Couple aged 60 - he's getting JSA(cont) been refused PC claim due to 'signing on'. Does anyone know where in the regs this is stated? Is this correct? Have tried various lines of enquiry:-
Pension Service (bless'em) said "it's in some leaflet somewhere - he has to sign off then claim PC";
Adelphi - didn't even get as far as the PC query, just said categorically that no matter how poor he was he couldn't get any form of top up whilst getting JSA (cont)!;
Jobcentre plus said he has to choose - JSA cont with JSA (IB) top up OR PC. When i mentioned pensioner premium in JSA(IB) she didn't seem to understand.

Any guidance or clarification would be greatly appreciated!

He can continue claiming JSA-cont and his partner can be the claimant for Pension Credit (assuming no obstacle to this). Not sure off the top of my head which regs state this. See p410 of CPAG handbook for matters to consider when deciding which to claim.

thanks, that's really helpful.

I don't see why he can't claim PC - am I missing something?

S.2 of the Jobseekers Act 1995 (the contribution-based conditions) doesn't say anything about PC, it only mentions IS. S.3 (the income-based conditions) mentions IS and PC. So I think if he's getting JSA contribution-based he can claim PC himself.

Contribution based JSA is income for the purposes of Guarantee Credit (not sure where this is listed...the recognised PC income streams are scattered through the Act, main regs and consequential regs). This is kind of proved by the fact that reg 9 of the main PC regs specifically excludes CBJSA for the purposes of "qualifying income" for savings credit (a mechanism to depress savings credit awards).

Since you have to sign on to get JSA, you must be able to sign on and get PC! This must be right, because you are allowed to work and get PC, so being in the job market cannot be a problem. It would also be counter to the governments intention that PC claimants should be part of the workforce, if they so wish, subject to means testing.

Steve