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How to Claim up to £300 Advisor Discretion Fund
Radiantpaper
Posts: 17 Forumite
I have just made an appointment to see the job centre to see if I can get any help with a suit, shirt, tie and shoes and my ex threw it all away when she kicked me out, and I have 2 interviews lined up.
So I will let you know how I get on.
Below is an unpadte of the fund and it seems there is £23 million in the kitty.
I cant post a link so have added the infor direct for the site.
If you are claiming JSA ( Job Seeker’s Allowance), you can claim up to £300 from a rarely publicised £23 million fund of which you will not have to pay back. It is designed for anything that will help you become more employable. CashAlerts.co.uk shows you the simple steps you need to take to apply for an Advisor Discretion Fund (sometimes Advisor Discretionary Fund or Advisory Discretionary Fund).
The maximum you can apply for is £300 over a one year period. It can be used for items that will help you return to work and/or enable you to accept a job offer. An award must be linked to a specific job offer or job interview but it can not be used for ‘anything’. For example, you cant use an Advisor Discretion Fund payment for new computer software. It is intended for items such as clothing. ADF is to overcome small barriers that prevent a person from accepting a job offer or to attend a job interview (this is different to traval to interview costs – there is a different scheme for that). For example, clothes or travel to work costs until the first wage is received.
It is your advisor’s discretionary decision as to whether the expenditure would generally benefit the client’s pursuit for work, or, if already offered a job, to enable them to accept that offer.
Advisers consider requests and will treat each case on its own merit. Also, Job Seeker’s Allowance claimants are not automatically entitled to the grant.
You are eligible to apply for an Advisor Discretion Fund (ADF) as soon as you start claiming job seekers allowance in theory but the keyword about the advisor discretion fund is discretion. It is not possible to apply for ADF as it is offered at the adviser’s discretion within a narrow set of circumstances. Advisors will draw on the advisor discretion fund if there is a cost issue specific to making a good impression at an interview or which might prevent a person from accepting a job offer.
Advisor discretion funds do not have to be paid back but it is not a cash grant as no money exchanges hands. Advisor Discretion Funds (ADF) are awarded for specific items, for example ‘a smart shirt at £x.xx’. Where possible a customer is given an invoice payment form to take to a Jobcentre Plus contracted supplier to exchange for the goods. If this is not possible the Job Centre Plus will aim to reimburse the customer on production of a receipt. A customer is only paid directly in exceptional cases, and then they have to provide proof of purchase. However, once you reach stage 4 (unemployed for a year) you will not be able to apply for an advisor discretion grant. You can still get financial help (up to about £500) if you are on stage 4 but it comes via a different source.
To apply for an Advisor Discretion Fund, you need to arrange an appointment with your Jobcentre Plus advisor. This must be separate to your regular signing meet. Contact your local Jobcentre Plus here and search for your local office. The national Jobcentre Plus telephone number is 0800 055 6688
So I will let you know how I get on.
Below is an unpadte of the fund and it seems there is £23 million in the kitty.
I cant post a link so have added the infor direct for the site.
If you are claiming JSA ( Job Seeker’s Allowance), you can claim up to £300 from a rarely publicised £23 million fund of which you will not have to pay back. It is designed for anything that will help you become more employable. CashAlerts.co.uk shows you the simple steps you need to take to apply for an Advisor Discretion Fund (sometimes Advisor Discretionary Fund or Advisory Discretionary Fund).
The maximum you can apply for is £300 over a one year period. It can be used for items that will help you return to work and/or enable you to accept a job offer. An award must be linked to a specific job offer or job interview but it can not be used for ‘anything’. For example, you cant use an Advisor Discretion Fund payment for new computer software. It is intended for items such as clothing. ADF is to overcome small barriers that prevent a person from accepting a job offer or to attend a job interview (this is different to traval to interview costs – there is a different scheme for that). For example, clothes or travel to work costs until the first wage is received.
It is your advisor’s discretionary decision as to whether the expenditure would generally benefit the client’s pursuit for work, or, if already offered a job, to enable them to accept that offer.
