Warning! Big benefit payments shake-up: frequency and pay-day will change for most

cd1951

I received a small flyer in with another letter last week advising me of these changes. According to the flyer all benefits are gong from either weekly/fortnightly to fortnightly/four weekly. It states the dates of effect as being between 01 April 2009 to 31 Oct. 2009. It does not state whether this is just for Scotland (where I live)- but there is definately no extension on these dates. I phoned the DWP office up in Glasgow and they were not fully aware of this change and also sceptical about how people would cope with regular frequent bill payments from their bank accounts. I have also discovered from this article that my benefits will be paid a day later due to my NI number!! The leaflet I received does not say anything about loans to tide people over!! If the 'notice' period of one month is adhered to (which I doubt), that is insufficient time to apply for a loan, as they are taking about 6 weeks to process at the moment and will no doubt get longer. I would advise people to either apply for a Crisis Loan or a Budgeting loan in anticipation of these chages-well before they happen and keep the aside for this change!! Forewarned is forearmed!!

Many thanks to you for providing this information!!

LizzieS_2

cd1951 wrote: »

I According to the flyer all benefits are gong from either weekly/fortnightly to fortnightly/four weekly.

It is pretty easy to guess that once the weekly's move to fortnightly, there will then be another change to make all four weekly (not just those who were paid fortnightly before the current change).

I'm struggling to see the problem here - after all a job you may get may well not pay you anything for a whole month (at least with benefits paid in arrears you will have an income whilst first working).

junayda

As many people have said I'm pretty sure benefits have always been paid in arrears, so I'm a bit confused about that, maybe some aren't while others are?

Regardless, the problem with the loan is that it almost certainly won't be enough to cover the whole period of time claimants will be without their regular income -as is almost always the case with any type of loan from DWP- which will mean when they do start getting their regular payments again they'll already be in hardship; will have to use their regular payments to clear up accumulated expenses and undoubtedly continue to be in hardship for some time after with the added expense of a loan repayment, and this is a best case scenario assuming loans and payments are processed and arrive on time, God help us if they get the dreaded 'backlog'.

The suggestion that people on benefits can't budget their money effectively is laughable, in fact anyone whose ever had to claim will know it's impossible to make ends meet week to week without doing so; a lot of the time there just isn't enough to pay even the essentials.

I'm not knocking the benefits system, yes we're lucky to have it, but as many posters have pointed out the sheer volume of red tape involved in dealing with it is a full-time job in itself at times like this - not to mention being treated like a numbnut/fraudster by the staff in a lot of cases.

If you are lucky enough to have a full-time job that pays better than the pittance you'd get if you didn't there's a long, looong queue at the Jobcentre of people willing to trade places, so count yourself one of the lucky ones. There's plenty of people claiming who'd love to have another option and don't through no fault of their own.

Apologies if I'm ranting but it gets my goat when people try to over simplify what's oh-so-not-so-simple.

bestpud

junayda wrote: »

As many people have said I'm pretty sure benefits have always been paid in arrears, so I'm a bit confused about that, maybe some aren't while others are?

Regardless, the problem with the loan is that it almost certainly won't be enough to cover the whole period of time claimants will be without their regular income -as is almost always the case with any type of loan from DWP- which will mean when they do start getting their regular payments again they'll already be in hardship; will have to use their regular payments to clear up accumulated expenses and undoubtedly continue to be in hardship for some time after with the added expense of a loan repayment, and this is a best case scenario assuming loans and payments are processed and arrive on time, God help us if they get the dreaded 'backlog'.

The suggestion that people on benefits can't budget their money effectively is laughable, in fact anyone whose ever had to claim will know it's impossible to make ends meet week to week without doing so; a lot of the time there just isn't enough to pay even the essentials.

I'm not knocking the benefits system, yes we're lucky to have it, but as many posters have pointed out the sheer volume of red tape involved in dealing with it is a full-time job in itself at times like this - not to mention being treated like a numbnut/fraudster by the staff in a lot of cases.

If you are lucky enough to have a full-time job that pays better than the pittance you'd get if you didn't there's a long, looong queue at the Jobcentre of people willing to trade places, so count yourself one of the lucky ones. There's plenty of people claiming who'd love to have another option and don't through no fault of their own.

Apologies if I'm ranting but it gets my goat when people try to over simplify what's oh-so-not-so-simple.

This change over is not as bad as it is being made out to be!

And people can survive ok on benefits IF they budget - that is a fact! I disagree entirely that those on benefits are the poorest in society - they are in fact the ones who have a reliable income and perhaps the least to worry about. Of course they are also the ones who feel an entitlement and moan loudest when there is a hitch in their pay.

As said, working people often go without money if they swap jobs, or their employer decides they will change from weekly to monthly wages! And, although some offer a little help with the transition, it is nowhere near as generous as that being offered here.

Yes, maybe it is harder for those with big debts but same goes for those on a low income, and those on benefits are generally able to negotiate lower payments too.

I am on benefits at the moment btw and have been in the distant past too (before New Labour and their more generous system!)

I reiterate: the loan is simple to access and is a weeks benefit basically.

It is automatic and simply requires the claimant to sign and return the form.

The later letter (not the flyer, or early warning letter) clearly states what will happen and when. It also clearly states how the loan will be repaid and when repayments will start.

