MA & IBJSA

I have a client who has just had a baby and left work when she was pregnant and so lost her right to reside, as she was being paid a top up of Income Support, she did not go on maternity leave she resigned. Client has been awarded maternity allowance and refused Job Seekers Allowance. I understand that CJSA overlaps with maternity allowance but it is not so clear that income based Job Seekers Allowance does?

If it does then the client will be £20.00 odd per week less than IBJSA level as her earnings were so low.

Anybody know if MA and IBJSA can be paid at the same time as client cannot re-claim Income Support as does not have a right to reside she has been in the United Kingdom, from Spain, for less than 12 months and she worked for just under 9 months.

Also her claim to housing benefit continues as the local authority are assessing her based on MA, CB and CTC

thanks I know that but does it overlap i.e. IBJSA would be £67.50 and the maternity allowance is only £46.75 but they say cannot be paid IBJSA as claimed MA i.e. they imply cannot be paid but if overlaps then surely the IBJSA would top it up not stop the claim my concern is that being on MA i.e. looking after the child is incompatible with the job seekers agreeement

i.e. cannot get two earnings replacement benefits at the same time I am trying to find out if there is a difference, in the context of that rule, between income based and contributory JSA. Cheers.

Do they overlap?  No they don’t.

So IBJSA tops up MA then.

It does.

Don’t understand why she is still getting HB as MA is not a qualifying benefit for a right to reside.

We advise our clients to refuse MA and apply for (IB) JSA in order to qualify for HB.

An oversight on my part.  I agree with Tom.  Reg 15, JSA Regs.

On the Elmi argument, I’m using that decision on a right to reside appeal I have at the minute.  I feel fairly confident that if we can evidence the fact that she has declared to the DWP that she is looking for work then we’ll succeed.  If I remember correctly there is a question on the Hab’ Res’ form that asks “are you looking for work”?  If that is answered in the affirmative and the tribunal accept that she is in fact looking then I’m confident we’ll win.

Given that Elmi suggests that whether someone counts as having registered with the jobcentre as looking for work etc is not a matter of claiming JSA and meeting the JSA conditions, I think, as Tom says, that it must be arguable that a woman on MA who is looking for work and informs the JCP of this can argue she retains her worker status. The difficulty would presumably be that in most cases there will be a gap when the woman was not looking for work.

Our case of JS v SSWP now has permission to proceed to the Supreme Court and so we are hoping that the ridiculous spectre of pregnant women being denied benefits in this and similar situations will be sorted out- quite how such a phenonemon is compatible with free movement rights is beyond me.

Sorry not to be able to come up with anything better for the moment.

Just to clarify, my case is IS for a carer.  No maternity issues.