Jobcentre punishing me because THEY lost my claim

j0annepsi

I moved from the Republic of Ireland to London a month ago. I had been in receipt of job seekers allowance in Ireland for several months at the rate of €196 per week. Under EU law you may transfer your benefits to another EU country at the same rate for 13 weeks, to enable you to job seek abroad.

My local benefits office back in Ireland forwarded all my documentation to the DWP office in Newcastle which deals with these sorts of claims.

The day after I moved to London I went to my local job centre to sign on. To say the staff there were inept is an understatement. They as much as called me a liar when I said I was transporting my benefits. They sent me outside to use a payphone to ring the new claims helpline despite there being several phones free in the jobcentre. The helpline told me my claim needed to be dealt with clerically at the job centre and to go back in and tell them that. I did this and they said no, ring the new claims helpline again. Same story. Jobcentre "greeters" (not sure of their job title) rang "upstairs" who gave me an appointment to come back the next week. When I was on my way home they called me again and told me if I rushed back now, they would go through the claim with me in the office. I did this and was directed to someone's desk and told to ...ring the new claims helpline! I did all this and was given an appointment for the next week.

At this appointment I was accused of being a "benefits tourist" and exploiting the EU social fund. I called up the DWP website about transport of benefits and the relevant E303 form which shut this awful woman up but not before she said "we do get lots of foreigners coming here to claim benefits you know". Anyway she did her "work" and I came back the next day for my job seekers agreement interview etc.

Three weeks pass and i've heard nothing and received no money. I rang the benefits delivery centre last Thursday for an update. They got back to me on Friday to say they only received my claim on TUESDAY - THREE WEEKS after I made my claim! They tell me that despite the fact they've already gone over the legal 12 day maximum wait for processing a new claim, "it could be another week before you hear anything".

I ring again today and am told there is no update and "actually it's 28 working days from the day the processing centre receives your claim".

I have almost exhausted my savings. I have very little money left to cover food never mind my transport costs and I have a job interview next week yet I have no idea how i'm going to be able to top up my oyster card to allow me to get there.

What are my options here? The crisis loan people were useless and said they could only give me money for food. I am considering going to the job centre tomorrow and refusing to leave until a manager deals with my complaint.

I am a dual British/Irish citizen and I came here legitimately to seek work. I don't want to be a burden on the UK welfare system (and i'm NOT as they will be claiming back my dole payments from the Irish system which I have paid into for the last 10 years). Because some idiot in a job centre "forgot" to forward my paperwork (and i'm pretty sure it was that vile woman who accused me of benefits tourism), I am at serious risk of homelessness and/or not being able to afford to eat. I was told this sort of claim should only take 1-2 weeks MAXIMUM because I don't need to be means tested etc.

Advice would be much appreciated, thanks.

Mr_Falling_Star

Transport of Benefits between countries is hellaciously complicated and it doesn't surprise me that it hasn't worked out as planned. It is also a pretty rare occurance as most people coming to the UK Jobseeking have a back up plan and don't rely on Benefits, as least at first. Therefore it would be outside the experience of almost all local Jobcentre staff. If you wanted a resolution to your problem and you are in dire need then one way out could be to apply for a Crisis Loan as they will try and pay you your benefits first.

You could consider going back to Ireland and write off the whole thing as a bad experience?

NASA_2

I dont think there is much help that I can offer but have you tried calling the International Pension Centre? If not then this number (+44 191 218 7652) might be of some use. Its the number for JSA claims being dealt with by the IPC.

As for the 'target' date - its not actually a legal time limit - its an aspirational time limit. There are no convictions or civil lawsuits that result.

NASA_2

Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »

Transport of Benefits between countries is hellaciously complicated and it doesn't surprise me that it hasn't worked out as planned. It is also a pretty rare occurance as most people coming to the UK Jobseeking have a back up plan and don't rely on Benefits, as least at first. Therefore it would be outside the experience of almost all local Jobcentre staff. If you wanted a resolution to your problem and you are in dire need then one way out could be to apply for a Crisis Loan as they will try and pay you your benefits first.

You could consider going back to Ireland and write off the whole thing as a bad experience?

Transfers between UK and Ireland arent that rare at all. Numerous claims everyday.

The Jobcentre staff should have been up to date on this.

Mr_Falling_Star

NASA wrote: »

Transfers between UK and Ireland arent that rare at all. Numerous claims everyday.

The Jobcentre staff should have been up to date on this.

Not when I worked for the Benefits agency in a area with a large Irish community it wasn't.

GEEGEE8

It took them 6 weeks to pay me anything, due to me having a non-standard insurance policy that they weren't fmiliar with.

Don't hold your breath for a quick resolution.

NASA_2

Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »

Not when I worked for the Benefits agency in a area with a large Irish community it wasn't.

Well it certainly is now where I work.

Plenty of claims going to the IPC.

Mr_Falling_Star

NASA wrote: »

Well it certainly is now where I work.

Plenty of claims going to the IPC.

The IPC would be able to cope and up to speed, the clue is in the name. The local new claims adviser in the Jobcentre down the road however probably doesn't come across a great deal of these sort of claims and thus will be struggling.

NASA_2

Mr_Falling_Star wrote: »

The IPC would be able to cope and up to speed, the clue is in the name. The local new claims adviser in the Jobcentre down the road however probably doesn't come across a great deal of these sort of claims and thus will be struggling.

I wouldnt have the slightest clue how to process the claim, or how to get the information required from the relevant bodies, every member of staff should be aware though of the referral process.

There is huge amounts of guidance published on the DWP intranet site. I dont even work for DWP and I have read their guidance.

Even setting that aside - basically accusing someone of being a benefit tourist is terrible service - especially considering there is no bar at all in moving between benefit services in the UK/Ireland.

tcr_3

Imported benefit cases are ten a penny, especially in London.

"In my day" you faxed the E303 off to Newcastle, they faxed it back telling you how much the overseas benefit was in Sterling. And you paid that rate for 13 weeks. End of the claim, you totalled up how much had been paid, told Newcastle and they recovered the money from the other social security system.

It's easy peasy.

I can't believe how badly the Job Centre have mucked this one up.

j0annepsi

tcr wrote: »

Imported benefit cases are ten a penny, especially in London.

"In my day" you faxed the E303 off to Newcastle, they faxed it back telling you how much the overseas benefit was in Sterling. And you paid that rate for 13 weeks. End of the claim, you totalled up how much had been paid, told Newcastle and they recovered the money from the other social security system.

It's easy peasy.

I can't believe how badly the Job Centre have mucked this one up.

My local benefits office in Ireland sent the E303 to Newcastle before I had even moved over. Everything is in place from their side.

My job centre here in London told me my claim is processed in Belfast. But they didn't bother their !!!!!! to send the paperwork until almost three weeks after it had been completed.