If I do not take the loan, the maximum time I will be without any money is, wait for it...

A whole 10 days!! :eek: :rolleyes:

And my pay day is changing from a Monday to a Thursday so that will be less for many people.

Yes, people will have to pay £5 a week out of their benefit, over a twelve week period and interest free BUT, there is actually no need for that if people take heed of their warning letter and the further month (at least) they are given when the actual letter arrives.

We are talking about three exra days here guys and, sorry if this offfends, but I see no reason why people cannot budget ahead for this inconvenience (as working people have to!)

Plus, once in place it will prevent many of the overpayment issues we see on here and it is will be more like the world of work, which hopefully many on benefits are ultimately aiming for!

It will not be a problem for later claimants - it is just the short transition phase. In a years times, this will seem nothing, so perhaps we need to get it into perspective?

seven-day-weekend

Excellent post bestpud.

kevanf1

KimYeovil wrote: »

Being on benefits does not mean you are !!!!!! or incompetent. You can manage your affairs if you like.

And if you choose not to manage things then you are used to regularly spending all your money the day you receive it. Living on nothing for six days is not significantly different from living on nothing for thirteen or twenty days.

There is no story. There is nothing to see here. Move along.

The milk of human kindness...

kevanf1

Ok, this is my personal experience. I have been on disability benefits for 9 years now. I am only 46 yet I am riddled with arthritis mainly though too much hard work in my earlier life; yes, you can do too much hard work and it has hurt me! My condition is getting worse, it cannot get any better unless the boffins find a cure for osteo arthritis.

So, my benefits are Incapacity Benefit and DLA. A few weeks ago I realised that my payment had not gone into my account. I gave it a couple of days then rang the benefits agency. They told me that my Incapacity Benefit was now being paid every four weeks instead of every two. I have had no letter informing me of this and this benefit is supposedly not included in the ones in the change. Yet it obviously is. Thankfully my wife budgets very well so we managed, just about. But for two weeks we had to scrimp and scrape to feed ourselves.

Be warned...

Indian_Queen

I received a letter on 25 Feb "Important changes for people receiving the following benefits from Jobcentre Plus: Income Support: Incapacitiy Benefits: Jobseekers and Bereavement Benefit.
Jobcentre Plus is making the way it pays benefits and allowances simpler. (??)
IT ALSO STATES THAT 4 WEEKS BEFORE THESE CHANGES TAKE PLACE WE WILL WRITE TO YOU AGAIN. BUT you can visit the jobcentre website then look for payday changes, or call on 0845 604 0677.
Im in the north east and my friend on the west coast has also received the same letter.
I hope this helps clarify some of your questions.
take care...

junayda

As Kevanf1's post show's, it's all very well in theory, if you get the relevant letters and everything is processed on time. Where I live in East London the Benefits agencies are notorious for incompetence and bad practice, ridiculous waiting times and being virtually impossible to reach on the phone. Yes, it is improving but slowly.

I'm more than aware that being on a low income is as bad if not worse than being on benefits, I didn't state people claiming were the 'poorest in society', but since the thread is about benefit changes I was discussing the relevant topic; people on benefits.


I think stating that you personally can see no reason why people can't budget accordingly is naive and idealistic to the amount of people these changes will effect. You can manage? Good for you, and what about the people that can't? If you're already receiving deductions on your benefits even £5 can be crippling.

As always, being told 'people on benefits feel an entitlement and moan the loudest' is a stereotypical, unhelpful generalisation which I can see no reason for other than to offend. But what's new eh?

And as to whether or not the changeover is as bad as it as being made out to be, isn't that yet to be seen?

seven-day-weekend

junayda wrote: »

As Kevanf1's post show's, it's all very well in theory, if you get the relevant letters and everything is processed on time. Where I live in East London the Benefits agencies are notorious for incompetence and bad practice, ridiculous waiting times and being virtually impossible to reach on the phone. Yes, it is improving but slowly.

I'm more than aware that being on a low income is as bad if not worse than being on benefits, I didn't state people claiming were the 'poorest in society', but since the thread is about benefit changes I was discussing the relevant topic; people on benefits.


I think stating that you personally can see no reason why people can't budget accordingly is naive and idealistic to the amount of people these changes will effect. You can manage? Good for you, and what about the people that can't? If you're already receiving deductions on your benefits even £5 can be crippling.

As always, being told 'people on benefits feel an entitlement and moan the loudest' is a stereotypical, unhelpful generalisation which I can see no reason for other than to offend. But what's new eh?

And as to whether or not the changeover is as bad as it as being made out to be, isn't that yet to be seen?

I have known people like this. One man in particular was having deductions for all sorts of 'messes' he'd got himself into in the past.

Although he was a dear man he was quite inadequate,virtually unemployable for all sorts of reasons and to him yet another change to his 'money' would have caused him great stress and grief (and also hardship when he would almost certainly have got himself into another 'mess)'. Receiving a letter in Job Centre-ese would have not helped him one little bit , in fact it would cause him more stress and grief as he could barely read.

The only way he knew to deal with any of this would be to threaten JC staff. We did help him as much as we could and hopefully showed him a better way.

However, just because my mate Joe couldn't cope with it (and I'm sure there are plenty of Joe's around), is that any reason not to do it? A method of having money for the extra time they are without has been put into place, I don't really see what else can be done.