Trying to claim your UIF benefit after some time might be difficult but there are certain ways to go about this only if you have the required documents and you are sure that you have been contributing to the system when you have been working. it is difficult to claim your  UIF after 4 years but there can be a way around it.

Can I Claim UIF after 5 Years?

Claiming UIF has been one of those things many people will wish that they did earlier on. There are so many unclaimed UIFs on the platform and this is due to some people not remembering that they have once contributed, some might have broken the rules or some might have even died. In the case of death, a dependent can claim the UIF, then what happens if the dependent does not have any idea of the UIF and gets to know it after a few years? There are so many cases like that and there are several ways to go about it.

If you have been contributing to UIF for four years or more, you can claim for up to 238 days or eight months. If you have been contributing for a shorter period, you can claim one day for every six days that you worked while you were contributing to the fund. If you take maternity leave, you can only claim up to 121 days. The fund pays a percentage of the wage/salary that you earned while you were contributing to it. The highest amount that can be paid is 58% of what you earned per day.

The amount you will be paid is determined differently, depending on your monthly salary. Claiming your UIF after 5 years can be very difficult especially when it is a case of death. This has been a major issue that lots of people have been trying to resolve and many families are going through endless stress of visiting the labour office. You must have it in mind that once you qualify for any of the benefits you should claim your UIF immediately, you must make plans to claim start the process and get all the necessary documents ready as this will assist you in making your claim.

It is almost impossible to claim your UIF after five years, this is why there is a time frame given mostly after four years and all that as this will help you in knowing how much you have contributed to the system. Some calculators online only calculate UIF that is four years or below anything more than that will not give you an accurate figure, this is due to the policies that have been stated by the UIF. Each benefit has time that you can claim it, for unemployment it should be within six months after you have stopped working.

UIF can be claimed for 12 months, provided that you have full credit days. This simply means for every four days that you work as a contributor, you receive one day’s credit, subject to a maximum of 12 months. To qualify for the full credit days you must have worked as a contributor for more than four years.

Each benefit has a method that can be used to qualify for it. In the case of the death benefit, one can qualify The surviving spouse/life partner must apply for benefits within eighteen months from the date of death of the contributor. A dependent child can apply for benefits if the surviving spouse/life partner has not applied within twelve months of the contributor’s death and has six months and 14 days from the date of death of the contributor to apply. (18 months apply to everyone) Any child of the deceased who is between the ages of 21 and 25 at the date of death of the contributor may also qualify for benefits.

The child must be a learner/student and must have wholly depended on the deceased contributor. Subject to credits, benefits can be paid for a maximum of 365 days within four years. Contributors will be allowed to nominate their beneficiaries in case of death benefits, provided there is no surviving spouse/ life partner or children. Another category of the UIF is the adoption benefit which can be claimed within 12 months of the adoption order date and the child being adopted must be younger than two years.

According to the UIF claiming maternity benefits can be quite tricky as there are so many documents that will be needed from you. The application should be made before the birth of a child or within twelve months of the birth of the child. The contributor must be receiving less than the normal remuneration whilst on maternity leave.

Benefits are payable at a flat rate of 66% to a female contributor, for confinement or the period after the birth of a child. In an event of a miscarriage or a stillbirth, benefits are paid for a maximum period of 121 days. The worker must have been employed for at least 13 weeks before the date of application for maternity benefits. In comes of illness benefits application must be made within six months of the worker becoming too ill to work and a medical claim will be required for this illness, benefits will be paid once it is up to seven (7) days of being too seriously sick.  Once you can follow all these procedures to make your claim then definitely you will be receiving every benefit that you have from the UIF.

Finally

Claiming benefits after 5 years in the UIF may seem impossible and it is not even a safe option. We have given you everything you need to know about claiming benefits in the UIF and the procedures which are needed to make sure everything is successful. The UIF Is one of those programs that is needed by everyone because of the benefits that are attached to it. You are good to go as long as you don’t fail in your contribution.