My husband is 62 in september. Has been made redundant ........................

[lilacben]

He has been to see what we can claim and it seems nothing.? He has a small private pension and I also have a works pension plus get incapacity benefit. which amounts to £200 per week. which they say is enough to live in. Just wondering if this is correct.?

[4getmenot]

are you asking if that is enough to live on?, depends how many outgoings you have

[lilacben]

Sorry it should have read on not in. Not really what I meant but just wondered why because we both saved and paid into private pensions should we not get any help now he has lost his job.? Yet other people who havent put into pensions can get help.? He is looking for work and signs on but they say he will not get anything ie job seekers allowence ect.

[4getmenot]

have you tried applying for income based job seekers

http://www.direct.gov...ngforwork/DG_10018757

[dothawkes31]

Has he not got a redundency settlement? at over 62 if he has wrked there for over 2 years he gets a week and a half for every year, unless it was a small firm emploting less than 20 people

[sandyRoe]

Isn't he entitled to job seekers allowance for about 6 or 9 months? After that time benefits are means tested.

[dothawkes31]

yes he should get JSA unless he was self employed.

[ttfn]

What about pension credit?

http://www.direct.gov...entplanning/index.htm

[lilacben]

He cannot get Pension credit until he is 65, has only been working this past year at this job.

[buildersmate]

He is entitled to claim contribution-based JSA for a period of time whilst signing-on and seeking work.
Source of info is here:
http://www.direct.gov...ngforwork/DG_10018757

Quoting from above: - 'unless it was a small firm employing less than 20 people' - that is irrelevant; small firms have to pay minimum levels of redundancy pay as well.

[factor-fiction]

..Yes, contribution based JSA should be claimed, although if he is already drawing a pension he needs to check whether this counts as income and his JSA payment would be reduced as a result

[buildersmate]

Really? on contribution-based JSA? I'm surprised, but you could be right. Afterall, interest received on investments doesn't count against JSA.
Got a source?

[sandyRoe]

All this must be very stressful for him. He should talk to his doctor and see if he can go onto Incapacity Benefit.

[factor-fiction]

Hi BM: I'm only reporting what I was told by someone at Job Centre Plus when I was claiming contribution based JSA. I was considering drawing one of my very small pensions but they said they'd reduce my money. I also overheard someone else being told his pension was too high for him to get contribution based JSA- although in my cases they would have continued to pay my NI contributions.
However I do know someone who is claiming CB JSA and is about to draw a pension and believes it won't affect his JSA.

So it's worth checking the DirectGov site

[factor-fiction]

Got this from the web: (http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/ben
efits/benefits_for_people_looking_for_work.ht
m)


"Contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance is not affected by any savings you have. However, if you have part-time earnings or an occupational or personal pension, this may affect how much contribution-based JSA you get. For example, the amount of contribution-based JSA that you get is cut pound for pound for any occupational pension that is over £50 a week. If you earn too much, you will not get contribution-based Jobseeker's Allowance at all.

So provided the pension is less than £50 a week the CB JSA payment will be paid in full. For any pension in excess of £50 pw the JSA will be reduced pound for pound. So with JSA at around £65 a week I calculate that you'll get no CBJSA if your pension exceeds around £115 pw

[lilacben]

Thankyou to you all who have replied. Because I get a private pension and incapacity benefit amd my husband gets a small pension the amount is £200 a week they say that is enough for us to live on and we are not going to get any help because we have enough coming in. Today my husband was told he may have enough stamps to enable to get his pension in three years so no need to sign on anymore as he will not get any JSA. And he cannot get Pension credits either. It just doesnt seem fair.

[factor-fiction]

Your income and incapacity benefit is not relevant to the issue of how much CB JSA he is entitled to. It's only his pension that counts- I think that if his pension less than £115 a week he should get some CB JSA if he has paid enough NI. If it's less than £50pw he should get teh full JSA payment

[buildersmate]

He needs 30 valid contribution years to qualify for a full basic State pension once he reaches the age of 65. It used to be 44 years for men. Most men who started work after school will now get the required contribution years by age 50.
Look on the bright side - he doesn't have to go down to the JS just to sign-on.

[lucca]

The system stinks - I was told I was too rich ha ha to get contrib-based JSA, as I had an occupational pension. I only had this as I'd been too ill to continue working. Then shortly after that, when I was ultra-ill and had to apply for Incap. Ben., I received a much reduced payment because of the occ. pension! Double whammy. I was so furious that I wrote to the top bossman at the DWP, and he told me that as I was already getting some money "for being ill", I should be satisfied with that!! Moral of the story is obvious. Good for the blood pressure, innit?

[razza]

Lucca you are right,I have just retired and because I get a company pension my state pension has been reduced by £298.00 per month,one way or another they get you,then they have the gall to tax you on it,stink I think is not strong enough.

[buildersmate]

"because I get a company pension my state pension has been reduced by £298.00 per month" - wrong! I'll guarantee it.
Because you've paid into a private pension instead of the state pension, you paid a smaller amount of NI to HMRC. The payment of more NI is what would have enabled you to have a bigger State pension. Whether you did better by funding a private pension or relying on the State one is anyone's guess, but you don't get something without paying into it.