jsa sanction

birdofprey

hi i need help i'm at the end of my tether.....
Last year both my husband and I were made redundant. We had to apply for JSA. We have 2 children under the age of 18, 1 in school and 1 in college which we receive CTC for.
my husband has been going to sing on and been going to the job search appointment every time. at 1 particular job search appointment he was given job details for a poat he was not qualified to do and was expected to apply for the post . Because my husband was not qualified for the post and the travelling distance (double what was agreed with job center adviser) for the job he did not apply for it.
We received a letter from JSA saying that they were looking into our JSA claim because he did not apply for the post. We did appeal while they were looking into our claim but they decided to go ahead with the sanction. The sanction is for 3 months. We put in another appeal 3 weeks ago along with hardship payment claim.
Yesterday my husband rang JSA to enquire about our appplication for hardship payments he was told that appeals take 52 days to be looked at and was told that they had received the hardship claim form but had lost it!
Today we have an appointment to go to the job center and fill in the form again in the hope that they sort it out quickly. Has any body else been in this position if so do you have any advise for us
Many thanks

frank_begbie

They did a similar thing to me a few months ago. Stopped my benefit for 21 weeks.
I appealed and they reinstated my benefit with out going to appeal, but in the meanwhile my money had been stopped for 4 weeks.

I applied for hardship and got that until my full money was started again.

Looks like they are stopping everybody's benefit. Its just a matter of when its your turn.

Hammyman

Under JSA rules, you can only choose to reject a job due to unsuitability for the first 6 months. After that you are expected to apply for pretty much everything, ESPECIALLY ONES GIVEN TO YOU BY THE JOBCENTRE within travel to work area which is roughly a 30-35 mile radius.

NickyBat

Fill in another hardship form asap - as you have a dependant this will be paid but at a reduced rate. In the meantime while this is being processed you can apply for a crisis loan - this will help tide you over until hardship is granted.

birdofprey

Hammyman wrote: »

within travel to work area which is roughly a 30-35 mile radius.

travelling 30-35 mile radius is not a problem the travelled 30 radius before he was made redundant.
the job they wanted him to apply for was 60 miles away!

Indie_Kid

Hammyman wrote: »

Under JSA rules, you can only choose to reject a job due to unsuitability for the first 6 months. After that you are expected to apply for pretty much everything, ESPECIALLY ONES GIVEN TO YOU BY THE JOBCENTRE within travel to work area which is roughly a 30-35 mile radius.

You're expected to travel for up to one hour. You can't be forced to apply for jobs where you don't meet the requirements.

dookar

There is no absolute time limit. There is no absolute distance limit. The only person who can decide if an applicant meets the requirements is the employer. You are not sanctioned for not getting the job, you are sanctioned for not applying

birdofprey

this gets better and better
went to the job center and told them we had an appointment at 2pm only to be told that my husband had not been logged for said appointment.
went back on the phone and told them that the appointment they made for us had not been logged and made another appointment for 2.05pm went back to the desk and said we had an appointment for 2.05pm they look on computer and guess what nothing!!
they then give us another form to fill in which will probably take at least a week to be looked at unless they loose it again of course!
i have been busy this evening writing a letter of complaint with regard to this matter i really have had enough. Not everyone on jobseekers are work shy who choose to live this rubbish life style yet they treat every body the same- like something nasty under their shoe!!!:eek:

red_devil

its awful all the errors best to keep out the jc if you can? hope you get some dosh soon.

trevormax

Couple of questions.

1. Was the job he was told to apply for permanent?
If not, RE action can not be taken against him

2. Was it 25 hours/week or more?
If not, RE action can not be taken against him

3. Is the job still available for application?
If so, RE action can not be taken against him unless he point blank refused to apply for it. If he has just failed to apply for it and it is still open, he can apply for it and the sanction can be removed.

You don't need an appointment to fill out the hardship form. Just ask one of the floor managers on the front desk to provide you with the form and help to fill it in. Be polite and friendly to the floor manager. Do not shout or become aggressive. Do not blame the JCP. These things will prevent the floor manager from wanting to help you and will likely damage your chances of getting this situation resolved quickly.

More advice I will give you is:

Have you checked with HMRC that you are not due a tax refund for the tax year you both lost your jobs? Phone them up and ask them to do an informal calculation.

Have you informed HMRC Tax Credits that your income has dropped due to losing your jobs and going on to JSA? If not, you may be entitled to more child tax credit by basing your claim on the expected currant years income if it is going to be lower than the last tax years income.

Get the telephone number for your JCP's benefit delivery centre. once you have put the hardship forms in, chase up once or twice a week until something happens. Again, be polite and friendly. I'm not saying you were not being nice to them but being an !!! never helps.

stassy23

my partner had a letter about a month ago saying they were looking into his claim and that he didnt apply for a job etc and to write the reasons so we went down the jc and they were use less, he did apply for the job so we wrote that and then they said no further action will be taken but im still not sure, hes def not work shy but no one gives him a chance