How can i survive on £39.25 per week from the Social?

amber1979

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

It's not going to hurt you not to go to the dentist for 6 months!

Actually it did. Would you like to see the gaping hole in gum?

And yes, I do look after my teeth and no, I don't gorge on crap.

Stop trying to justify inferior heathcare for the poor, it's grotesque.

daviecol

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

There are separate benefits to cover mortgage/rent/CB.

JSA will cover the basics (food/utilites) and you have to make your own decision as to your priorities for the rest.

No it doesn't, it covers !!!!!! all, have you even ever lost your job and had to try to pay £800 a month in bills on £56 a week?

Or had no income for month after month? I gather from your responses you haven't, regardless of what your reply to this is.

In the real world even Martin Lewis can't pay £800 worth of bills with £200, get real.

Indie_Kid

amber1979 wrote: »

Actually it did. Would you like to see the gaping hole in gum?

And yes, I do look after my teeth and no, I don't gorge on crap.

Stop trying to justify inferior heathcare for the poor, it's grotesque.

There is nothing to stop you applying for help with health costs. Actually, if you're on IBJSA, you get full help.

Whiteknight

daviecol wrote: »

No it doesn't, it covers !!!!!! all, have you even ever lost your job and had to try to pay £800 a month in bills on £56 a week?

Or had no income for month after month? I gather from your responses you haven't, regardless of what your reply to this is.

In the real world even Martin Lewis can't pay £800 worth of bills with £200, get real.

No one could pay £800 of bills with £200 but what you would need to do is to look at ways to cut down the £800 of bills to something a little closer to the money you actually have.

This site is full of great advice on how to cut down spending and make any income coming in stretch a little further. It has been mentioned previously that along with any JSA there are additional benefits for housing costs such as CTB.

Someone with £800 of outgoings and only £200 of income would need to make some decisions on what to cut back on.

Oldernotwiser

amber1979 wrote: »

Actually it did. Would you like to see the gaping hole in gum?

And yes, I do look after my teeth and no, I don't gorge on crap.

Stop trying to justify inferior heathcare for the poor, it's grotesque.

If someone's being sanctioned then it's in some way a punishment. In these circumstances, all you can do is manage the best you can.

Oldernotwiser

daviecol wrote: »

No it doesn't, it covers !!!!!! all, have you even ever lost your job and had to try to pay £800 a month in bills on £56 a week?

Or had no income for month after month? I gather from your responses you haven't, regardless of what your reply to this is.

In the real world even Martin Lewis can't pay £800 worth of bills with £200, get real.

Are you advocating paying over £200 per week as JSA? I bet you don't think that's such a good idea when you're working again!

daviecol

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Are you advocating paying over £200 per week as JSA? I bet you don't think that's such a good idea when you're working again!

Actually that's a very good and fair answer, no I wouldn't advocate a £200 per week JSA that would be madness.

I'm sorry for having a go at you, I guess ever since I was made redundant and had to claim JSA (which was 4 years ago for a 3 month period) I have had a chip on my shoulder about benefits.

How can it be right that a person can work and pay taxes and N.I for 24 years then lose their job and only be entitled to £56 per week government help? While others who have never done a stroke of work in their lives can claim housing benefit, income support and so on to the point they can live without working?

The 'it's not worth me working I'm better off on benefits' brigade? And I know plenty of them.

Unfortunately the whole benefit system is a total mess. I wish I could opt out of paying taxes into it and they could spend my contributions on building or repairing roads so that people who have jobs can actually get to them.

Ok rant over, once again sorry. It's not your fault we have a hopeless benefit system.

Morglin

JKThink wrote: »

Hi, I need some advice.
I was sacked from my job in October and have been looking for work and applying for every job i can see that i am skilled in. Nothing yet.

After 3 months the Job centre have decided that as i was sacked they will be stopping my Job Seekers Allowance money and told me of this decision 23rd of December (merry blumming Xmas).

I asked what payment i would be on now - they said none?? I said I have no income and have bills and a Mortgage to pay! The woman said i can apply for 'hardship' payments. Which i did.
I have just received the amount and it is £39.25 per week. which i am going to find impossible. The woman at the Job Centre said i was lucky i was getting this amount at all, as if had any savings i would have to use them- which i have none.

They also said i didn't apply for a job that they gave me the first time i signed on - i have no knowledge of this job and when given the details later i wasn't qualified for the role anyway. I stated all this in detail in my defence- to no avail.

The Job Centre have made several mistakes since i started signing on (stopping my money for no reason (in the first month I was only paid £18) and just said 'sorry' when asked why! Also they sent me a letter addressed to a woman i do not know, also sent me to a 'back to work comany' for support and they didn't have a clue who i was and they said I shouldn't have been referred there until unemployed 12months - the Job Centre people just shrugged their shoulders when asked about it)

I am now very stressed and concerned I will lose my house, as i can not come close to paying my bills. I have applied for Mortgage interest help and am awaiting an amount/decision - and my bank have put me on an interest only mortgage.

Any help appreciated.
Thanks in advance.
JK

You don't say what area you live in, but you could 'google' up "welfare rights" for your area, and get some professional help with all this.

Alternatively, the CAB may be able to get you some help/representation:

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/your_money/benefits.htm

Lin

Indie_Kid

daviecol wrote: »

How can it be right that a person can work and pay taxes and N.I for 24 years then lose their job and only be entitled to £56 per week government help? While others who have never done a stroke of work in their lives can claim housing benefit, income support and so on to the point they can live without working?

Depending on your circumstances, you might be able to claim HB / LHA & CTB. That £56 is £56 more than what my dad got - because he was unfortunate to have an accident whilst at work and was off for a few months. (not the fault of the employer / work place)

Oldernotwiser

daviecol wrote: »

Actually that's a very good and fair answer, no I wouldn't advocate a £200 per week JSA that would be madness.

I'm sorry for having a go at you, I guess ever since I was made redundant and had to claim JSA (which was 4 years ago for a 3 month period) I have had a chip on my shoulder about benefits.

How can it be right that a person can work and pay taxes and N.I for 24 years then lose their job and only be entitled to £56 per week government help? While others who have never done a stroke of work in their lives can claim housing benefit, income support and so on to the point they can live without working?

The 'it's not worth me working I'm better off on benefits' brigade? And I know plenty of them.

Unfortunately the whole benefit system is a total mess. I wish I could opt out of paying taxes into it and they could spend my contributions on building or repairing roads so that people who have jobs can actually get to them.

Ok rant over, once again sorry. It's not your fault we have a hopeless benefit system.

Apology accepted, I don't offend easily.

In reply, someone who has worked for over 24 years will receive £65.45 JSA, rather than the amount you quoted. They will also be able to claim their rent and their council tax, so I am unsure why you think that isn't the case. This will be exactly the same amount as someone who's never worked (which may well be unfair) but someone who hasn't contributed won't get any more, unless they have a disability.

Single people on benefits only really get enough to survive, with the higher amounts going to people with children and/or disabilities because, obviously, they have higher costs.

There are many things wrong with the benefit system but there are also people who don't understand it who believe that it's worst than it actually is. I'm happy you managed to get another job after only a few months and hope redundancy doesn't strike again.