Help... come off benefits. tax credits and job grant how long???

nuttyelle

well after no help at all from the job centre and still not a penny in my account not only can i not pay the childminder but i cant pay travel costs, or for food etc either.
so was unable to start monday, so ive lost the job before i started.
rang up the 0845 number to put in a claim to be told it could take up to 12weeks???? also that i cant claim anything for 5week due to the 'job grant' which i have not received, and no one can tell me if it was even processed.
this whole system is a joke. as for them telling me to use family as free childcare, will they pay the £75a day train costs it would involve and for family to give up their jobs to watch the children? i dont think so.
THANKS COALITION, YOUVE RUINED SOMETHING THAT I WAS SO HAPPY ABOUT AND LOOKING FORWARD TO, COST ME MONEY, LEFT ME UNABLE TO PROVIDE FOR MY CHILDREN AND WELL & TRUELY SCREWED MY LIFE UP!
i feel so crap over this and if they dont sort something fast im going in nut house and kids in care as i cant starve them! oh and im not able to get loans from them as 'not on a qualifying benefit' makes me sick!

DX2

concerned43 wrote: »

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/employment/government_employment_schemes.htm
Return-to-work credit

If you're claiming Incapacity Benefit, Income Support because of incapacity or Employment and Support Allowance and you take a job where you're working for at least 16 hours a week, you may be able to get a return-to-work credit worth £40 a week. You only get this if your earnings are less than £15,000 a year and your job is expected to last at least five weeks. Ask at your local Jobcentre Plus office for more details.

Just to correct you return to work credit ^^^ is for disabled claimants. The one you are thinking about for lone parents is:

In Work Credit

In Work Credit is a fixed tax-free payment of £40 per week (£60 per week in London) for parents bringing up children alone. It is payable for up to 52 weeks on top of your earnings, when you start work of at least 16 hours per week. You need to claim it before you start work.
You may get In Work Credit if you:

• are bringing up children on your own
• have at least one child living with you who is under the age of 16
• are starting work of at least 16 hours a week
• expect that work to last five weeks or more

You must also have been claiming one or a combination of the following benefits for at least 52 weeks (short breaks of no more than five days are allowed):

• Income Support
• Jobseeker’s Allowance
• Employment Support Allowance - if you lost entitlement to Income Support due to the age of your youngest child and were not able to claim Jobseeker's Allowance because you were ill

DX2

nuttyelle wrote: »

well after no help at all from the job centre and still not a penny in my account not only can i not pay the childminder but i cant pay travel costs, or for food etc either.
so was unable to start monday, so ive lost the job before i started.
rang up the 0845 number to put in a claim to be told it could take up to 12weeks???? also that i cant claim anything for 5week due to the 'job grant' which i have not received, and no one can tell me if it was even processed.
this whole system is a joke. as for them telling me to use family as free childcare, will they pay the £75a day train costs it would involve and for family to give up their jobs to watch the children? i dont think so.
THANKS COALITION, YOUVE RUINED SOMETHING THAT I WAS SO HAPPY ABOUT AND LOOKING FORWARD TO, COST ME MONEY, LEFT ME UNABLE TO PROVIDE FOR MY CHILDREN AND WELL & TRUELY SCREWED MY LIFE UP!
i feel so crap over this and if they dont sort something fast im going in nut house and kids in care as i cant starve them! oh and im not able to get loans from them as 'not on a qualifying benefit' makes me sick!

Did you ask the JCP about this:

In-work Emergency Discretion Fund

Single parents who come off benefits and go into work may need money to cope with unexpected financial problems which could stop them carrying on with their job. If you're in this situation, you could apply to the In-work Emergency Discretion Fund. In some areas, all parents qualify. You must have a dependent child living in your household and you must be working for at least 16 hours a week. Your job must be expected to last for at least 26 weeks and you must have been in the job for less than 26 weeks. You could get a payment of up to £300. This fund only makes discretionary payments and your Jobcentre Plus personal adviser makes the decision about whether you should get the money. Ask your local Jobcentre Plus office for more details.

I can't understand how you can possibly blame the Condems for this.

Have you applied for a crisis loan?
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017683
Did you do a rapid reclaim for your IS or did you just re apply?

UnderPressure

nuttyelle wrote: »

well after no help at all from the job centre and still not a penny in my account not only can i not pay the childminder but i cant pay travel costs, or for food etc either.
so was unable to start monday, so ive lost the job before i started.
rang up the 0845 number to put in a claim to be told it could take up to 12weeks???? also that i cant claim anything for 5week due to the 'job grant' which i have not received, and no one can tell me if it was even processed.
this whole system is a joke. as for them telling me to use family as free childcare, will they pay the £75a day train costs it would involve and for family to give up their jobs to watch the children? i dont think so.
THANKS COALITION, YOUVE RUINED SOMETHING THAT I WAS SO HAPPY ABOUT AND LOOKING FORWARD TO, COST ME MONEY, LEFT ME UNABLE TO PROVIDE FOR MY CHILDREN AND WELL & TRUELY SCREWED MY LIFE UP!
i feel so crap over this and if they dont sort something fast im going in nut house and kids in care as i cant starve them! oh and im not able to get loans from them as 'not on a qualifying benefit' makes me sick!

I am really sorry to hear this I can fully understand how you are feeling, try and do the right thing and still get screwed it really is not on. This processing problem with tax credits is getting beyond a joke it really is, how the hell do they expect people to get back to work and arrange child care with no money whatsoever it is a complete shambles it really is!

