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Signing Off....
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Work & Study
I'm about to sign off JSA, but not sure how it works. I phoned them to let them know I'm signing off, and the lady said something about national insurance and pensions when I said I'm signing off without full time employment to go to...
What did she mean about pensions? I haven't the faintest what pensions has to do with my NI, so any help would be lush!
Ilora x
What did she mean about pensions? I haven't the faintest what pensions has to do with my NI, so any help would be lush!
Ilora x
0
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So, if you sign off FSA without a job to go to, they may assume you are working and will wonder where your contributions are.
I'm just assuming.
Anyway, shouldn't you be phoning them and asking, considering the usual flaming you end up getting when asking anything JSA-related on these boards?
But yes...
Ilora x
You didn't say why you are signing off...
If you work, you get Class 1 National Insurance contributions paid from your wage. You need about 44 years worth of these to make sure you get a full pension when you retire.
When you sign on, you are credited with a Class 1 contribution, so your pension is covered. If you neither work or sign on, you will get a much lower pension. I know it seems far off in the future, but if you follow the news, today's young people are probably going to have vastly reduced pensions compared with today's pensioners.
If a woman has, say 16 years off work to bring up children, she gets Home Responsibilty Protection for National Insurance, which means, basically, her contribution requirements are reduced by 16 years. However, her pension will be a bit lower.
The alternative, for someone who does not work and doesn't sign on, is to buy a Class 3 contribution, which goes towards your pension, but doesn't qualify you for JSA/Incapacty Benefit in the future.
So, to get a pension (whatever the wording) I need to hand my P45 in to my employer?
Ilora x
If your earnings are over the Lower Earnings Limit (currently about £82), you will get a Class 1 stamp.
If you work less than 16 hours, you can still sign on and declare the work and the DWP will still credit you with a Class 1 stamp. If you work over 16 hours, but your wage is under the LEL, you need to buy your own Class 3 stamp from the Contributions Agency. They cost about £7 per week. Hope this helps.
If you get to 65 (or whatever it is when you get there) and haven't paid enough stamps, or had them credited by signing on, you will probably just get Income Support. This may be a lot less generous (if you can call it that) than it is now, though.
Thats all you have to do, not sure why they explained about pensions and the like, oh wait i do know, it is because the jobcentre and it's staff are infact useless.
I know thats not what you are officially suupposed to do, but thats what most people do so they probably arent expecting you to do anything else.
Why would you sign off without employment?
Ilora x
And they might make you work then, yeah?
If you aren't on JSA and not earning, then you aren't paying National Insurance contributions. If you don't pay enough NI in your life (AFAIK its about 40 full years) then you don't get a full state pension.
I was a bit apprehensive the very first time i was put on New Deal but actually it was so much better than i thought and a million times better than going to " sign on ". I got my own advisor who only looked for jobs I wanted, not throwing jobs at me i couldnt do, or get to .. Advisor " do you have a driving license " Me " No " Advisor " ok i'll print off this job that requires you to be able to drive, its a must. " uhm No!.
I didnt have to suffer those fools in the other parts of the jobcentre becaus ei could go talk with my adviser anytime, as well as seeing her on the day i was ment to. The downside was beingf sent on a " course " that was nothing more than sitting in a room with daft bastards, junkies and pure cunts, getting to use computers, writing and for some odd reason sex education * shakes head * never did get that last part. Course we did get taken out in the mini bus by a former small time Footballer. Thats the downside though, the upside is a million times better than when you first go on JSA.
Part of the above mentioned course i had to attend, this guy came in and explained that a thing had been done for the government that said that people of our age when in our retirement age, will not get a pension and we should save up ourselves. I've always kept that in the back of my mind and save up myself, i dont expect to be given a state pension when i retire.
I do hope you're not planning to sign back on in the new year.
Well, it depends what you're worried about. I've just moved onto the New Deal section after doing New Claims/Restart for two years. Some elements of New Deal are crap, some are good.
After someone has been signing for over 6 months, they cannot place any restrictions on wage or type of job (only health restrictions, etc). Most New Deal advisers, however, won't just send you for any old shit job. That type of thing only tends to come up if they offer you jobs you say you want, but you keep turning them down, or coming up with excuses.
The only issue is that when you fail to sign, you only get paid up till the last time you signed. Sounds obvious, but sometimes you can miss out on money.