Claiming benefits whilst on the bench

[contractor79]

Hi
If on the bench, presumably you wouldn't pay yourself a salary.
Could you therefore sack yourself from your limited company, declare yourself unemployed, and claim benefits?
I found an interesting website
http://entitledto.co.uk/

mine works out as:-
Means-tested income entitlements
JSA £4,917.07 £94.30 JSA (income-based).
Means-tested bill reductions
Council Tax Benefit £999.57 £19.17 You should not have to pay Council Tax as you qualify for full Council Tax Benefit.
Total Entitlements £5,916.64 £113.47 weekly

not bad huh?
why aren't YOU claiming when you're on the bench?

[RichardCranium]

I found an interesting website
http://entitledto.co.uk/

I also got some surprising numbers out of that web site. Thank you for that link.

not bad huh?
why aren't YOU claiming when you're on the bench?

'Cos I'm stupid.

My plans for tomorrow have just changed...

Ta muchly.

[contractor79]

I also got some surprising numbers out of that web site. Thank you for that link.

'Cos I'm stupid.

My plans for tomorrow have just changed...

Ta muchly.

I'm surprised to learn that council tax plus flat monthly charge can be claimed.
I wouldn't bother claiming just for JSA, but those two other things amount to £200/month

[VectraMan]

If on the bench, presumably you wouldn't pay yourself a salary.

inexplicably.

[Emigre]

Problem is that if you, responsibly, built a war chest of more than £16k you get nothing. £15.9k you get most of what's going. Surprising results on mortgages (up to £200k) you can get over £800/week. The bench starts to look good!

[Lumiere]

Could you therefore sack yourself from your limited company

leaving the company with no directors, is that possible ?

[OrangeHopper]

When I claimed - 2002/2003 - I did not raise a P45. I did get one when I stopped claiming but the Inland Revenue still processed me throughout as normal and I continued as a director and employee of my company. Even claimed back the VAT during it all.

[contractor79]

leaving the company with no directors, is that possible ?

no only sack yourself as employee

[contractor79]

When I claimed - 2002/2003 - I did not raise a P45. I did get one when I stopped claiming but the Inland Revenue still processed me throughout as normal and I continued as a director and employee of my company. Even claimed back the VAT during it all.

lol, nice one
yes, I just went through the JSA application on the phone and they asked no questions about how many dividends you paid yourself etc.
they will only see a P45
and my savings which are <£16k, I had much more but threw it into my house previously, they asked nothing about any such prior transfers
this should mean council tax rebate, JSA and maybe even ground rent and management service charge for people who own a flat. That's nice to have on the bench.

Morally I have no problem with it, since bankers have privatised the profit then fell back on the state when times are bad, so why can't we?

[RichardCranium]

I found an interesting website
http://entitledto.co.uk/

why aren't YOU claiming when you're on the bench?

Thank you, contractor79.

I started with the link you gave and that gave me one load of figures for stuff I might be entitled to. It pointed me at the DWP site which gave me a similar - but different - set of figures. That in turn pointed me at the local council web site that gave me some more figures. Joined up government, eh?

Anyway, I started the claim process a few days after your post (late September) and I got confirmation today I will get:
- Jobseeker's Allowance (income based)
- Housing Benefit
- Council Tax Benefit.

Since the warchest has all gone and I've been without any gig since March, my conscience is clean.

I now know the Council Tax can be paid (the one bill that can put you in prison), the rent be paid (keeping the roof over our heads) and I can now claim the cost of travelling to interviews.

Advice:

• The numpties have no grasp of contracting. It confused all of them no end. Be prepeared to explain over and over again.
• There is no point doing temporary work. It comes off your benefit. My wife's 1 day a week income has been deducted from our benefits - she may as well have packed it in.
• It takes the buggers weeks to process the information.
• They do not backdate the payments to when you make the claim. The JSA is 3 working days after the claim, the council from when they feel like it (3 weeks after the claim went in in my case).
• Do not claim when you have run out of money; that will be far too late. Do it as soon as you get down to £16K in assets.
• Pay all your tax now if it will get you under the £16K sooner. I should have done that months and months ago.