To think paying tax on jobseekers allowance is just crap

[20thcenturygirlwithherhandsonthewheel]

I was made redundant a few months ago. I have worked just under 30 years and never claimed any benefits before. DH and I have always saved to make sure that we have money aside just in case of emergencies (especially as housing benefits don’t pay the mortgage), so we have over £16k in savings and can’t claim anything means tested.

fair enough.

the only benefit I could claim when unemployed was contribution based jobseekers allowance: a massive £93 a week that I could only claim for 6 months.

thankfully I was only unemployed for 8 weeks. But to my surprise I’ve just recieved a letter from HMRC telling me that the paltry £93 a week was taxable. So really; probably will end up about £70 a week.

really pissed off: being putting money in the kitty for 30 years but getting so little when we needed it

Go onto benefits then, problem solved.

I didn’t need to. I got a great redundancy package and walked into a new job. I hate life admin and I’m definitely not going to do any that isn’t strictly necessary.

Why are you talking about the past so much? They are now what they are. You absolutely did claim so they’re still there to claim with unemployment. But now you pay tax. That’s the way it is for everyone.

Hey op you’re not wrong the benefits system stinks. You are punished for working. Like you say your mortgage cannot be paid but Joe bloggs renting next door can because it’s not his mortgage it’s his landlord if this isn’t backwards I don’t know what is. The government need to review this policy I’m like you if unable to keep paying the mortgage lose the house but then rent and the government will pay it. Why not treat all houses the same even if the full monthly mortgage was paid for a year that would help people a great deal. It’s mad you have to lose your own home but you can live in someone else’s. I’m with you benefits need a big overhaul.

The housing element of UC often does not cover someone's full rent though.
If you are a couple living in a 3 bed house, you will only get the rent for a one bed place... and if you think someone's mortgage should be paid for a year, then this would have to apply too.
Anyway, the help homeowners get is a loan anyway. They have to pay it back. Why should the tax payer pay your mortgage for you?

I’m not just talking about uc a lot of people get the rent paid in full I’m saying if I lost my job I think I should be entitled to something to help me rather than losing the house then renting someone else’s house then the government pay there mortgage.

People do get help with mortgages, but there are conditions and you have to pay it back.
I think that is fair.
It is also naturally assumed that anyone with a mortgage is working, and being unemployed and job seeking is very temporary anyway.

exactly this they don’t have any other choice.

Some people do sadly lose their homes if they have to quit work entirely.

Why is people committing fraud relevant to you feeling entitled to claim when you don't need it? Other than the fact that you are just as bad as them? You've dug yourself a huge hole here.

I’m missing why you think I’ve dug myself a hole.

Ive contributed to the system for 30 years, so when I lost my job, I am absolutely entitled to claim benefits (legally and morally)

I remember speaking to the woman at the jobcentre about this, and it is only for a very limited amount of circumstances that you get help with a mortgage.

National Insurance contributions are paid if you claim contributions based job seekers allowance

I added this onto my CV, because some job applications & intervirws have required full disclosure of my working & non working life.

Example
Jobs
Redundancy (due to no fault on my part)
Job seekers allowance
Job

I also claimed Job seekers allowance, so that I appeared on the Government statistics for that year

Why would I not claim it ?

I paid into the system for decades too !

You criticised people for claiming benefits when they don't need them in a thread that you started about you claiming benefits when you don't need them. That's a fairly significant hole you've dug yourself.

Not really. Im criticizing people who claim benefits because they are too fucking lazy to work.

Well, exactly.

And what have you done about your family members and acquaintances who you think play the system? Have you reported them? If not, then you are complicit.

You’re being silly now.

Really? Lots of people I know are like yourself. They love to declare they know for a fact that a certain person is claiming a disability benefit fraudulently, but refuse to report them. Why is that? If it doesn't bother you, then don't mention it. If it does bother you, then report them.

If you have not used your personal tax allowance, when you start work, you will not be taxed.

Think personal tax allowance is worked out monthly.

I was unemployed for 3 months and when I restarted work - to my delight - I was not taxed on the first 2 months payslips, as I had built up the allowance.

It was an excellent bonus.

Untrue - the government introduced the mortgage charter scheme in Covid. You can switch to interest only on your mortgage for 6 months with no impact of your credit rating, does not show up on your credit file. Process is open to anyone to use once and takes five minutes. It does increase the payments slightly when you restart but there are online calculators for this.

Just FYI: PIP is payable even if you do work, it’s not an out of work benefit! It’s paid for the added costs of being disabled. It helps many disabled people work. You are entitled to it if you’re disabled.

Really? This is great to know if I end up unemployed again! The woman at the job centre said that the vast majority of their cases are UC, and they don’t have a lot of contributions based JSA claimants

I was vaguely aware of that. I didn’t want to claim it as I was working and earned a decent salary. So felt like a piss take

You really are pushing it with your logic here. There are plenty of things that niggle in life: we don’t have to take action on all of them. Reporting people for benefit fraud is usually done by people being a bit spiteful.