constructive dismissal earned me a JSA sanction now im jobless and pennyless

mitch161

Whiteknight wrote: »

How long have they actually sanctioned you for?

Are you able to downgrade your Sky package to the lowest possible to help reduce costs and £200 in the bank is not that bad, reading your original post it came across as all doom and gloom.

If you don't have the money to cover your expenses then you need to look at reducing those expenses. You are just lucky that your friend is allowing you to use their internet connection - just hope they live locally so you don't need to drive to use it.

in the good old days of employment i had the luxury of sky world. what made it more lucky for me is that when i first contracted in i asked for the minimum. and then upgraded 2 weeks later. so i have already got sky to reduce back down to the initial minimum of £20 a month.

i had £2,500 month before unemployment. all bills came at once car tax, insurance, mot. which i paid a years worth as i always do of car insurance and tax, i dont like monthly payments. never did.. and then BAM unemployed.

housing rent/council tax is taken care of. but there are un avoidable expenses right now.

TV licence, water rates, gas electricity, home insurance, and food.
with sky i was slowly withdrawing maybe £5 a week from my at the time £250 left in bank while under JSA. but now while appeal is going on im withdrawing up £20 a week. which if the sanction appeal does not work in my favour and worse case i denied hardship payment i have 10 weeks of food gas and electric (already budgetted to the minimum e.g meals under £1.10, gas on for just 20 minutes per 4 hour period just to top up a little heat)

or if this winter weather continues may turn into just 5 weeks or less of money if i have to have heating on longer to stop the shaky bone syndrome lol.

yes its not starvation yet as im organised to prepare and stretch my money. but if i ate like i did just 6 months ago that money would have been gone in 3 days. so im doing well.

the sanction, just reading off the letter suggests it applies for 6 months from just over a week ago. basically till may 2011.

i have read somewhere that the benefits department works on a 3 strike process where they meant to sanction for 1 week, then more for second offence etc.

they suggest its because if i voluntarilly resigned i not entitled to JSA.. but 6months with nothing is rediculous after soo many years of paying tax and national insurance!!!!

the other stressful part is the contructive dismissal talks/interviews with my previous employer whom dont want to admit such occured, yet JSA need proof.

head gonna explode soon i thinks LOL

the timing of my water rates and sky this week (with no benefit of any kind) have brought me to this site seeking support as £40 water rates and £20 sky brought me below the £200 in bank and putting £10 on electric and £10 on gas each week/fortnight if lucky is getting tougher and tougher to budget, if the appeals and hardship payments dont reply to me positively. hense why i trying to seek support to further reduce out goings now before the bank account shows a big fat zero

dookar

mitch161 wrote: »

the sanction, just reading off the letter suggests it applies for 6 months from just over a week ago. basically till may 2011.

i have read somewhere that the benefits department works on a 3 strike process where they meant to sanction for 1 week, then more for second offence etc.

they suggest its because if i voluntarilly resigned i not entitled to JSA.. but 6months!!!!

leaving voluntarily is not a fixed period sanction, they can make it anything up to 26 weeks. Though that does seem unduly harsh in your case.

mitch161 wrote: »

the other stressful part is the contructive dismissal talks/interviews with my previous employer whom dont want to admit such occured, yet JSA need proof.

head gonna explode soon i thinks LOL

Constructive dismissal is an entirely different area of law and not relevant, you merely need to say what you did to resolve any grievances you had

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

Just a thought - are you depressed or suffering extreme anxiety? :whistle:

dmg24

Jojo_the_Tightfisted wrote: »

Just a thought - are you depressed or suffering extreme anxiety? :whistle:

Why would that be relevant?

Sueinbirmingham

Had you thought of seeing if your employer would cough up some money to avoid going to a tribunal? You could state your position about constructive dismissal and how you can take it to tribunal, but offer to settle. Better a bit of money now when you need it than more later. You never know your luck.

Sueinbirmingham

dmg24 wrote: »

Why would that be relevant?

If you're not fit for work on mental grounds, you can claim ESA. The criteria are a nightmare, though.

Edit - it's not wise to claim mental health problems if you don't have them, not least because future employers will be very wary of them, plus if you fake your claim it won't go down well with the DWP, but if life was so unbearable where you worked that you had to leave, it's not an unreasonable question whether this had an adverse effect on your mental health.

dmg24

Sueinbirmingham wrote: »

If you're not fit for work on mental grounds, you can claim ESA. The criteria are a nightmare, though.

I knew exactly what Jojo was getting at, but why would you suggest that to someone who was asking about Jobseekers Allowance, other than to put in a fraudulent claim?

mitch161

Uncertain wrote: »

I understand the concern and I'm pleased you managed to get a refund.

The problem is though doing noting about the Sky issue is not really an option. Two months comes to more than a £35 charge (which you will eventually get back).

Make sure any dealings with the bank are in writing. If you decide to cancel the DD authority WRITE (emails are fine but don't phone or call in) and point out their previous error. If they get even the slightest thing wrong then go for the throat. Demand compensation, move it up the ladder and if need be go to the FOS.

im not doing nothing. its just this sanction occured last week and sky and water rates debited out of my account soon after not having the JSA in the bank (last few days) so im seeking ASAP to get some legal jargon to use when i call sky this week. ive posted for help/guideance on other discussion pages/ and forums but want some nice nugget of info to push them soon.

thanks again for everyones support and idea's so far. i already pre-thought of a few of them, but its still nice to hear so many volunteering support and help

mitch161

i am too honest to exaddurate my condition. if i went to a doctor the cure for my condition would be to get a job. i dont want to be on pills and i dont want to be on benefits.

yes financially its an idea, but at the same respect untill the day the council kick me out of my council house, im going to keep my morals and suffer through my situation.

so far my housing benefit is left untouched and so the roof over my head is the only piece of sanity i have. but i am not going to make a fraudulent claim by exaddurating my symptoms. im still tooo honest

although honesty gets people nowhere these days

talks are still continuing with my employer and in some ways they have admitted things have been done incorrectly. such as not seeking meetings with me during employment to discuss issues/problems. having (which i have luckily found and copied) a hot list of expendable employee's but it is at the evidence gathering stage at the moment. many other witness statements and memo's collected over the time period of harrassment have been handed in. once the investigations are over i will sort out a expence amout it has cost me so far/ will cost me untill a new applicable career turns up that i will settle for. or yes a tribunal. but its taking soo long.. surprisingly the delays are from the employer so the 3 month limit although now exceeded does not apply.

Sueinbirmingham

dmg24 wrote: »

I knew exactly what Jojo was getting at, but why would you suggest that to someone who was asking about Jobseekers Allowance, other than to put in a fraudulent claim?

Because if they've been hounded out of their job, there's a serious possibility it's had a deleterious effect on their mental health, and not everyone actually considers these things when they go to sign on. When I left work, I was stark staring bonkers, but I didn't think to claim IB until others suggested it. I didn't see what was staring me in the face about how I was. So I think it's a reasonable question to ask in the circumstances. It's not the same as, say, a temporary job coming to an end. Constructive dismissal means that your position has to be completely untenable and that's heavy going on a person's mental health, which affects some people more than others. Some will emerge unscathed, others will not.