urget advice needed

[jack1966]

hello, ive got to go 'sign' on today and im very worried. i finished my employment last friday, my husband claims benefits but is only entitled to his stamp. when i called to make my initial claim over the phone i said i would claim for both of us.

 

i had a call from jobcenter yesterday to say when i go in to claim this morning that my husband should be with me and for him to claim for me.

 

does it make any difference, i was told on my phone interview that i was entitled to JSA.

 

i beleive that im only entitled to approx £65 a week , how can a household manage on that ? i wouldnt get housing or council tax benefit as my sons work and i have been told they have to cover those costs basically

 

please advise asap as my appointment is early this morning.

 

thankyou

[postggj]

strnge

 

both you and your hubby would have two seperate claims and signing on times

 

you cant do a claim for him

 

he has to sign

 

not you

 

in the nicest poss way

 

him claiming has nothing to do with your claim

 

you just have to answer all there questions about partner etc

[jack1966]

no, i meant me claim for both of us -

 

does it make a difference who claims regarding the amount of benefits recieved?

[my-spirit-soars-free]

I am as old as the hills, so what I am saying *may* be outdated, but I have not found anything in the guidance notes to make this wrong... but check!

 

Yes, it can make a difference.

 

If you are on income based JSA, then it will probably not make a difference, the income calculation is for the household.

 

If you are claiming contribution based JSA, then it goes on your contributions, not your husbands, and that can mean that you can get benefit and he can't, or vice versa.

 

However, he can't claim in his own right if you are claiming for him - so if he is signing on for his stamp, then he can't be on your contribution based claim.

 

So it really depends on what sort of JSA you will be getting, whether your husband would get income based JSA, whether you would be better off with you claiming for him and buying him voluntary NI contributions - you probably need to get help working out how you will be best off (or go and play with one of the online benefits calculators, at least you can try all the variations on those!)