowance or whatever it was in those days.
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  • When I worked for the Employment Service, I was told that if you buy voluntary contributions it only goes towards your pension not towards any unemployment benefit. Self employed contributions do not count towards contribution based unemployment benefits either. As far as I understand it, the contribution based JSA works on the same premise as the old Unemployment Benefit in that in January each year the tax years looked at change to the last two complete tax years, so in January 2006 the tax years being looked at will be April 2004 and April 2005. I was never able to get a definite answer as to why the tax years looked at changed in January but suspect that historically it took that long to make sure that everyone's contributions were in their account and it has just never changed.
  • Spendless
    Spendless Posts: 24,110
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    When I worked for the Employment Service, I was told that if you buy voluntary contributions it only goes towards your pension not towards any unemployment benefit. Self employed contributions do not count towards contribution based unemployment benefits either. As far as I understand it, the contribution based JSA works on the same premise as the old Unemployment Benefit in that in January each year the tax years looked at change to the last two complete tax years, so in January 2006 the tax years being looked at will be April 2004 and April 2005. I was never able to get a definite answer as to why the tax years looked at changed in January but suspect that historically it took that long to make sure that everyone's contributions were in their account and it has just never changed.
    Thanks that's useful to know. I'm aware of at least one other member who had same problem, helpful to know that you'd only have to wait till Jan rather than April (as I thought) if you'd got enough contributions in the other tax years.
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