Eastern Europeans

martin_ivan

Hey all. My first post here so take it easy pls.

I am a Lithuanian male. Been her for 10 yrs, paid tax, worked as a self employed carpenter, last 3 years recruitment.

Lost my job by accident tbh november time when things started to go quiet. Applied for Housing benefit and job seekers allowance. Both came back saying NO!!!

Please tell me if the letter I've sent to them is appropriate:



To whom it may concern,

Further to your correspondence in regards to my application for Job Seekers Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit could you please provide me with correct reasons for me not being able to receive any benefits.

Unfortunately for me your incompetent colleagues from Watford could only give me one reason: "Because you are from eastern Europe". I also have a voice mail from one of your assistant laughing at my family name. I am seeking legal advice on this matter as I feel they were very discriminative and unprofessional after being made aware of my poor financial situation especially after me being in this country for 9 years without claiming any benefit and paying my taxes.

I will be asking you to review my case as I was self employed and employed at the same time for at least last five years also my father has been working in the UK as a self employed carpenter for at least last 8 years. Therefore I was advised I am exempt from WRS(Workers registration Scheme) . To my knowledge a self employed A8 national should be treated as a EEA national and I do have proof that after being made redundant November 2010 I was still working as a self employed carpenter with minimal income due to festive season and general "climate" in construction industry getting close to Christmas. I have all my work history from 1 May 2004 provided by Inland Revenue which confirms me being employed and self employed at the same time through years and will be provided upon your request.

It is also worth mentioning that the only reason I resigned from **** ********* ***** is due to my doctor insisting on it due to my uncontrollable stress levels caused by many factors including death treats and personality change due to taking very strong medication( all of the above can be proven by my doctor( Dr. ********* *****) who is a reputable headaches specialist in London and my medical notes which will be provided upon your request), however I was keen to find work and ended up with **** **** *********** where I was made redundant after a month. Please note that all this time( time permitting ) I was trading as a self employed carpenter and tendering for projects which also can be proven as evidence of this can be provided by a number of reputable main contractors in London who I have approached with the aim of doing work for them during my employment.

I would also like to use this opportunity and make you aware that most of A8 employees and employers are not not aware of WRS (Workers Registration Scheme). The fact that one of the biggest construction agencies in the UK that I have been working for "internally" are not aware of it says it all. I also researched it within my "phone book" which is 1000+ contacts generated through my previous employment, 90% of the people liable to being on the register are not even aware of the scheme. I would like to know is why is it that you use this scheme as a major factor in deciding on who is entitled to benefits and who isn't. Most of the employees are "deep" into employment when they find out of it or in my case after being made redundant and in real need of help which I don't qualify for unless I am registered with something that doesn't want to be known of.


Once again please provide me with the correct reasons in regards to me not qualifying to any benefits.

Kind Regards,

Martynas **********

dmg24

That is a big old ramble. Do you wish to appeal the benefit decision? If so, you need to state your reasons for appeal and nothing more.

martin_ivan

I have been advised by same people that appeal should be my last resort as it takes up to six month and i know my patient landlord is behind with mortgage payment and I'm 3 month behind with rent due to the fact that that my claim took that long. I'm back in to low paid work now, but it will take me a year to catch up with all the payments I'm behind with, plus I'm being taken to court by council for not paying my council tax for last 3 month. They are sending bailiffs in!!!!!!!!!! I wish human being would look in to it instead of dodgy system.

dmg24

A human being has looked at it, and referring to that human being as incompetent will get you nowhere. What is the official reason for declining your claim? I assume it is because you have not registered under the WRS?

CFC

.....and if you were trying to claim benefits in Lithuania, exactly how far do you think a snotty letter like that would get you???

Who has advised you that you are exempt from the Workers Registration Scheme and how do you know they are right, was this CAB or similar? See question and answer below.

Do I have to register with the Worker Registration Scheme?

In most cases, once you find work, you must normally register with the Worker Registration Scheme within 30 days. Working in the UK without being registered is illegal and will also mean that you're not able to claim any benefits or get help with housing. You must register all new employment within the first 12 months that you are in the UK, or you will not be eligible for assistance.




