Appealing a decision?

[Deleted User]

Here is the story, im currently trying to sort out my financial situation with the bank who i owe £1,500 they have been giving me the wrong information to sort out this debt by trying to place me on a Hardship scheme that i am not eligible for. In the process of dealing with them, looking for work and signing on at the job centre i missed two meetings with a third party called JHP Training (what they do i have no idea i have learnt nothing part from the government are wasting money on bus fares) this of cause means i have received a nice letter saying basically were going to take half your money for this missed meeting which is £60 im going to get a second sanction for the other meeting i missed which is another £60 even tho i called up that day and explained why i missed it and then arranged another day to go in!

My bank who im sending a letter to were charging me £20 interest and £20 charges per month today i got a letter stating that they are changing that AGAIN to £6 a day which in a 30day month is £180 which does not seem right to me. Is there anyway i can appeal the decision by the DWP because i can not survive and its making my debts and problems even worse something i thought they were not allowed to do.

Example:
Normal income: £120 Per F/N
Electric £30
Gas £15
Food £35
Phone and internet: Varies £20-25 (due to calls and late payment charges)
Total spent: £115
(double everything for Per Month Water payemtns comes out of my money before i see it)

As you can see no tv licence is mentioned because i do not have one, i had my ntl tv ripped out and have no ariel and rely on catch up for all my shows. I was going to offer my bank payments of £5 a month/£2.50PFM with the letter im sending them, as you cna see i have no spare money and the sanctions are going to make things even worse for me.

On top of my financial problems i also need to somehow buy a new oven as mine died over 2years. How the government expect you to survive on £60 for one missed meeting i really do not know, only explanation i ever get is "If i miss a days work i dont get paid" With my response "You miss a day, you miss a days wage not a weeks worth of money."

I really do not know what i should do or where i stand, i personally thought that the government were not allowed to put your health at risk or make your financial situations worse (i must be dumb they dont care do they?).

Any help and advice is appreciated.

MrsManda

You may be able to claim a Hardship Loan from the JC but I cannot see how you can appeal the decision to sanction you for missing two appointments.
What are your reasons for missing the appointments?
Unless they were completely unavoidable and you didn't have enough warning to rearrange an appointment in advance I don't see how you can appeal the sanctions as being unfair.

[Deleted User]

MrsManda wrote: »

You may be able to claim a Hardship Loan from the JC but I cannot see how you can appeal the decision to sanction you for missing two appointments.
What are your reasons for missing the appointments?
Unless they were completely unavoidable and you didn't have enough warning to rearrange an appointment in advance I don't see how you can appeal the sanctions as being unfair.

I thought that would be the answer but wanted to double check, i missed the dates because as i said i have been stressed out and putting things to the back of my mind. I dont deal with stress well, i get anxious then angry i guess its because i still suffer with depression that i dont take medication for. Not getting any sleep isnt helping either.

Anyway thanks.

Oh as for the Hardship loan, i guess i'll try that but last time i didnt qualify because i lost my temper with them and got told not to bother to call again.

tcr_3

You can appeal against the imposition of a sanction (sanctions in your case are at 40%, not half). You need to go to the Job Centre and ask for form GL24, that's the appeal form.

Crisis Loans will not look sympathetically on an application from someone with a sanction applied against their benefit, I don't think you'll get far with that. If you've been on means tested benefit more than 6 months you can apply for a budget loan for a cooker, although you'd be better advised to check on your local freecycle/freegle websites to see if someone is disposing of an old one for nothing.

As to the bank, you'd be better posting in the debt free or banking sections of the forum, plenty people there with relevant advice on charges etc.

MrsManda

logical69 wrote: »

I thought that would be the answer but wanted to double check, i missed the dates because as i said i have been stressed out and putting things to the back of my mind. I dont deal with stress well, i get anxious then angry i guess its because i still suffer with depression that i dont take medication for. Not getting any sleep isnt helping either.

Anyway thanks.

Oh as for the Hardship loan, i guess i'll try that but last time i didnt qualify because i lost my temper with them and got told not to bother to call again.

The JC advisors can be very helpful but only if you are willing to work with them, losing your temper does no one any good. It sounds like you really need to get some help from your doctor/counsellor. Please go see someone and discuss your problems, otherwise you're just going to do yourself damage and get into a nasty downwards spiral. You may find that getting medical help to deal with your depression, stress and anger issues will help you get a better handle on your finances and will help you be able to calmly discuss your financial problems in order to get them resolved.

[Deleted User]

@trc - Thanks for the information i shall look into the budget loan thing as it has been over 6months.

As for crisis loans i have only needed when they have imposed these sanctions the last one was about a year ago when the job centre gave me false and wrong information. I ask the job centre if i could sign on at another job centre for 1 week because i needed to look after my disabled mum i got told that wastn not possible but if i filled out this form my money would not be affected and a few weeks later got a nice sanction!

@MrsManda - I have to disagree with you with the helpful advice im afraid, i have been given loads of bad information and made many complaints with the most recent only being done last week where they gave me a letter of proof for the bank i could not use!

But yes, i need to see the doctor again and I need to start my medications again if they will allow me to and see a counsellor.