jobseekers / uniersal credit

[lostinthecracks]

Honest question here

How can my young adult sign up for jobseekers - I can't see that they qualify as although they have previously worked, its been seasonal short term contracts and therefore no NI has been contributed?

They have savings over £16000 which disqualify universal credit application.

I'd just like them to seek help and guidance in seeking employment as they are finding it tough under their own steam but it seems in this case they fall through a gap?

Flailing around here....

At the very least he's losing NI credits isn't he?

They can't, as far as I know, claim any financial support until they've burned through their savings but you should have a local careers service they can access. We have a few, all aimed at different needs but run by the same overall company and linked with the jobcenter. DD goes to one called Restart, which aims to help people back into work after long-term sickness and can help with qualifications and CV writing. Ours is dire, DD says they just sit her in a corner on her own to apply for jobs using their PCs (we have several laptops and PCs she does not need to attend a center to use one) and/or shout at her and berate her if she is too ill to attend but yours might be better.

Thanks @Frequency for your input- feel so lost in all of this and desperately need to get him on a good trajectory.

Forgot to add, your local jobcenter will be your best bet for finding out which services you have locally. They should have a number listed on Google. You can call them without being a claimant.

Thanks again @Frequency.

I'll get him onto that this week.

To be clear, it's not the claiming benefits bit I'm concerned about perse, just needs guidance and direction in applying for and gaining employment- but I'm concerned there's a huge NI credits/state pension VOID if ever there will be one by the time comes around - I'm sure there are plenty of young folk in a similar situation. Something to keep an eye on and play catch up on in the future - private pension I guess?

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-style-jobseekers-allowance#eligibility

You can use this link to check eligibility and apply. Savings are fine.

There is something you can do to get the NI credits, but it did seem to require hoop jumping.

https://www.gov.uk/national-insurance-credits/eligibility

(DS graduated last summer and had a job lined up to start in January, he looked into it when he couldn't find temporary work, but ended up not bothering for the few months it would have covered by then).

You can pay top-ups to your NI online via your HMRC account to cover any missing years/months. It'll also show you how many you have missing and if you need to top up. I have a few missing months due to a misspent youth, but overall, I am fully paid up. If he earns more than the NMW in later life, that'll even things out.

You cannot phone your local jobcentre. There is a phone for reporting staff absence but that number is not available to the public. You can walk in to make enquiries but are probably better off calling the CAB.

I've phoned ours before. Maybe it depends on your area?

Maybe, although, how long ago was that? I was under the impression you can only call the centralised helpline but then maybe that is just in the one I work in!

You can contact the national careers service. Also each area should have some kind of youth service. We have Skills Launchpad in our area. Kings Trust are also a good resource for advice and courses. Look at gov.uk for 'find a job'and 'find an apprenticeship' if that is appropriate.