Contribution Bases Job Seekers Allowance

A question about : Contribution Bases Job Seekers Allowance

My husband was made redundant on 4th September and has never been unemployed before he is 59. We undertand he should to sign on in order to get his NI contributions made.

From the reading I have done this afternoon on various sites it seems that Contribution based JSA of Ј71 can be reduced or not paid if you are in receipt of a pension (he received Ј454 net every month from the Navy approx Ј6537 gross). We are assuming that he would not be entiled to anything, please can anyone advise.

The alternative is for him to sign on to receive credits for NI and not sign the jobseeker agreement etc - in this case we understand there are no interviews etc, but he is not sure how to do this option.

Any advice and information would be very much appreciated.

Many thanks

Best answers:

• Hi
  I do not know if this will help but I was made redundant a number of years ago. I at first signed on to JSA and did all they asked of me but after {I believe it was about 6 months} my money was stopped, I was told to get my NI stamp I would still need to sign on but apart from the stamp paid I would get nothing else. After some checking up I found out that as I had worked for over 30 years my NI payments would cover my Gov pension {and also recieved a letter from the tax office staying the same}. As the job centre was no help in helping me get a job I choose to sign off and had no problems regarding with not paying for anymore NI stamps.
• Thank you London50, I think I might need to find out if he has paid enough NI conts because if so can`t see the reason why he might have to sign on especially if he`s not going to get any money (still not 100% sure on this that is why I asked the question, but I am doubtful). Please does anyone know who I would contact to find out about this?
  He does not have his P45, redundancy pay or even last pay packet yet (employers are being a real pain but thats another story, and we are also trying to sort that out).
  I appreciate your reply will look into it further.
• Hi
  Although it was a good number of years back for me {and the brain is not what it was} if I remember correctly I was made redundant on the Friday, on the Monday week after I went to the local JC but was told that as I had redundancy to come I would have to wait to sign on {I never understood just why}. I think my P45 was posted to me and I had it about 3/4 weeks after I had finished with the company {I was lucky as not only did I have savings but my partner was also working full time so finance was not a problem while I waited}
  I would suggest the first port of call would be the local JC and see what they say, if it was like mine I was either given or sent a wad of paperwork to fill in and return to them and from then my JSA then kicked in for the period I stated.
  I started work at the age of 16 and was 55 when the redundancy happened {but also at the age of 37 I walked out of my first job and did not work or claim for a year} and as I said was told both by the JC and the tax office that my NI covers my full OAP.
• One way to find if you have enough NI conts for your State Pension is to get a Pension Forecast. Go to https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Pensions...st/DG_10014008
  But I reckon your husband should have 30 years of conts already if he started work before 29 and didn't spend any time since then not working (e.g. studying).
  And its not too late to get another job. I was made redundant (for the third time) when I was 59 and found another job, albeit lower paid, which took me through to gone 65 and I picked up another small occupational pension in the process.
• One thing to remember is that although you only need 30 qualifying years for state pension, for bereavement payments you need 44 qualifying years for a man and 39 qualifying years for a woman.
  You may want to take this into consideration when you are deciding whether to sign on for the NI credits or not.
  A good overview here https://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTax...ngup/DG_190077
  plus contact details to find out what the current 'state of affairs' is.
• The first Ј50 of his pension will be ignored, so he should still get some JSA. Ј454 per month is about Ј104 per week so he would get about Ј17 a week. (Ј71JSA -(Ј104-Ј50)). Depending on your income you may be entitled to other benefits e.g. council tax benefit, income related JSA, housing benefit (if renting).
  https://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...g_for_work.htm
• Thank you all for taking the time to reply.
  I have checked today and he is ok on Nat Ins contributions for his pension. (needed 30 years and has more than this)
  pmlindyloo, didn`t know about bereavement payments - so if he doesn`t have 44 years or I don`t have 39 then is it right that we wouldn`t get anything?
  sleepless saver, so thats how your work it out, thanks. The Ј104 is the net amount, is it net they use? if they use the gross figure then he would get nothing. Unfortunately don`t think we would be entitled to anything as have quite a reasonable amount of savings and no mortgage.
  Please does anyone know if you just want to sign on for Nat Ins credites do you need an interview etc at the job centre or can you just do this online or over the phone? Don`t really want them knowing all our business.
  Many thanks
• Once you reach your state pension age you wouldn't be entitled to any bereavement benefits in any case.
  It's the pension after tax that would be used in the calculation for JSA.
• Thank you.
• It is worth mentioning that sometimes there are reductions or offers for "unwaged". College classes and some concerts/productions spring to mind. But you still have to jump through the JSA hoops and for the slight benefit it is not worth it.
• Thanks terryw.
  He had decided that is not going to apply for JSA just for approx Ј17. Please can anyone tell me the procedure just for getting NI contrubutions paid - is it exactly the same? online and then still have to have interviews at the job centre? or is there an easier way?
  Many thanks
• Dunroamin, because he has been in full time employment and was only made redundant on 4 Sept he has been paying tax on the pension. Suppose this is something else we need to look into, thanks wouldn`t have thought about that.
  CAB Birmingham representative - thank you for replying.