6 months in the JSA & qualifying for continuing payments..

[angel220]

Hi

 

It's been 6 months since I've been out of work and on Job Seekers Allowance.

When I went to sign in today, my Jobcentre just told me that I need to fill in another JSA3 form in order to continue my contribution based JSA. From what I understood, half of the JSA money is income based and the other half is contribution based. I was only told of this today and have only another 7 days for it to reach the 6 month mark. On top of that I was also told that the JSA3 application may take around 2-3 weeks to process (since they have to send it somewhere else).

 

So I filled in the form and handed it in today itself but am worried about how it can affect my future payments. Can I end up losing some of the money as a result of the delay? I really don't think it's fair because I wan't told about this any sooner.

 

Cheers,

 

Jake

[djwigster]

The first 6 months is contribution based, and after that it goes to income based which is "means tested". You may lose some (mine went from £64/week to £0.10/week)...but this will depend on how much money you have coming into the household to live on. If you are single or your partner doesnt earn much then it should stay the same.

 

You can get more info on the direct.gov web site.

 

As an aside, are you sure you are claiming everything that you are entitled to (ie working/child tax credit, housing benefit, council tax benefit, mortgage interest payment etc etc). Again, the direct.gov website is a good place to start.

 

Finally, when you do find work don't forget it is likely you will qualify for a "Job Grant" (£125 or £250 if you have children) and certain benefits will carry on for an extra month as you have been out of work for over 6 months.

 

Hope this helps, and good luck with the job search

[insyder]

Hi Jake,

 

If you completed the JSA3 before the contributions have exhausted then you will get it processed without losing any money. In fact, up to four weeks can be granted by the processing office without requiring a back-dated claim if the jobcentre staff annotate the claim with the TAM (treat as made) date.

 

As Dwigster rightly says it is a means-tested benefit and they take into consideration savings, income, partners work, etc.