Relevant year for Job S Ben Payments

Please amend heading if necessary.
Can anyone fill me in about the following:
Friend worked for all of 2007 contract was not renewed in 2008 so has no stamps for that year, did not claim any S/W. He was informed in Aug 2009 that he had been entitled to Job S Ben since Jan '09 he claimed for 4 weeks and then returned to college. His course will finish in June 2010 will he be able to claim the rest of his Job SB? Or does the fact that it is now 2010 mean that his 2007 stamps are no longer relevant and as he does not have any stamps in 2008 mean that he will not get anything?
Please excuse the post (I realise that I am not being very clear but I hope someone gets the jist of what I am trying tro ask) !

His claim in 2009 was paid on the basis of his 2007 record. His claim in June 2010 will be based on his 2008 record so he won't qualify for JB. He can go for the means-tested JA if he wants. See keypost guidfe at top of this forum.

Thanks for that I thought that was the situation alright. The reason he did not claim the Job S Ben from jan '09 was he had been told by social welfare in 2008 that he would not have enough contributions to qualify for Benefit

Stronge said:

Thanks for that I thought that was the situation alright. The reason he did not claim the Job S Ben from jan '09 was he had been told by social welfare in 2008 that he would not have enough contributions to qualify for Benefit

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Surely he continued to 'sign' for credited contributiosn to preserve future entitlements, including pension? He would have been advised to do so by SW at the time.

He had been out of the country for a number of years and on his return worked for about 12/14 months before his contract was finished. He was never advised by sign on for credits, (he had some savings which he used till Aug 2009)I realise now that he should have followed up on the Social Welfare situation further. (I feel very foolish as I always thought I knew a thing or two about Social welfare etc!) Pride cometh etc... I have just read your Key Post which I had not noticed before which has lots of excellent info. Hopefully when he finishes his course he will get a job quickly.

Most people claim, when they realise that they lost out on benefits, that they were not advised to sign on for credits. To overcome this, SW get people to sign an acknowledgement form that they have been advised of the option (it's such an important thing, SW staff really emphasise it). Your friend should call in and ask to see this to confirm that he was advised or not. If not, then he may have a case to ahve his claim backdated to January and get credits too.

Unfortunately he did not call in person, he called them up on the phone so no joy there. There is not much he can do at the moment as he is back in college now since Sept last. Thanks for all your info and advice.