Anyone signed on the dole while benched?

[Cyberman]

The OP stated that he had funds in the company to pay himself, and that there was income still coming into the company. The discussion started when some people said he should claim benefits anyway.

People then started adding wonderful ways in which to exploit the system.

My argument has consistently been that he should not claim and that people who have a war chest for bad times should be using that war chest, not expecting the government to bail them out so that they can leave their war chest untouched.

JSA is CONTRIBUTIONS-BASED if sufficient NI has been paid recently. That is an entitlement for up to six months. After that, it is means-tested, so if he had sufficient savings he would then not be able to claim. Try to separate your bigotry from commonsense.

[Rookie]

So, in answer to the OPs question. You CAN claim benefits according to Cyberman et al. Howver, as to whether you should claim..........don't even go there.

Next!

[Number9]

What if you have had enough of contracting and are in the proccess of closing down your company and looking for permy work, would you then be right to claim then as you are looking for work and not a contractor

[Cyberman]

What if you have had enough of contracting and are in the proccess of closing down your company and looking for permy work, would you then be right to claim then as you are looking for work and not a contractor

You are deliberately putting yourself out of work in this situation and would be disallowed from claiming if you told this to the Jobcentre.

[Ravello]

I agree with you there, but the OP asked whether he could claim and I explained how, and there still needs to be a time when the contractor goes dormant and your argument there was totally irrational.
If, however, the OP expects that he could be out long-term as most people are now expecting, it may be reasonably prudent for him to start processing a claim after a month, as it may take a long time before he gets his first payment. I would imagine that a massive backlog of claims is building rapidly with all of the recent redundancies across the country.

I still disagree. If the contractor expects that he could be out of contract long-term, surely he should start looking for other forms of work rather than start claiming benefits?

I take your point that it may take a while to process claims, but even in 'good times' a contractor can find themselves on the bench for a few months between contracts, it seems more prudent therefore to plan for these events rather than expecting to claim benefits.

As a side point, just how helpful is £60 a week going to be anyway?

[Cyberman]

I still disagree. If the contractor expects that he could be out of contract long-term, surely he should start looking for other forms of work rather than start claiming benefits?

I take your point that it may take a while to process claims, but even in 'good times' a contractor can find themselves on the bench for a few months between contracts, it seems more prudent therefore to plan for these events rather than expecting to claim benefits.

As a side point, just how helpful is £60 a week going to be anyway?

It's not necessarily just 60 quid a week. It depends on circumstances that I have stated in earlier posts.
It is generally accepted that an unemployed person is given a fair period of time to find another job in their area of expertise. Long-term unemployed are expected to accept most types of work and the Jobcentre can force them to attend interviews and can stop JSA if jobs are refused, but of course if 5 million were unemployed it may be difficult finding anything. That could well be the scenario within a year or so !!

[NotAllThere]

...If the contractor expects that he could be out of contract long-term, surely he should start looking for other forms of work rather than start claiming benefits?...

As a side point, just how helpful is £60 a week going to be anyway?

He starts claiming benefits while looking for work. It's part of even contributions based JSA. You have to look for work.

As for your side point - it'll help with the mooring fees for the yacht, contributions to party HQ, all sorts of things.

In my view - if you're entitled to it, you're entitled to it. If the government doesn't want company directors or people with large savings to claim contributions JSA they should change the law. There's nothing moral or immoral, fair or unfair about it.

If tax avoidance, claiming benefits when you've got "enough cash" is immoral, then if you've got more than "enough cash" it would be equally immoral not to pay extra.

[robbie274]

OK, another spin on the situation.

A contractor is working via an umbrella and has been benched since November. No NI has been paid since Nov and won't be if he doen't sign on, but the contractor has savings over £16k. The umbrella has issued his P45 so does he sign on or does he use his (personal) savings to live off?

If he uses his savings then that may last 12 months. If he signs on, he will still have to use some of his savings, as £60 a week will not pay the bills, but his saving will last a little longer?

Please, no rants about how he should of gone Ltd, etc.

Cheers

[Ravello]

OK, another spin on the situation.

A contractor is working via an umbrella and has been benched since November. No NI has been paid since Nov and won't be if he doen't sign on, but the contractor has savings over £16k. The umbrella has issued his P45 so does he sign on or does he use his (personal) savings to live off?

If he uses his savings then that may last 12 months. If he signs on, he will still have to use some of his savings, as £60 a week will not pay the bills, but his saving will last a little longer?

Please, no rants about how he should of gone Ltd, etc.

Cheers

Should have gone Ltd.

HTH

[Rookie]

Should have gone Ltd.

HTH

Always!