JSA says I have not paid enough class 1 NI contributions even though I have been working FT what does this mean?

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I am now unemployed as of end of Jan and have made a claim for Job Seekers Allowance. They have just sent me a letter rejecting my claim because:

"We cannot pay you because you have not paid, or been credited with, enough Class 1 National Insurance Contributions.

We have used the tax years ending 5th April 2011 and 5 April 2012 to assess your claim.

We may still credit you with Class 1 NI contributions if you continue to attend the Jobcentre"

I have been working full time during that period paying what looks like plenty of NI! In fact I have worked solidly all my life since leaving university!

During those 2 years I was paid every month of the 24 months apart from 3 months when I was on statutory maternity pay (after 6 month maternity leave on full pay) and 6 weeks of no pay at the end of maternity leave.

WTF? Surely this is a mistake?

I have my 2010-2011 & 2111-2012 P60s - bith have National Insurance Contributions in this employment on them but I don't really know what they mean. NIC table letter = A and then there are:

Earnings at the LEL, Earnings above the LEL, Earnings above the ET, Earnings above the UAP and Employees contributions due on earnings above the ET.

My payslips have NI'able pay, EE NIC and ER NIC on them.

How do I work out how much NI I paid over those 2 tax years and why on earth isn't it enough?!

It does sound like they've made a big mistake. Is there a contact number in the letter where you can dispute their decision? Have they mixed you up with someone else? (Wrong NI number for example) You seem to have more than adequate documentation.

Its likely to be the year in which you had maternity that will be short re NI contributions but they will confirm if you call them.

So if you've had a baby you can't claim JSA for 2 years? That can't be right can it? I was only not receiving full pay for 41/2 months and 3 of tho I was on SMP. How do I add up all the NI things on payslip and p60s to work out how much NI I paid? presumably NI is proportional to your salary. I was a high rate taxpayer so surely even with 4 months without full pay I've still paid more NI than someone on a lower salary and they can still claim JSA surely?

I've never received any benefit whatsoever apart from child benefit and have worked continuously part from brief periods of maternity leave since I was 17. I'm going to have to emigrate if this country can't see fit to pay someone like me JSA for a brief period now i need it while I'm looking for a new job - bloody cheek!

There was a number ill phone on Monday, thanks all.

Did you just claim for contributions based? Can you get income based? Tax credits?

I was turned down for incapacity benefit a few years ago by I'd been on maternity leave during the years they assessed it on. I didn't question it at the time though but it seems pretty stupid.

Brita inhavent got a clue to be honest. I just assumed I should apply for JSA as I have always worked fulltime and paid tax and NI and am seeking a job. What is the difference between contributions based and income based? Tax credits - dunno? Was never eligible before as earned over te threshold but am currently earning nothing so who knows, am I now eligible? Does it depend how much I've earned since last April?

Am trying not to go all raving Tory about this but it seems very wrong that I am not entitled to the one benefit I could have because I've always worked and paid tax. This must be a mistake surely.

Have a look at the benefits calculator at www.entitledto.co.uk

Contributions based is paid to anyone who has the contributions, even if they have a working partner etc.

Income based is paid to anyone who has a low income, regardless of contributions.

Contributions based is more, but if you are on contributions based past a certain point you get demoted to income based anyway.

Full details about qualifying for contribution based jobseekers here

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch21.pdf

See page 45 on for the contribution conditions

thanks all - interestingly, when i arrived at job centre to get the appeal form my advisor checked her system and said it all looks fine, I am down to get JSA?? She has no idea why I was sent that letter and said just ignore and keep quiet unless hear otherwise ....

hmmm .... confidence-inspiring.

Will look through that doc if any issues, thanks so much, they were unable to tell me what the qualifying conditions are or what constitutes class 1/2 contributions.

I dont officially know anything IYSWIM but from what I remember I think

but class 1 are paid automatically bt those on PAYE
class 2 are paid by the self employed (over a certain amount)

the contributions and eligability are based on how many weeks you have been working so if you pay 100 pounds 1 week and nothing for the rest of thr weeks of the year, you will get nothing if you pay 1 pound a week and someone else pays 100 pounds a week they will both get the same amount.

Contyributions are made when you are on some eligible benefits (this is what the thing was re child benefit and NI I think) so I would be vvv surprised if maternity didnt count

LEL sounds like lower earnings limit

et ?earnings threshold

(I can't understand tax credits now Im not working I seem to be eligible for loads ie a greater disposable income than I had when I worked full-time and I was not a min wage type job, and they seem to exclude property equity eh? and do they exclude savings?)

God knows. The thing that got me was I had to state that I have a partner working FT and hence have to apply for contributions-based JSA rather than income-based and am not eligible to apply for housing benefit and "other" non-specified benefits. But noone has checked whether he is a multi-billionaire (not unfortunatley) or wheter I have 10 million quid in my bank account.

I was PAYE standard FT employee of a large company who paid my NI and pension while I was on mat leave so I too cannot see that this can be anything other than a mistake??. I do wonder if it is possible to have earned too much whilst working to qualify?

Another interesting little fact is that share fishermen are exempt.

I'm strangely pleased by that, bloody hard job I would have thought, I always tell my dcs that they are not allpwed to leave fish but have to eat it all up to show some respect to fishermen !!

Share fishermen have whole set of different tax rules....

I guess they initially checked the wrong NI record. Do check that your NI number on the P60s is correct though to ensure the right records have been credited with your contributions.

As long as you've consistently earnt over the lower earnings limit (LEL) you should be eligible for contributions based JSA. be aware though that contributions based JSA can only be claimed for six months. After that it is income based so you may not be eligible.

Good luck with you job search.

Thanks pour, yes i am prepared for that, don't think I will get it after the first 6m, hopefully I will have a job by then. Have got lots of interviews etc lined up.

What are share fisherman as opposed to other fisherman? Is that because their work is seasonal I guess? FairPlay to the fisherman!

Sorry to resurect an old thread but my DH lost hisvjob a month ago and has putbin for JSA. He's been turned down for it!! He's worked full time his whole life apart from 2011 when he lost his job and claimed JSA for 4 weeks! The tax year used is 5 April 2011 - 5 April 2012. He claimed 4 weeks JSA in June 2011.

Did you get your JSA paid in the end? Surely this is a mistake.

Thanks