Reply to: In Desperation

[FiveTimes]

How do you word that to them? "I have layed myself off"? Do you tell them that you are a company director?

In order to claim JSA you need either contribution based (NI) or income based.

I asked my accountant to issue a P45, made an appointment with the job centre and handed it over.

There were no questions about the company, shares etc, just handed the P45 over and the claim was validated.

Once I had a new gig I signed off and gave the P45 from the dole to accountant who then carried on running my payrole.

Its not hard and not tricky. You just need to keep records of what/where you are applying.

If you are desperate or running out of funds or feel the need to claim benefits then go for it.

Best of Luck.

[Boo]

housing benefit can cover your whole rent/mortgage.

Housing benefit only covers the interest portion of the mortgage up to a limit (IIRC 6% ish) and there is a max on the mortgage value above which you don't get even interest paid. Rent is covered except for water rates and similar extras (if applicable), there may be a limit to that as well, depending on your circumstances and age.

Mortgage interest benefit only starts after you have been receiving benefit for 3 months, so don't delay signing on.

You should also be entitled to Council Tax benefit which should hopefully cover the whole thing.

You can also try to switch your mortgage to interest-only or see if it allows a payment holiday.

There is a limit on how long you will receive mortgage interest benefit so I would pay the initial 3 months mortgage out of savings then rely on the benefit to cover the interest for the 2 years you are entitled to it. I'd use a payment holiday as a last resort, assuming they'll let you have one.

If you have a spare room you can take in a lodger and keep most of the rent (a portion is deducted from your benefit), this is probably worth as much as the dole so...

Hth,

Boo

[Boo]

How do you word that to them? "I have layed myself off"? Do you tell them that you are a company director?

"I have been laid off due to lack of work". Yes, you will need to tell them your company details and they will probably count your fully paid up shares as part of your savings, if they ask you the value of your company do not blether on about how hard it is to value a one man band Ltd Co. just tell them about the 100 shares you own at £1 each or whatever it is :-). They should not ask to see company accounts or bank records as these are *not* part of your own personal savings.

They are entitled to look at copies of recent bank statements etc to verify savings and prove you are not receiving any income. You should insist they do not retain copies "for our records" as imho that is OTT.

Boo

[rsingh]

change your name to BOB, from where i am sitting there seems to be lots of opportunity if your name is BOB.

*Deleted as another poster responded more eloquently.*

[SueEllen]

What I meant earlier was as directors , shareholders and employees of our ltd companies as a standard setup, do we need to close the company, issue P45s etc to claim the bens ?

No. You are laid off temporarily because there is no work to do. However you must fulfil the criteria for JSA i.e. that you are looking for full-time work and if the Job Centre tells you to apply for certain jobs you must apply for them. (No that you will get them anyway.)

[kaiser78]

Nothing.

There is a legal distinct difference between being a Company Director, a shareholder and an employee.

Think of a larger company like Centrica. You can be a shareholder of the company but you that doesn't mean you are an employee or a Company Director. You can be a Company Director and sit on the board but not be a shareholder or an employee. And you can be an employee but not a Company Director or a shareholder.

Remember companies can legally agree with their workforce to lay them off temporarily if there is no work, and shareholders can't get dividends if the company has no profit.

What I meant earlier was as directors , shareholders and employees of our ltd companies as a standard setup, do we need to close the company, issue P45s etc to claim the bens ?

[d000hg]

My impression from previous discussion threads was that due to the nature and ethicity of IT contracting, claiming unempl ben, council tax ben and mortgage interest payments is not the done thing ? Not sure I would be comfortable doing this, no matter of how desperate I am.

You used the phrase "in desperation". So take desperate measures. JSA pays very little (your groceries, basically) but housing benefit can cover your whole rent/mortgage.

You can also try to switch your mortgage to interest-only or see if it allows a payment holiday.

Have you checked you are living as cheaply as you reasonably can - expensive £50/month mobile contracts, Sky, wine clubs, etc?

The advice about starting a business... I doubt that will help if you don't have cash reserves since you're not going to make a pile straight off. Something to consider on the side if you can land some boring job that pays the bills.

[SueEllen]

How do you word that to them? "I have layed myself off"? Do you tell them that you are a company director?

As an employee of your company there is no work to do so you are laid off until such time there is work.

BTW this has come up before so do a search as you are likely to come up with answers to your questions.

[kingcook]

No, the company does not have to be wound up, it just has to "lay you off due to lack of work" (magic phrase).

How do you word that to them? "I have layed myself off"? Do you tell them that you are a company director?

[SueEllen]

What happens to the Ltd company and status of director/ shareholder/employee whilst claiming ? Does the company have to be wound up ?

Nothing.

There is a legal distinct difference between being a Company Director, a shareholder and an employee.

Think of a larger company like Centrica. You can be a shareholder of the company but you that doesn't mean you are an employee or a Company Director. You can be a Company Director and sit on the board but not be a shareholder or an employee. And you can be an employee but not a Company Director or a shareholder.

Remember companies can legally agree with their workforce to lay them off temporarily if there is no work, and shareholders can't get dividends if the company has no profit.

[Boo]

What happens to the Ltd company and status of director/ shareholder/employee whilst claiming ? Does the company have to be wound up ?

No, the company does not have to be wound up, it just has to "lay you off due to lack of work" (magic phrase). The DHSS will largely ignore the value of the company and / or its assets. However they may ask how many paid up shares you own and count their value towards savings limits in respect of allowing benefit.

Boo

[kaiser78]

Just to add to all the good advice from above:
1. If you are not claiming contribution based job seekers allowance start a claim asap. Start your claim via this link - Apply for Jobseeker's Allowance online : Directgov - Do it online

If you wife isn't working then make sure you apply for council tax benefit and mortgage interest payments. You cannot claim back payments hence you need to claim asap.

2. Once you have done the above talk to your mortgage company.

3. Stop applying for roles until you have done your CV up. However there is nothing wrong with contacting your previous contracts and asking them for work as it's cheaper for them to use you then advertise roles.

4. Remember August is a quiet month because people are on holiday.

What happens to the Ltd company and status of director/ shareholder/employee whilst claiming ? Does the company have to be wound up ?

[SueEllen]

change your name to BOB, from where i am sitting there seems to be lots of opportunity if your name is BOB.

Not a helpful comment.

Somebody more suitable could mean anything.

For example it could mean that there is someone whose CV matches the job description exactly for the last two roles they did, who worked for the client before, lives around the corner from the role or more likely the role doesn't actually exist and I'm using your CV to get leads.

[mrdonuts]

all I ever get is 'that someone was more suitable' so I cant even correct what I am doing wrong.
I dont know where to turn, or what to try next ... my finances are heading for oblivion, my house is a possible repo and the stress is starting to build.

Any, absolutely any words of helpful advice would be gratefully received.

Thks.

change your name to BOB, from where i am sitting there seems to be lots of opportunity if your name is BOB.

[HairyArsedBloke]

The rights or wrongs of benefits is irrelevant.

They exist, you have been charged for them, you are mugging yourself if you don't make the fullest use of them.

Nobody should feel guilty about signing-on. They feel no guilt about confiscating your wealth; so never feel bad about having back some of what is yours.

At the very least sign-on to get your NI pensions credit.


Edit: Ops, sorry Clippy. I started this reply and the phone went. Only after I finished did I submit it.