Job Seekers Allowance

Not having got a start date for my new job yet, I took JWK's sage advice & applied for JSA.

Having jumped through the hoops, forms, interviews £20 worth of petrol that I can ill afford, I got a letter through saying I was not entitled to it because I have no class 1 National Insurance contributions for 2011.

I told them i'd been self employed from the start, I put it on all the forms and sent them a business account bank statement.

The self employed do not pay class 1 stamp, only class 2 & 4:DOH:

And why is 2011 so important, what about the other 30 years of stamp, many of which i did pay class 1 stamp

So I guess the next time I make a decent profit & they write asking for class 4 stamp on top of class 2, i'll write back and say "You do not qualify for class 4 contributions because you didn't pay enough JSA in 2012

 

So annoying!!! They always find a reason for NOT paying you!!!

Val

 

Nightmare, Zig. Even when you do qualify, they make you feel as though they're doing you a big favour giving you sixty odd quid a week, however long you've been paying into the system. One girl I know was told she needed to jump through yet another pointless hoop or other before she'd get any more help, but this couldn't be done on the day she'd made the forty mile round trip because the charming operative was too busy. 'Come back tomorrow', she was told. It makes me so angry that hardworking people get treated like **** while others who have no history of contributing anything very much seem to do ok.

 

Zig, we don`t even get sick pay if we are off ill or injured apparently.

 

My other half is on JSA, and he says not to give up 'digging' Ziggy, there must be some way you can claim. Other half says to try income support. Also go to citizens advice, they may be able to tell you want you're entitled to.

If you want to talk more privately PM me and I'll hand you over to other half to speak to, he'll give you the run down on what's happened with us.

 

I had worse when I broke my ribs, think I might have mentioned this before.

I've been to work with broken ribs on more than one occasion, its a struggle carrying a bucket of tools up 13 lifts of scaffold but when you are only doing Mortar Repairs & pointing its ok once you are up there.

But when I broke them in the middle of a plastering contract I had no choice, you just can't plaster with broken ribs.

The doc had signed me off work for 3 weeks so I put in a claim for incapacity benefit.

Next thing I know there are 2 "suits" from the government on my doorstep, demanding to see my accounts.

After looking thru them they said they wern't convinced that I didn't have a team of blokes out working for me while i was trying to claim sickness benefit & that they would not pay me.

 

Jack McHammocklashing is the man who may help you .... am sure he will advise when he is online

 

Cheers Sheal,

Problem is, i'm still married, although we have no access to each others finances, the "man" still counts it as joint income.

 

Opened a can 'o worms with this thread, a lot of cross posting going on.

 

I messed up .... I traded antiques/collectables on ebay .... what started as a hobby at carboot sales soon turned into a roaring trade (used to go to auctions)

I ended up hiring 2 large shipping containers where I stored the antique furniture and sold on average 60-80 large items a week and business was booming ... hard work (7 days a week) ...

all went well for more than 3 yrs ... had expensive overseas holidays, ate sirloin steaks and drank the finest wine

then .....

3 1/2 years ago, knock on the door, 2 suited guys from the 'hidden assets' dept .... I had not registered for VAT .... my last seven months of trading had a turnover of just over £132 000

you were supposed to register for VAT if your turnover was in excess of £67 000 per annum ...

used to drive a BMW 740i and a ford transit van .... both had been paid in cash .... ended up selling them (plus many other of my prized possesions) for peanuts.... just to pay rent and buy food

I was stupid ....

so now I just mow lawns and plant shrubs ... and have started a sideline business doing domestic and commercial cleaning ...

and instead of eating steak and prawns, I now eat baked beans with Worcestershire sauce on brown toast

 

That seems odd Ziggy because my other half was receiving £67.50 a week here and when he asked how he could claim more they told him that his wife (me) would have to sign on as well and I haven't worked for many years. We now get Income based JSA.

 

I sympathise with you ziggy, nothing is fair when it involves the government.

But why am I asked if I want a receipt every time I buy fuel at the filling station?

Am I right in thinking there are large amounts of self employed people out there claiming back tax from every last purchase they make?
Because thats the impression I get.

I'm not saying self employed, or even self unemployed is an easy option.

But there are definite advantages if you know how to play the system, a lot of loopholes have been filled I know, but there are still a lot out there doing very well.

I just work for someone else who rakes in the profits, but takes the chances, but if he goes down, so do I.

No pension, statutory sick pay, and my stamp paid, is all you get, and no claimed back tax.

 

may be worthwhile posting on this forum:

Job Seekers Allowence Eligibility?? - MoneySavingExpert.com Forums