Scamming EMA!

Oldernotwiser

Rosemary7391 wrote: »

If the £30 a week makes the difference between someone being able to go to college and having to get a job, fine. If it is the reason they want to go to college.... Why? It'll only take away resources from those who want to be there regardless, and at worst could actively disrupt the learning. So I really don't understand it as an incentive....

But they're not wandering the streets getting into trouble and at least they're positively occupied and out of harm's way. In this day and age that's very worthwhile and £30 per week is a small price to pay.

jp_jenkins

so what if your parents did agree? would you're views be different? Sounds like a bit of a jealous rant to me heh

NumeroDeux

BusinessStudent wrote: »

I am really peed of with this.

I know many people in my class at college who are SCAMMING EMA

I get nothing, ziltch, sod all!

I work at M&S on the weekends (£80 - *£110 if doing overtime*), support my self by doing paper rounds (£40) and sell on eBay.

The way im going, it does look like I will earn above the tax limit for student and be taxed 10%.

What is really annoying me Is that people are SCAMMING THE EMA by saying they live with there Nan or relatives! and they are geting the FULL WHACK OF £30 a week plus bonuses of £100 and im geting nothing.

Why arent EMA checking up on people who are making false claims? I asked my parents to say I lived with my nan and they refussed!

The people who get EMA only go to college because of their money, they brag about how much they get each week and go clothes shopping during breaks. Everyone should get it or no one at all

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't JSA about 50% more than EMA and they don't care who you live with?

Oldernotwiser

verbicide wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't JSA about 50% more than EMA and they don't care who you live with?

Only if you have enough contributions and only then for 6 months. After that it's means tested on household income.

I don't really see the relevance of your question but thought I'd answer it anyway!

bestpud

jp_jenkins wrote: »

so what if your parents did agree? would you're views be different? Sounds like a bit of a jealous rant to me heh

Quite! It's not the 'scamming' they are bothered about but the fact they can't do it! :rolleyes:

For the record, EMA students are not all there for the money. Likewise, not all are scamming!

I happen to think it's a minority who scam the system but here we go again - same old, same old!

I imagine a good proportion say they have scammed it rather than admit the family have no money!

And I will say it again - if all these people really exist and it's a fact they are scamming, why don't people report them? :rolleyes: Wouldn't be because it amounts to nothing more than gossip, hearsay and pure jealousy, would it? Nah, course not!!

Titch89

bestpud wrote: »

For the record, EMA students are not all there for the money.

I ot kicked off two of my A Level courses because I was struggling. I asked the Head of 6th Form if I would still get EMA. She then pretty much said that I was only there for the money.:rolleyes: For the record, I wasn't; but wanted to know whether I'd still get it or not.

NumeroDeux

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Only if you have enough contributions and only then for 6 months. After that it's means tested on household income.

I don't really see the relevance of your question but thought I'd answer it anyway!

Ahh I see. I thought it might actually be cheaper to keep these kids on ema (£1800 p/y roughly) than the alternative which would be JSA, but I guess that's not quite the case. I think it still might be cheaper in the long run, because if you pay them a bit to stay in college and then they end up going to uni and getting a degree they'll probably contribute back more than they've ever been given.

Oldernotwiser

verbicide wrote: »

Ahh I see. I thought it might actually be cheaper to keep these kids on ema (£1800 p/y roughly) than the alternative which would be JSA, but I guess that's not quite the case. I think it still might be cheaper in the long run, because if you pay them a bit to stay in college and then they end up going to uni and getting a degree they'll probably contribute back more than they've ever been given.

Young people of this age are usually ineligible for any benefits except in very unusual circumstances.

I'm sure that your thinking is partially right, although for many it's the fact of keeping them on the straight and narrow that's more likely than producing university level students! The government's policy is that all of this age range should be in education, employment or training and whatever political standpoint you view it from, this is seems to be perfectly reasonable. In the great scheme of things EMA isn't expensive and is generally considered to be a success.

Oldernotwiser

bestpud wrote: »

Quite! It's not the 'scamming' they are bothered about but the fact they can't do it! :rolleyes:

For the record, EMA students are not all there for the money. Likewise, not all are scamming!

I happen to think it's a minority who scam the system but here we go again - same old, same old!

I imagine a good proportion say they have scammed it rather than admit the family have no money!

And I will say it again - if all these people really exist and it's a fact they are scamming, why don't people report them? :rolleyes: Wouldn't be because it amounts to nothing more than gossip, hearsay and pure jealousy, would it? Nah, course not!!

That covers all the points brilliantly!

To the envious posters:
If YOU'RE not eligible for EMA why should it matter if others get it - honestly or not? Even if they get found out it still won't make the slightest difference to the situation of someone who isn't eligible.Shouting "unfair " all the time is a pretty pointless exercise and gets you nowhere.

liquidlives

I find it really odd that these people haven't been checked up on. My school is really tough on it. I missed morning registration once for an A-Level Maths exam and was sent a letter saying I wouldn't be paid that week, despite having been registered for the exam by the teacher the letter was purportedly from! I went to see the lady at my school in charge of EMA and she sorted it out for me. Pretty irritating, especially when you consider that other schools in the borough just say that students are eligible for their weekly payments even when they have missed whole days of school because they were simply bunking. Ah well, at least I got the money in the end.