DH laid off advice on benefits pls

[gosssipgirl]

DH has been given 2 weeks notice today

He has been working as a labourer for a builder since Jan 08.

Does anyone know if we would be entitled to any benefits?

I work for 18 hours a week but I can reduce my hours to 15 if it helps to be under 16hrs/week.

We have £4k savings.

We have 1 DS in nursery and were getting tax credits to help us pay for his place but these will now stop so we will have to give notice

I doubt we can claim HB becuase my mum lives with us and she has a good pension.

C Tax benefit?

Jobseekers Allowance for DH? Work might pick up, so I'm not sure if he's been sacked/made redundant or what?!

Grateful for any advice.

Hi ya.

Sorry only just seen your message.

As you arent certain of your partners contributions meeting the criteria I would recommend you claim JSA income based.

If he does meet the contribution criteria then they will automatically pay this if you make a claim to Income based. If he doesnt satisfy the contribution criteria it will be completely assessed on income based..

Are your earnings more than 112 per week? If so it is likely claim will fail...but still apply.

You should ring the contact centre on first day of unemployment on call 0800 055 6688 8am - 6pm Monday to Friday. Dont do the online one.

The housing benefits situation is a little complex- speak to your local council for advice x

Yes they will tell you every thing you need to bring.

Dig out Child benefit reference number- from the top of a letter not what is on your bank statement.

Are you paid weekly - last 5 payslips prior to claim. Monthly last two ( ie Jan and Feb. You will need submit March when received)

Your savings are under £5500 ? Therefore nothing required.

Cant think of anything else.

Hope that helps...anymore questions fire away

I earn £108/week so just under £112!

Are we still likely to fail? So that means we won't get anything

Yes savings under £5500.

It means you will get more working tax credits, gossip.

And HB/LBA and council tax benefit if you are renting.

oh ok, I will interested to see what the tax credits say as our 2009/10 income will be unaffected but from April our income will be literally £108/week.

I think HB/CTB are out bcoz of my mum living with us and also, I am not sure if our new landlord (we are moving on 7th) accepts HB as the advert said "working only" (which we were at the time!)

The thing Im not sure about is your mother.

Whether she will classed as a non dependent. But as she is on the tenancy agreement I dont think she cant be. Will have a look at the guidance later when DS asleep.

Your WTC is ending isnt it?? So apart from the 4 week run on it wont be taken into account You will receive probably receive no JSA for this period but you shouldnt have to reclaim as long as when they are processing claim The Tax Credit Office verify you have notified work end date.

The whole housing benefit thing with your mother is confusing even me. Have a work with your council,

Yes the WTC will end from this Friday.

When I use the calc on the council site and put in my mother as a joint tennant on the maximum earnings it does still say we get get a little HB and CTB but I don't know if that's right.

I have prined off the forms so I guess there is no harm sending them in and seeing what comes?

Just worried they will contact our LL and we will get evicted!!!! Will have a look through our new contract when our copy arrives.

No hurry as not moving until 7th and paid the 1st month already.

'Just worried they will contact our LL and we will get evicted!!!! Will have a look through our new contract when our copy arrives.'

See, it's tricky because sometimes, if a tenant gets HB/LHA, the landlord's insurance can be invalid.

If you can avoid it, I'd forgo applying for HB/LHA seeing as it's so close to your moving..

The forms are always looooonnnggg and I've never known any councils that process them quickly

expatinscotland I think you're right - I don't think it's worth rocking the boat as fingers crossed, it's only a temporary situation and we wouldn't be entitled to very much anyway.

What about C. T. Benefit though? Would claiming that affect the LL at all? And if not, is it possible to claim without claming for HB?

Thanks so much to everyone who as posted by the way.

It's usually the same form for both but you can select if you're going for both HB/LHA and CTB.

You could certainly try going for it!

and it won't affect LL?

onadietcokebreak has it right, but just to add my tuppence-worth:
Only PAYE NI contributions qualify you for JSA Cont's based. If you're self-employed or a sub-contractor (you mentioned he was labouring) then you will not qualify for contribution based benefit ever - no matter how long you've paid them for. Noone tells self-employed people that - which is terrible I think. JSA IB £ may be cancelled out by your part-time earnings, but in these circumstances you should always apply. The waiting time for a new claim is 3 days, but if you reclaim within 12 weeks there are no waiting days.
CTB & HB will need to be looked at simply from a low-income point of view, but I think you should at the very least be entitiled to a reduction in CTB.

pixiemamma he was employed full-time by a builder, not SE so paid PAYE credits but only from October 2007 which I think is why he would not have the stamps for Cont. Based JSA.

Even if you all only get a little bit of JSA IB you should still apply as whilst he's signing on they will pay his NI contributions so there aren't any further gaps.
Regarding RITYs (relevant income tax years) & sorry if repeating what's already been said, the tax years used are "the two full tax years prior to the calendar year the claim is made"
which would make them April 07 to April 08 and April 08 to April 09. He only missed half a tax year of contributions and you don't need a full year of NI to qualify. I think that (am scouring insides of head) that the most recent RITY (08/09) is more important to claim than 07/08. This is all calculated by an interface between the DWP (jobcentre) computer and the Inland Revenue. However they aren't always right so that's why it's important to hang onto your P60s as this shows how much you've earned in those years.
Anyway, the long and short of it is that he needs to claim for JSA conts & IB. If he qualifies for conts they'll pay that, if not then the assessment for income based has been done at the same time.
I dunno if this helps but I hope so xx

Pisiemamma has it spot on too.

Im not entirely sure what conts are needed in a qualifying RITY either. I have had it explained dozens of times over the past decade and never "Got it" . Prob cos I never rated JSA claims. Besides the computer does it now!

Please dont worry too much about Landlady. The council have to seek permission to contact them and if you provide tenancy agreement and proof of rental payments they should accept as proof that you are paying.

Sorry, I missed this, but no, getting Council Tax Benefit shouldn't affect your LL at all.

Housing benefit might, but council tax benefit should have no bearing on his insurance.

Thank you everyone.

Just a thought, I seem to remember there is a way you can top up NI contributions for a particular tax year - is this true?

If DH could top up 07/08 then we might qualify for Cont. Based JSA?

Or am I clutching at straws?

onadietcokebreak or pixiemamma can either of you help with the above?

Hi ya.

Think it MAY be possible.

You need to speak to the processing section on JSA asap. Its complex and you need to be sure its worthwhile before you do.

The lady at the job centre said it's not possible, that it only affects pension entitlement.

Not sure how good she was though because she said we would still be entitled to the childcare element of tax credits which even I know stops if one of us isn't working!

I wouldnt believe the lady at the jobcentre.
I would ring JSA processing and ask for someone from the claims section to call you back.

You are right about the childcare element and should consider making a compliant as she has clearly been giving out incorrect advice.