OK well the main thing for you now is I suppose to get some form of money coming again, is another job out of the questions? I know probably a silly question in these times but if you could find something all the better, if not then you dont have a lot of choice but to claim your benefits back

I am not the most experienced to advise about income support etc, I would however suggest you go and speak to your local MP and see if they can intervene to speed the process up somehow.

If you are in need of utilities and food then you should apply for a crisis loan, you need to ring a number that you can get from the job centre, it is my understanding that anybody can apply for a crisis loan no matter what benefits if any you receive, so give the job centre a call and get the number from them, dont give them any details or anything just call the number for the jobcentre and ask them for the number to apply for a crisis loan.

I do hope you manage to sort all of this out soon, the worst part is that experience will probably put you off trying to get a job in future, so the very people the government want back in work it seems they make it so difficult even they lose hope

Let us know how you get on

UnderPressure

DX2 wrote: »

Did you ask the JCP about this:

In-work Emergency Discretion Fund

Single parents who come off benefits and go into work may need money to cope with unexpected financial problems which could stop them carrying on with their job. If you're in this situation, you could apply to the In-work Emergency Discretion Fund. In some areas, all parents qualify. You must have a dependent child living in your household and you must be working for at least 16 hours a week. Your job must be expected to last for at least 26 weeks and you must have been in the job for less than 26 weeks. You could get a payment of up to £300. This fund only makes discretionary payments and your Jobcentre Plus personal adviser makes the decision about whether you should get the money. Ask your local Jobcentre Plus office for more details.

This fund seems as though it would have fitted the bill nicely I wonder why the OP was never told about this.............

I also find it incredible that the final decision is left down to some jobsworth from the jobcentre, this leaves the whole system open to huge problems as far as I am concerned.

I can see how the OP can blame condem TBH all of these scenarios should have been thought about and procedures put in place to stop this kind of thing from happening, you can bet your bottom dollar that this nightmare wait with tax credits will be down to them as well somewhere along the line.

There should be some kind of financial reward to people leaving benefits and starting employment, some kind of a grant maybe or even an interest free loan of say £500 that gives the person a chance to sort things like childcare and get to work until their tax credit are sorted out, even at £500 it is still going to save the government money in the long run as that person will have more of a chance of making a job work for them, to be defeated before they even start really is sending the wrong message to these people that society look down upon!!

Its a crazy situation it really is and YES I firmly believe as well it is down to our priceless government yet again full of ideas and no substance whatsoever to back them up!

Please please please come back Tony Blair all is well and truly forgiven!

DX2

UnderPressure wrote: »

Its a crazy situation it really is and YES I firmly believe as well it is down to our priceless government yet again full of ideas and no substance whatsoever to back them up!

Please please please come back Tony Blair all is well and truly forgiven!

I'm going way off topic and I'm sue I will get my knuckles rapped again but remind me again who brought in tax credits, and how this can possibly be the fault of the Condems. You can pray for Tony as much as you want lol but just remember who created this mess.

UnderPressure

DX2 wrote: »

I'm going way off topic and I'm sue I will get my knuckles rapped again but remind me again who brought in tax credits, and how this can possibly be the fault of the Condems. You can pray for Tony as much as you want lol but just remember who created this mess.

mmmmmmmm from memory when the tax credit system was introduced it was a lot more efficient than it is now?? There was not people waiting weeks and weeks with no money back then?? People losing jobs because they could not get their child care paid quickly enough??

Of course you are right, this tax credit nightmare has not just started over the last few months, of course it was a fiasco before this but then I was never a fan of Gawdy Brown either....................

And in comparison to the old "family credit" that was introduced by the useless the tax credit system is a lot better or was at least.......

I too am off topic so apologies OP the fact is our great land is now well and truly !!!!!!ed until the next election, this is a fact nothing anyone can do about it apart from get on with it sadly, I suspect we are going to see a lot more threads like this in the months to come.

The thing that gets me the most is the benefit bashers, with a bit of luck a good few of the idiots will be public sector workers ha ha ha! They to will get to see what life is lie on the other side of the field when they become one of the "benefit spongers" they have bleated on about for sol long. Karma is a great thing

Anyway off topic again

OP best of luck I for one understand where you are coming from and do agree Condem have done nothing but make it impossible for you to get a job and cease claiming benefits.

MrsBartolozzi

Did your lone parent advisor not phone up TCs to tell them about the change? He/she should have. They can "fast track" your transfer from just CTC to both CTC and WTC.
I started work on Friday 15th of October. I saw my advisor on the Monday 18th to sign off (she was on holiday the previous week). My first wtc payment was in my account on the thursday and by yesterday I had my new amount going in. My award letter came today. I was really surprised at just how quick it was all sorted, but my LPA did say that she would get it done fast!
I know my story is of no help to you, but I was also told that if I didn't get the wtc sorted "soon" then to go back in and see her, so I'd recommend you speak with your advisor at the jobcentre and he/she might be able to get them to hurry things up.
Good luck , and I hope you have things sorted very soon.




To DX2 - I'm sure it was the Torys who brought in Tax Credits (under the name Family Credit, which evolved to working families tax credit, then tax credit as we know it today)- not Labour, if that's what you are insinuating. Labour did expand them though.

DX2

MrsBartolozzi wrote: »

To DX2 - I'm sure it was the Torys who brought in Tax Credits - not Labour, if that's what you are insinuating. Labour did expand them though.

Things can only get better Labour scheme through and through.

The Working Families Tax Credit is to be introduced
from October 1999. It will replace Family Credit, and
will be more generous. It will be administered by the
Inland Revenue, and paid either directly by them or
(from April 2000) through the wage packet.

The introduction of WFTC is one of the new Labour government’s flagship policies,aimed at improving incentives to work.