redundancy

[gucciman]

for christmas this year my very nice employer made me redundant.

this is the first time ive been out of work since i left college 17 yrs ago.

how do i go about claiming benefits while i look for a new job?

also, i have been told my some people that if you have redundancy money or savings they wont give you any benefits, and other people have told me that you are entitled to so many weeks benfit regardless. who's right?

[Pete1956]

gucciman, I've been made redundant three times (could it be something I'm doing wrong), most recently a year ago.

Go to your local Job Centre and they will tell you what to do. They seem to do all the interviewing by telephone these days (there is a bank of phones in my local Job Centre). Your redundancy money won't affect your "Job Seekers Allowance" (dole money) nor will any savings as it is a contributions-based (NI stamp) benefit lasting 6 months. If you are on paid notice it may affect your money, I didn't get paid notice because the company went under.

Good luck. My experience of the Job Centre Plus website for finding another job was quite positive, agencies too actually find you a job sometimes.

[gucciman]

thanks for your answer pete. i think it just comes down to bad luck mate. at its peak, my company (paint manufacturer) had 3 factories and 650 employees, now theres 1 factory and 40 people, british industry is dead unfortunately.

how much is dole money these days?

and ive heard when your redundant you can get onto free training courses, i fancy trying plumbing or something similar, anything but factory work again

[Pete1956]

gucciman, I got about �57.50 a week I think, last year. For completeness I should have added that any Social Security benefits that you may receive on top of your JSA are means-tested of course, I didn't qualify because my wife worked plus we had savings. You should also get some tax back by the way, best phone the tax office and tell them about your change in circumstances.

Very similar story to yours really, manufacturing industry in contraction. Best thing is to get into something Asia-proof i.e. a more service-oriented industry. It is quite possible to fall on your feet.

I don't know about training courses but definitely worth asking. Oh, and we got charged �60/hr for a plumber last year, on the south coast. I had stood chatting for a few minutes, unaware that it was costing me �1 a minute.

[gucciman]

thats precisely why i fancy becoming a plumber pete! lol

like you say, industry is best avoided now, working for the nhs or the council is a good bet, job for life and a good pension.

what did you go into ?