Advice about claiming JSA or not

UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUMS THE UK PROFESSIONAL DRIVERS FORUM (INTERACTIVE)
1

As work with agency has virtually dried up (no jobs now for 10 days), wondered if anyone can give me advice about how Jobcentre treat agency workers that have no work.
As much as I hate to have to consider it, I need to put some food on the table.
Question is, Do you claim as though you have lost your job or am I supposed to just sit and wait for odd days work now and again from the agency? Are you classed as unemployed if you don’t work ‘regularly’?
Might be a good time to retrain for something else which we are led to believe is how the Government are going to help the unemployed. :confused:

Any advice from those who have been in the same boat would be appreciated. Thanks

2

why not go sign up with more agency’s i regulary find myself turning work down .

where abouts in yorky land are you

3

I just claim as being unemployed but tell them I am registered with agencies.
BUT I don’t do ANY work at all. I think[/u that you are allowed to work up to 16 hours a week but guess that these earnings ill be deducted from your benefits.
]Best advice is to ring them up or call in and get accurate info rather than getting lots of conflicting advice.

4

Tell them the truth - you are an agency worker with no work
all they will ask you to do is to tell them any days you work and how much you got paid - they work the rest out
BEWARE !!
anything more than 16 hours worked in any one week will mean they sign you off so you have to sign on again but it’s a quick process
As above if you earn more than 16 X £5.80 (min wage) = £92.80 in any one week

EXAMPLES of earning too little -
JSA = £60
Earn £50
You get the £50 you earned plus £15 JSA = £65

JSA = £60
Earn £65
You get the £60 you earned plus £5 JSA = £65

5

It’s not only the JSA that you are applying for. You can also get help with your rent,council tax reief and also prescriptions and eye tests etc. You will also have your stamps paid up which will save you problems in later years.
Don’t look at it as the last resort - you are entitled to help from the government. Just remember the stoppages that come off your wages every week!! It’s not your fault that the work isn’t there!!
As for retraining I think I saw somewhere that you have to be claiming for 26 weeks before you can apply.
Hopefully in that time things will have started to pick up a bit !

6

I will be doing this myself tomorrow…can’t live on 2 days a week agency…

Problem is that because i invested my money in our house…i get absolutely zero help with the mortgage, whereas had i been renting they would pay the lot.

This will be the last time i ever own property…once it has been repossessed (inevitable the way things are) there is no longer any incentive for people to work hard and buy houses…because when you hit hard times, the government turn their backs on you and expect to you sell the family home, disrupt the kids education, before they will even consider letting you see some return on the tens of thousands of pounds, if not hundreds of thousands, you paid in tax and NI for the last 25 yrs.

7

DonutUK:
Problem is that because i invested my money in our house…i get absolutely zero help with the mortgage, whereas had i been renting they would pay the lot.

A few years ago you used to get extra to cover or partly cover the interest on the mortgage, has that now stopped ?

8

Be very careful doing odd days on agency work if on means tested benefits - check with the adviser as to your best course of action as often it can be that doing a couple of days agency will cause you to lose more in benefits than you earn !!!

9

tachograph:
A few years ago you used to get extra to cover or partly cover the interest on the mortgage, has that now stopped ?

No, but I think there is a few weeks of lieu time

DonutUK:
before they will even consider letting you see some return on the tens of thousands of pounds, if not hundreds of thousands, you paid in tax and NI for the last 25 yrs.

Many think like this BUT that is not the way that the system works unfortunately
The system works by paying out the income of those paying NI & taxes now to those in need now

When the age of the population rises in a few years the Govt will have no option but to increase the taxes etc of those working to pay for the pensions and benefits at that time

Govt income should meet Govt expenditure at any given time - I did say should !!!

What anyone has paid into the system has absolutely no bearing on what they are entitled to

10

tachograph:

DonutUK:
Problem is that because i invested my money in our house…i get absolutely zero help with the mortgage, whereas had i been renting they would pay the lot.

A few years ago you used to get extra to cover or partly cover the interest on the mortgage, has that now stopped ?

No tachograph it hasn’t stopped - if you register, and subsequently sign on as unemployed, after a certain period of time you get the interest on your mortgage paid in full. It’s certainly helpful.

To answer Keano’s original question about agency work. Agency work is not viewed by the Jobcentre as “Full Time Permanent work” in any profession. As mentioned earlier - if you do no more than 16 hours a week you’re entitled to Job Seekers Allowance. If you do more than 16 hours a week - depending on how many hours you do - you’re entitled to “Income Support”. Of course when you’re claiming any benefits, a lot depends on your personal circumstances i.e. - your actual mortgage payments, rent, day to day expenses/outgoings, number of dependents, whether you live with wife/partner etc (and do they work or not etc).

There are other benefits that can be claimed whilst on JSA - you can claim up to £200 or £300 on articles you think you might need in your quest to get back into work - as a truck driver for example, you could use that money to get stuff that’s essential to the job - safety boots, trousers, polo shirts and HI-VIZ vests/jackets etc.
This money can alternatively be used towards a course of some description.
In Scotland (don’t know about south of the border) you are entitled to free legal aid for as long as you’re receiving Job seekers allowance. This is of vital importance to people who are facing the very real threat of repossession of their property and many other financial problems - including the pitfalls that go with dealing with banks, building societies and other lenders.

Job seekers allowance and many other benefits and services, are paid for by us through our National Insurance Contributions when we are working. So when we’re not working (and we’re genuinely trying to get back into work), and when you consider how much we have individually paid per month in National Insurance when we are working - we’re entitled to claim us much back as we can, when we can.

To take up Rog’s point above.
If I personally was to register as unemployed tomorrow - after working constantly (with the exception of 6 months due to redundancy) from the day I left school 31 and a half years ago - I know for a fact that I would receive £64 a week.
My personal circumstances: I’m 48, divorced/single, three adult children who don’t live with me anymore, a big second mortgage which I took out to pay off my childrens’ student loans/debts and other stuff, and I’ve got all my own bills and day to day living expenses.
Job Seekers allowance at £64 a week wouldn’t even begin to cover me.

Everyone’s circumstances are different - but because you’ve paid into the system as a working man or woman a lot longer than another person doesn’t entitle you to more than them.