Universal Credit/JSA

[xdcx]

Hi,

I am wondering if anyone here may be able to shed some light on how the hell this nonsense works!
I've no knowledge what so ever as I have worked ever since turning 16 and never been unemployed.

I was made redundant at the end of May and I got a payout in my May pay packet. Nothing major, I had only been there 13 months.

The first day of being "unemployed" I applied for Universal Credit. I thought it would be job seekers but it appears I MUST got via UC route.

Since then I have not been entitled to a penny from them due to "surplus earnings" from my redundancy payment at the end of May.

However, people who were made redundant alongside me and live in different postcode areas simply went to the job centre and got on "old style JSA"..... Which is apparently not means tested so they are receiving £72 per week literally days after being made redundant. Some of these folks got a lot more than £100k in payout and were claiming JSA within days. I do not believe it fair they can be claiming it to be honest but fair play to them making use of the system that's in place. They're not breaking any rules.

What I don't believe fair is that I cannot get JSA at all as I have to go via UC. Apparently this looks back on what you have had paid whilst in employment previously. Whereas JSA does not.

Am I missing out on money that others are getting purely due to my postcode/where I live being 100% UC and not old style JSA?

Or am I barking up the wrong tree entirely with this?

 

[AhhBisto]

What I've been told is everyone will be going onto UC soon, some have been delayed because of other benefits they may have been receiving like SDP.

But some areas aren't fully UC the roll out in our area was November 2018. So not too long ago.

To be fair I think someones either messing with you or they're fraudulently claiming JSA because savings over £16,000 (I would like to think someone with £100k payout has that in savings) must be counted.

They could claim contribution based which only lasts 6 months, But again with that payout?

 

[Rroff]

To be fair I think someones either messing with you or they're fraudulently claiming JSA because savings over £16,000 (I would like to think someone with £100k payout has that in savings) must be counted.

They could claim contribution based which only lasts 6 months, But again with that payout?

Would be my bet - so many people think nothing of diddling the system like that.

 

[jsmoke]

What's wrong with uc, I don't know?

 

[robfosters]

What's wrong with uc, I don't know?

I think it works out less money for most people due to the way its paid monthly rather than every 4 weeks and it takes too long from application to first payment for really skint people.

 

[AhhBisto]

I think it works out less money for most people due to the way its paid monthly rather than every 4 weeks and it takes too long from application to first payment for really skint people.

Yep the main problem is you end up with a months worth of debt you have to pay off with less money.

Then there's the fact if your employers pay isn't the same as UC some months you get almost nothing because they count 2 pay checks and some months you get more.

 

[robfosters]

Would be my bet - so many people think nothing of diddling the system like that.

Probably just hiding the true amount of their redundancy payment.

 

[xdcx]

Hmmm that is interesting.
The people in question I know are getting JSA. They claim the job centre person told them they wrr entitled despite the payout. The 30k savings thing is new to me but these people absolutely had way more than 30k paid into their accounts and were signed on JSA the very next day and are getting it.

If I lived somewhere that UC was not rolled out to I would have had near £800 out of them by now but as I'm on UC I have had nothing at all.

 

[Uther]

Yep the main problem is you end up with a months worth of debt you have to pay off with less money.

Then there's the fact if your employers pay isn't the same as UC some months you get almost nothing because they count 2 pay checks and some months you get more.

This is true, I have to deal with a relatives UC claim as they can only work part time, and they are paid two weekly which plays havoc with their UC for some reason. One month they might get £400 UC, another month £40, because of the way their earnings are reported. The whole system is a nightmare, and IMO designed to be as awkward as possible to stop people claiming it.
If I was you OP I would try and get another job, any job, ASAP, and forget about getting involved with UC, as it is a soul destroying ballache of a system.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

I went 2 months before they would pay a penny. If you got ANY single payment for wages you won't be allowed it unless you declare as no income + no redundancy. This is how it works now. They also won't pay for a mortgage or give you any upfront payment.

