Tell me about benefits post redundancy

[ClaireBunting]

I am soon to accept a voluntary severance package. Not unhappy about it, and it is a generous settlement.

I am wondering what benefits we will be entitled to. DH earns just short of 30k, and we have 3 school age children, as well as two students.

Will I get JSA? ( have worked and paid NI fo 25 years)
What about tax credits? I think DH's salary is low enough, but is my redundancy payment taken into account?

Thanks for any help. I have tried the directgov website, but they don't give info unless you start a claim and navigate through each page of their website.

If it's voluntary redundancy you may be sanctioned, meaning that the JC+ won't pay you for a number of weeks up to 26 weeks. That means that you may not get any JSA at all because contribution based JSA is only paid for 26 weeks (you won't be entitled to income based JSAbecause your partner works full time).
Yes you can claim Tax Credits if your income is low enough. Savings are not taken into account.
hTH

Thanks :)

The voluntary redundancy is just putting off the inevitable. They are reducing 50% of positions at my level. They do not expect to get enough volunteers so there will also be compulsory redundancies.

I do have outplacement support so will ask, although they are more focussed on helping to produce a CV. I suspect that it will take around 6 months to find a new job, which I believe is the time supported by JSA.

For the tax credits, you need to put in a claim based on last year's income, then include a letter asking them to amend it to an estimate of this year's income. Don't think they ask about savings, and any payments you make into a pension are deducted from your total income. Depends how much you earn and where in the tax year you get made redundant if you will actually get anything, but always worth a go.

Thanks :)

I will put my redundancy payment towards the mortgage and perhaps advance payments on school fees.

I expect to be unemployed for 3 - 6 months.

One of the things to do on garden leave is to find out what we are entitled to.

I would be very wary of taking VA as it invalidates any income protection insurance or mortgage protection. It also affects benefits you are entitled to. I would get professional advise asap. I am in a similar situation and holding out till i get compulsory because it out weighs the benefits on voluntary.

Good luck x

Only thing I can say is good luck with the benefit system. I was made redundant whilst 8 months pregnant with my second child having never previously claimed anything in my life. Now a couple of years down the line am no longer eligible for JSA due to my partner's income and have had all tax credits cut. Good idea to get as much independant advice you can now as I received a lot of conflicting info once I had started claiming which made a complicated process even more of a nightmare.

Jsa is only about £70 a week or something

As you have been paying NI contributions, you will be able to claim contributions based JSA straight away for six months. Even if you take voluntary redundancy, they regard it as your job disappearing. After six months JSA payments are means tested so if you have more than a certain amount (£16k?) you are not entitled to claim.

I think you are wrong about sanctions due to voluntary redundancy olimpia. What does confuse a lot of people is the distinction between notice payments and redundancy. If you receive pay in lieu of notice as part of your final redundancy payment, you are regarded as being paid and will not be able to start claiming JSA until your actual employment termination date.

I disagree with you farside. I wasn't thinking about remuneration and pay in lieu. The DWP is likely to take the view that you left your job voluntarily if you take voluntary redundancy, just like giving up a job for other reasons. They usually sanction in these situations.

Olimpia - I actually checked this out when I applied for voluntary redundancy because I assumed like you that voluntarily leaving a job meant no benefits. Apparently, because redundancy involves the deletion of a post, whether the person leaves on a voluntary or compulsory basis is deemed irrelevant. I suppose the thinking is that somebody is going to have to leave and volunteers should not be penalised.

I found this on a welfare rights website:

"The Jobseeker?s Allowance Regulations 1996

Voluntary Redundancy
71.?(1) A claimant is to be treated as not having left his employment voluntarily?

(a)where he has been dismissed by his employer by reason of redundancy after volunteering or agreeing to be so dismissed, or

(b)where he has left his employment on a date agreed with his employer without being dismissed, in pursuance of an agreement relating to voluntary redundancy.

(2) In paragraph (1) ?redundancy? means one of the facts set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) of section 81(2) of the Employment Protection (Consolidation) Act 1978(1).

Refusal of employment can only come about once the claimant is in receipt of JSA

Jobseekers Act 1995

19 Circumstances in which a jobseeker?s allowance is not payable.

(6)The circumstances referred to in subsections (1) and (3) are that the claimant?
(a)has lost his employment as an employed earner through misconduct;
(b)has voluntarily left such employment without just cause;
(c)has, without good cause, after a situation in any employment has been notified to him by an employment officer as vacant or about to become vacant, refused or failed to apply for it or to accept it when offered to him; or
(d)has, without good cause, neglected to avail himself of a reasonable opportunity of employment."

Hands up! You learn something new every day...thanks farside

Just came across this post and thought I'd add my tuppence worth!

A couple of years back, our dept had to reduce staff numbers by 25%. I volunteered for redundancy and was accepted. As soon as I left I was able to claim contribution based JSA for 6 months at which time I found a new job.

Re tax credits, I found this bizarre as I fully expected to be asked to repay the £2k or so that I'd received over the previous year (as including my redundancy payment I had earned thousands & thousands more than I had said I was going to earn that year). As soon as I was made redundant (March), I phoned tax credits to advise of my redundancy payout. They informed me that they don't count first £30k and explained something about a £25k overpayment rule and the long & short of it was, I didn't need to pay anything back. I was so gob smacked when I was told this, I made the advisor check with a more experienced member of staff.

So, having just received over £45k, I continued to receive tax credits (although I think that was only because we were into a new tax year) and I was receiving JSA.......whoop whoop, no wonder I wasn't in a hurry to find a new job!

I believe this £25k overpayment thing has been reduced since then.

PS - as a disclaimer, I would like to add that I worked, paid tax & NI for 28 years before being made redundant and other than tax credits, this was the first time I'd ever received type of benefit.