I apologise in advance that this does not directly link with truck driving, but thought I would ask for comments as some of you chaps are very clued up on rules & regs etc.
My Mrs was made redundant at the end of August, and has been looking for work ever since. She was all set up for JSA and has been signing on. They have now sent a letter out saying she is NOT entitled to JSA as she does not have two full tax years worth of NI contributions. This is because she moved to England from Portugal in 2010. Basically they are saying she is not entitled to so much as a bean. The problem is, we cannot afford to live on my salary alone. It just doesn’t cover our rent, bills etc. I see no evidence of any better paid driving jobs (or indeed driving jobs full stop) out there, so what can we do? We have already been living very frugally this past year, not helped by me having appendicitis in June which meant I was off work unpaid for six weeks. She has asked for an appeal pack from JSA but that could take weeks to sort out even if they agree, we will have lost our flat by then. I’d take on nights out and long distance work if the money was better but I don’t see anything advertised locally.
Sorry again but as you may imagine we are panicking somewhat!
Check to see if your wife might be entitled to benefits based on YOUR NI contributions. Also, if your joint income is below a certain level, can’t remember how much, you may be entitled to tax credits. Go to the CAB as soon as, they will help you claim all thet you are entitled to. If your wife is an EU national, she may have some claim based on any contributions paid in tax in her home country.
call CAB tomorrow morning OK?
Last time I looked Portugal is in the EU, was she working there? as any contributions made there should be transferable, best get to citizens advice as previously mentioned.
Is it important to keep her JSA because it is linked to other things you get? Flat rent paid by job centre?
If not is she able to find a part time job that pays more than the 80 quid( I think that’s how much it is) per week JSA pays.
Are you maxing your hours out at your full time job?? How long have you been there?? It does no harm in asking for a pay rise. Also if your not maxing your hours you could do a bit of agency in the weekends?
mucker85:
Is it important to keep her JSA because it is linked to other things you get? Flat rent paid by job centre?
If not is she able to find a part time job that pays more than the 80 quid( I think that’s how much it is) per week JSA pays.
Good luck and I hope your situation improves.
£75 a fortnight more like. That was all I got and that was claiming with a dependant in tow
Thanks for the pointers chaps, some very helpful info there. Yes she was working in PT and is an EU national. I am working about 45-48 hours a week. I told my boss about the situation but all I got was sympathy…beats a smack in the chops I suppose. My Mrs is going to get her info from PT and see if we can transfer it to here as has been suggested.
and by the way ,if successful , due to you being at work,she will only get cash for six months, then nothing …but still has to sign on to keep national insurance right…I found this out a while ago,and I had a full record,of contributions…
By an amazing stroke of luck she was offered a job starting Monday, so panic over really - but I understand we can now chase up for JSA for when she was looking for work. Thankyou everyone for the pointers.
BanburyDan:
By an amazing stroke of luck she was offered a job starting Monday, so panic over really - but I understand we can now chase up for JSA for when she was looking for work. Thankyou everyone for the pointers.
Excellent news. Well done Mrs Dan.
Apart from the fact you both needed her to work, she has morals and obviously didn’t want to rely on the state, so she got off her arse, and found a job.
BanburyDan:
By an amazing stroke of luck she was offered a job starting Monday, so panic over really - but I understand we can now chase up for JSA for when she was looking for work. Thankyou everyone for the pointers.
Excellent news. Well done Mrs Dan.
Apart from the fact you both needed her to work, she has morals and obviously didn’t want to rely on the state, so she got off her arse, and found a job.
Shame the other few million didn’t do the same.
Ken.
To be honest I have some sympathy for the unemployed - Mrs D really struggled to find anything. Although she had quite a few interviews, many times she was told no for reasons like the company had found someone internal etc. There was nothing wrong with her, but the adverts were really a legal formality than a genuine job offer. Looking at truck driving jobs myself, there is very little out there and I think this applies across many industries. In my experience, it is only a tiny minority who deliberately milk the system for all they can get.
In my day job, I spend a lot of time in and out of Council & Housing Association properties, and get to see people from all (well most!) walks of life, from the comfortably off to the dirt poor. 99% of those are fine, but there is a very small minority of people who really make me angry!
I was working in one place a few years ago, where there was a computer, flat-screen TV and games console in each bedroom, top of the range kitchen appliances etc, and a family of 6, none of whom worked. They were quite blatant and arrogant towards me and my mate, telling us that we were mugs for going out to work, they were making much more on benefits, yadda yadda yadda. They used the DSS website almost as a catalogue, going through it trying to decide which benefit to try for next, and what stories they’d have to make up to qualify!
People like that I have nothing but dripping contempt for, and hope they trip themselves up and end up inside. If you’re* genuine though, then I’ve got no problems with you claiming benefits, and have utmost sympathy for your position.
Gary
Using you & you’re etc in the general mode, not aimed at anybody!
scaniason:
In my day job, I spend a lot of time in and out of Council & Housing Association properties, and get to see people from all (well most!) walks of life, from the comfortably off to the dirt poor. 99% of those are fine, but there is a very small minority of people who really make me angry!
I was working in one place a few years ago, where there was a computer, flat-screen TV and games console in each bedroom, top of the range kitchen appliances etc, and a family of 6, none of whom worked. They were quite blatant and arrogant towards me and my mate, telling us that we were mugs for going out to work, they were making much more on benefits, yadda yadda yadda. They used the DSS website almost as a catalogue, going through it trying to decide which benefit to try for next, and what stories they’d have to make up to qualify!
People like that I have nothing but dripping contempt for, and hope they trip themselves up and end up inside. If you’re* genuine though, then I’ve got no problems with you claiming benefits, and have utmost sympathy for your position.
Gary
Using you & you’re etc in the general mode, not aimed at anybody!
I too would have dobbed them in. Thankfully they are very much in the minority, I do feel that the media has pushed the idea that several of these “chancer families” live on every street…