Hmmm that is interesting.
The people in question I know are getting JSA. They claim the job centre person told them they wrr entitled despite the payout. The 30k savings thing is new to me but these people absolutely had way more than 30k paid into their accounts and were signed on JSA the very next day and are getting it.

If I lived somewhere that UC was not rolled out to I would have had near £800 out of them by now but as I'm on UC I have had nothing at all.

If UC knew about they had 30K in savings they certainly won't be allowed to sign on! They fraudulently claiming guaranteed.

 

[Threepwood]

Are they getting contribution based JSA? Would have thought that they are considering they were working and probably paid enough NI too.

I'm not clued up on UC but reading up suggests that you can still get that in UC areas, it works along side it, and is now called "new style Jobseeker’s Allowance"

Maybe go in and ask them about that, they are notorious for not telling what you should be claiming, even if they know, you have to tell them! lol!

 

[skeet]

You need to claim New Style JSA, which is a contributions based claim (awarded on your NI contributions) UC is for income related only claims (means tested). I sounds like you were misdirected when you made your claim. Try to make a New Style JSA claim and ask for backdating to your original claim date, due to being misdirected. You may be able to make it on the .Gov website.

 

[explicit4u]

I can't remember the number but you can ring them up and get an advanced payment in a few days instead of waiting. It's a loan though so you'll have to pay it back over the next 12 months out of your UC. You also have to show that you'll have a hard time making ends meet while the claim is being processed which i'm guessing might not apply if the payout is significant enough.

 

[dowie]

Sounds about right tbh...you don’t need benefits if you’ve had a fat redundancy payout. Your colleagues have either mislead their advisor or the person at the job centre has messed up.

 

[Threepwood]

Sounds about right tbh...you don’t need benefits if you’ve had a fat redundancy payout. Your colleagues have either mislead their advisor or the person at the job centre has messed up.

What a load of tosh.

They are are totally deserving of claiming contribution based benfits, its part of the reason they have all been paying NI.

Contribution based benefits are non means tested, for obvious reasons, they paid for it in the first place!

 

[Uther]

What a load of tosh.

They are are totally deserving of claiming contribution based benfits, its part of the reason they have all been paying NI.

Contribution based benefits are non means tested, for obvious reasons, they paid for it in the first place!

Good luck with getting it if you've just had a 30k+ redundancy payout!

 

[Threepwood]

Good luck with getting it if you've just had a 30k+ redundancy payout!

"Non means tested" means that stuff like savings are ignored.

You get it for 6 months because you have paid for the right to claim it through your NI payments whilst working.

 

[dowie]

Fair enough, didn’t realise that. Sounds like you might wanna check with your local citizens advice OP and/or go back to the job centre and ask for them to double check or speak to a supervisor re: contributions based.

 

[Deleted member 77746]

https://www.gov.uk/jobseekers-allow...step-nav=e7b3ea75-05d5-4341-b27a-be3b767b1e3f

 

[Vexr]

I've swum the murky waters before with UC, mostly when starting out self-employed and went to claim working tax credit during a period of low income. Those tax credits turned into UC, and UC hates the self-employed to the point where advisors say you oughta pack it in completely unless you're doing well enough not to ever claim.

Personally I did just that and went back to temporary contracts on PAYE. You can expect your benefits to be decimated if you get your pay during the 'payment periods' taken into account with UC. I did a short contract that ended just after Christmas, but because of the holidays then payroll were late. Because of that it fell into UC's zone of consideration and I therefore lost the vast majority of my December pay coming off February UC's, because I got December's pay late in January. That was a hard couple of months.

Since then I've binned off short term contracting and my old career specialism of 5 years entirely, and UC is partially the reason for that. You'd think the whole system was designed by an idiot, but it was actually designed for a specific purpose - to skim off as much from the benefits bill as possible while showing claimants have the same entitlement or better than on JSA/housing benefit, but in reality that's only true in the most simple of circumstances (long-term unemployed who never earns a penny or those who work in a steady part time job on PAYE and are paid monthly - anyone else is entering a minefield if they have to claim UC).