unbelievable !

[isthatright]

So for someone (me) that has been working 20 years plus, paying all taxes etc, I now turn to HM government for some help as I have been unemployed for 6 months. What do they have to offer ? I have savings over £16,000.
Well for the first 6 months as a single person with no dependants and am able to work, having no disabilities, I get the job seekers allowance JSA of £64.30 per week provided under the contribution based JSA. This I can claim and get.

I am also able to claim council tax and mortgage payments on income based JSA via housing benefit. Although I can claim it, I will not get it as I have savings over £16,000.

Then after 6 months the contribution based JSA stops and I then have to claim JSA on an income basis. I can claim but will not get it as I have savings over £16,000. So all I get is 26x64 = £1,664 over the first 6 months then nothing until my savings drop below £16,000. Thanks HM goverment.

Have I been misinformed here or is this how this works?

[DimPrawn]

I don't see why anyone with savings should get any state help.

Live on your savings, then when they are gone, ask the state to help you.

[Torran]

should have hidden the savings first mate.

[cojak]

I don't see why anyone with savings should get any state help.

Live on your savings, then when they are gone, ask the state to help you.

WHS.

If you're a contractor savings = warchest.

[Pickle2]

Buy gold with your savings and stick it under the floor boards.

Tell HMG that you lost it at the track and claim all that lovely wonga.

honestly.

[BoredBloke]

Why not hide your savings - clear all/any credit cards & loans, overpay all your bills etc to bring you under their threshold

[bogeyman]

I don't see why anyone with savings should get any state help.

Live on your savings, then when they are gone, ask the state to help you.

If you haven't paid class 1 NICs then you are entitled to £0.

You are certainly entitled to state assistance, but the amount is precisely zero.

Self-employed people who have grafted away over the years, and paid huge amounts of tax and NI (class 2 and 4), and have, perhaps, fallen on hard times, will often be surprised at this. But it is a fact, I assure you.

If you have ever been in business on your own account, and need the help of the state safety net, you will only get a boot in the teeth.

That's New Labour. Things can only get better

[isthatright]

they can work it out from the interest i declared on last tax return

[isthatright]

i have been either working paye through my own ltd co or in recent years working paye through an agent. The above applies to most of us.

[TimberWolf]

I get £50/week because I have (or had) over £6000 in savings, but I will shortly lose that when I sell my flat, and lose the rest of my cash when hyperinflation sets in. Doomed.