Advisers consider requests and will treat each case on its own merit. Also, Job Seeker’s Allowance claimants are not automatically entitled to the grant.
You are eligible to apply for an Advisor Discretion Fund (ADF) as soon as you start claiming job seekers allowance in theory but the keyword about the advisor discretion fund is discretion. It is not possible to apply for ADF as it is offered at the adviser’s discretion within a narrow set of circumstances. Advisors will draw on the advisor discretion fund if there is a cost issue specific to making a good impression at an interview or which might prevent a person from accepting a job offer.
Advisor discretion funds do not have to be paid back but it is not a cash grant as no money exchanges hands. Advisor Discretion Funds (ADF) are awarded for specific items, for example ‘a smart shirt at £x.xx’. Where possible a customer is given an invoice payment form to take to a Jobcentre Plus contracted supplier to exchange for the goods. If this is not possible the Job Centre Plus will aim to reimburse the customer on production of a receipt. A customer is only paid directly in exceptional cases, and then they have to provide proof of purchase. However, once you reach stage 4 (unemployed for a year) you will not be able to apply for an advisor discretion grant. You can still get financial help (up to about £500) if you are on stage 4 but it comes via a different source.
To apply for an Advisor Discretion Fund, you need to arrange an appointment with your Jobcentre Plus advisor. This must be separate to your regular signing meet. Contact your local Jobcentre Plus here and search for your local office. The national Jobcentre Plus telephone number is 0800 055 6688
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Comments
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You'll be lucky to get about £50
The country is struggling for monet in case you hadn't noticed and as for it being 'rarely publicised' - there are many many people on this forum who have benefited from it.
Oh yes, you also have to produce receipts down to the last penny for what you were given and it has to be for what it was requested for (shoes, suit etc) and if you don't then they claim it back.0 -
Well when your ex has stripped you of everything and you cant afford food or gas and electric then £50 is better than nothing, at least I am taking steps to get a job which in turn help the economy and myself.
And TBH I would be happy to pay it back when I get offered a position.
Have a great day0 -
Loopy_Girl wrote: »You'll be lucky to get about £50
The country is struggling for monet in case you hadn't noticed and as for it being 'rarely publicised' - there are many many people on this forum who have benefited from it.
Oh yes, you also have to produce receipts down to the last penny for what you were given and it has to be for what it was requested for (shoes, suit etc) and if you don't then they claim it back.
Oh and the 'rarely publicised' bit was written via another site, which I was unable to post a link to hence me copying and pasting it.
Just thought it may help people that actually want to get of there bums and get into work.0 -
They usually ask you what you need and together you work out roughly how much per item so they may say 2 pairs of trousers at £10 each for example, they will then total it up say to £80 and ask where you will shop, topman for instance and they will give you a voucher for there, once you get to topman you chose what you want, hand over the paper and they send the receipts to jobcentre, unfortunately they don't give out cash so you can shop around for things, it all has to be bought at the same shop so try to get a rough idea of costs before you see the advisor. Good luck with your interviews.0
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Well I work in Sales, so need shoes, a shirt, tie and suit, so really hope they can help.0
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Radiantpaper wrote: »Well I work in Sales, so need shoes, a shirt, tie and suit, so really hope they can help.
They should be able to
they can also help with travel to interviews too. 0 -
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Just an update.
Went to see the advisor who was very helpful. He sorted application for travel. Which they will pay once I submit the tickets.
ANd as for the other bit I got £68, they have a criteria for what I wanted, here they use Matalan.. They also had to get a sign off as was over £50.
But got £45 for suit, £15, Shoes And the rest for a shirt and tie. I am not sure if the vouchers cover the cost or if you have to spend the set amount on each item, as I looked on line and the only thine is the shoes as they are £22 and I only have £15 awared.0 -
What's wrong with wearing trousers and a shirt to an interview? Why do you "need" a tie?Sealed pot challenge #232. Gold stars from Sue-UU - :staradmin :staradmin £75.29 banked
50p saver #40 £20 banked
Virtual sealed pot #178 £80.250 -
Well its a management role, and they gave me £3 for the tie.0
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