Thinking of coming off JSA....friendly advice wanted

crazyshady

Well there is a few factors involved. One is i've been unemployed for 6 months and going to the Job Centre i find is quite stressful and got to the point a while ago were i just dreaded going. I had a contract job earlier this year but before that i was sent on a course but i was actually on there one day before i got this job via an agency and guess were the job was?......inside the place i was meant to go for the course. So for the next 3 months i was able to see how the place operated and the kind of people that get sent on these things. Not that there was anything wrong with everyone that went but some of them had no hopes of getting a job. They just didn't care about anything.

So after a few family problems this year after the course finished i just continued as normal. I am really looking into going self employed and that doesn't mean i have lots of money but i have some, enough to get me started. The problem with this is it takes time. So i cant get a job, i'm looking to go self employed and i'm going to this job centre every 2 weeks and i'm actually quite unhappy. I'm 23 and ashamed to say that i am unhappy with it and no i don't want to go and it's not a very nice feeling. I'm trying to sort things out with my own life and always on the lookout for oppertunities to work for myself and there is a few things i do on the side that gets me a little money. Probably on a good week i could make just as much as i would get on JSA so i know that isn't exactly a lot.

So 6 months have past and i am being sent on that course again and the idea of going back to those people, especially since i was quiet and kept myself to myself...the idea of going back to my last place of work and since their tied to the Job Centre i need to go and basically say...since i was last here i've done nothing. That is how they will see it. It is quite humiliating and of course i have been booked to go next Tuesday which is quite quick. I am next due to get paid on Wednesday. I am just sick of it and i haven't said to anyone that i am unhappy and my family aren't used to job centres so if you say it is quite demoralising it is usually met by laughs and to be fair if the shoe was on the other foot i would probably laugh too. So one part of me is like this is it, this is my chance to make a change and do something with my life and the other is like well you'll lose £45 garanteed money every week....and most likely get moaned at by everyone about why i am doing it and how stupid i am for doing it and the questions on how i will have money to live on.


The idea of living on savings is not a good idea to a lot of people but if i managed on JSA and still had change left over it can't be that bad can it? I was hoping to run a catering trailer but the schools ruined the good places with their silly 500 metre rule. A small cafe is possible. I don't want people to tell me what a good thing i am doing unless they mean it and i don't want people to tell me what a fool i am being either even though it is probably true. Just advice on any questions i might be asked, do i have to pay any National Insurance stuff while i am not claiming? Say 4 or 6 weeks down the line and something goes horribly wrong and the only decision i have in the world is to sign back on!!!!!!!!!!!.........cou ld they just turn round and say no since i wouldn't have any proof of working or would they just sign me back on and stick me right back on that course? I don't know if a certain period of time needs to pass before your no longer eligable for those courses. Sorry for the long post but this has put a huge damper on my Christmas and life. I need to sort my head out and start making decisions.

PinkMascara

as far as i know you have to be signed off for 3 months before you need to start again and wont get sent on the course (any pro's can correct me if im wrong)

also I know how you feel about going into the Job Center, I've done it for 6 months but managed to get a new job which starts in jan, I felt so good when I signed off

busy_mom_2

From what you have said I presume you mean new deal 18 - 24 course?
Have you spoken to you adviser about self employment because there is a provision under new deal for self employment which is really good but you will have to be referred to a provider who will say yes or no to your business idea so you ahve nothing to lose by going. If they accept you you work with them not attend the other courses. If they say no them I'm afraid it back to the other course.
If you signed off you would have to stay signed off benefit for 13 weeks or more to not be referred back to new deal. You can reclaim at any stage, but within 13 weks would link you back to new deal.

If you are earning money on the side you should be declaring it, if you get found out you face prosecution and then risk a criminal background which isn't going to help. Speak to your adviser, she can't exclude you from new deal but can help with self employment provided you are not claimiing and working.

crazyshady

One question i was not too sure about was since i am living with my family still will that affect their benefits? They are not able to work for health reasons but i don't know if me living here or working/not working would affect anything they get.


It is not New Deal i am on since i was on that briefly 4 years ago. They can't send you back to it twice. This is a separate thing and i was given the choice of three companys to go with. The reason i picked the same one was because he said there was a branch local to me so i thought well it wont be as bad but then he signed me up to the one i already went to and just said to say to them i want to go to the local one instead. Part of me was thinking of just phoning them myself and seeing if i could get the interview changed to the local branch instead. This was the 26 week interview and i was in and out in 10 minutes. All the paperwork was there and it was a case of choose which one you want , sign here and here and off you go. If i had known the Job Centre provided help with self employment i would have said something but i doubt there is much i can do now other than sign off.

busy_mom_2

If you are aged 18 - 24 you go on new deal every 6 months of continous employmenteven if you have been on it before, sounds more like flexible new deal.
How long have you been claiming this period? Go back and speak to your adviser if you are on flexible new deal depends what stage you are at and with out all the facts its hard to advise.

crazyshady

I have been claiming 6 months now. I had my 13 week interview 3 months ago and nothing was said. I had my original 6 month interview a few weeks ago and they put me on New Deal. I got a phone call later on that day saying that because i had been on it already they can't put me on it again and rebooked another interview for today. When i went in i was given 3 employment companies and told to choose one. When it was signed he booked me an appointment for this Tuesday and said good luck etc.

dmg24

Who are the employment companies? This will help us to determine which scheme you are on.

busy_mom_2

crazyshady wrote: »

I have been claiming 6 months now. I had my 13 week interview 3 months ago and nothing was said. I had my original 6 month interview a few weeks ago and they put me on New Deal. I got a phone call later on that day saying that because i had been on it already they can't put me on it again and rebooked another interview for today. When i went in i was given 3 employment companies and told to choose one. When it was signed he booked me an appointment for this Tuesday and said good luck etc.

Sound like flxible new deal but need to know if you are stage 3 or stage 4, have you got a copy of your action plan?
Have they told you to just attend the jobcentre for signing? Issued you any literature at all? a booklet called FND1?

crazyshady

One of them was called Employment Zone and one is Working Links, can't remember the other one. The words New Deal were never mentioned to me and stages were never mentioned to me.. The green form says EZ1JP and i am a new referral.

busy_mom_2

crazyshady wrote: »

One of them was called Employment Zone and one is Working Links, can't remember the other one. The words New Deal were never mentioned to me and stages were never mentioned to me.. The green form says EZ1JP and i am a new referral.

Sorry my office doesn't do employment zones we are phase one of flexible new deal so I cannot offer you any other advise than speak to your adviser, sorry.

crazyshady

Oh ok then. Well i am not sure what i could say to them.