However, some categories of people do not have to register with the scheme. This may be the case if:

• you had leave to enter or remain before 30 April 2004 with no restriction on employment
• you had leave to enter or remain before 30 April 2004, had a restriction on employment and worked within these restrictions (eg a work-permit holder)
• if you have worked legally in the UK for at least 12 months before or after 30 April 2004
• from 2 October 2009, if you are the spouse, civil partner or child under 18 of and A8 national who is already registered.
• If you are working and registered to work, you are eligible to apply for social housing, make a homelessness application and/or apply for some benefits. You will be eligible even if you've been in the UK for less than one year. Once you have completed a year working on the scheme, you no longer need to register and will have the same rights as EEA/EU workers from non-A2/A8 countries.

What if I am self-employed?

If you are self-employed, you do not have to register with the Worker Registration Scheme but you should register with HM Revenue and Customs so you can pay tax and National Insurance if you earn enough. If you are self-employed you will be eligible to apply for homelessness assistance, social housing and some benefits.

You will have to find out what benefits you would be eligible for as a self employed person - I suspect not much.

viktory

martin_ivan wrote: »

<snip>Please tell me if the letter I've sent to them is appropriate

No, it is not appropriate.

Invalidation

Did you apply for a Residence permit after working here for more than 12 Months? If you didnt thats probably the reason. Though you are exempt from the WRA you would have needed to apply for a permanent residence permit.
If you havent you need to do so ASAP

Below is from the Borders agency.
http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/workingintheuk/eea/wrs/

• Czech Republic;
• Estonia;
• Hungary;
• Latvia;
• Lithuania;
• Poland;
• Slovakia; or
• Slovenia.

There are some exceptions. See Who must register? for more information.
See Workers for information on how and when to apply, and what we will do.
Once you have been working in the United Kingdom legally for 12 months without a break in employment, you will no longer have to register on the Worker Registration Scheme. You can then obtain a residence permit confirming your right to live and work in the United Kingdom. See European citizens for information on obtaining a residence permit.
Employers also have obligations under the Worker Registration Scheme.
Employment agencies should know the rules about the advice they can legally give to workers.
A number of organisations can provide help or useful information while you are working here. See Contact for more details.

Jowo_2

Your frustration is understandable but this just means that most of your letter is irrelevant as you seek to let off steam. The following would do

"Further to your correspondence in regards to my application for Job Seekers Allowance, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit could you please provide me with correct reasons for me not being able to receive any benefits."

Get an appointment with your local Citizens Advice Bureau to find out if there are any grounds to challenge the decision.

Incyder

Martin.
Well done on learning the English language so well.

fluffymovie

I would second the comment by Jowo. TBH, even the tone of the letter here on the forum made me think twice about replying to your thread so I would definitely tone it down.

JSA and HB are different benefits administered by different organisations and quite often, as JSA is a primary benefit, the HB department will follow their decision.

You have a number of options open to you but I would strongly urge you not to use subjective terms such as Incompetent as that won't make any one want to go out of their way to help you, they are only human afterall.

It would seem to me that they don't consider your self employed work as genuine and effective and so may not consider that you meet the very complicated rules for benefit. However, your options as far as HB go are as follows;

1 - Ask for a statement of reasons, This would detail the reasons that they have used to make their decision
2 - Skip this step and ask for a reconsideration giving them all the reasons you believe that their decision is incorrect
3 - Skip these 2 steps and make a formal appeal.

Depending on where you are based, the formal appeal should be put to the tribunal within 1 calendar month and the Tribunal Service will then list it. In my area, this can take upwards of 4 months but that is due to the large number of appeals against ESA and there isn't anything that the HB section can do to speed this up.

If you believe that they actually laughed at your name, this isn't discrimination as I understand it as that would imply that you have been disadvantaged in some way by the action which as far as your post suggests, isn't the case. However, you can raise a formal complaint in line with the correct procedures on that matter but I would suggest that you write 2 seperate letters for both of these matters as in my authority, the complaints are dealt with by someone who works in a different team to the benefit team.

I would finally add, that the fact that you haven't claimed benefits in years and that you have paid taxes isn't particularly useful to your case as I haven't claimed benefits either but don't expect people to applaud me for this and then give me cash?

RAS

You need to read this and comply https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2823982

have you been regsitered for work since you arrived?