Travel to interview money

Josq

Hi all, I'm wondering if anyone knows how this travel to interview money thing works.
Last week I had an interview, I told the dole about it well in advance but they made me get a meeting about it on Friday when the interview was Monday, they told me just to bring my interview letter to the meeting and it was all just a formality, I should get the money.
I came back on the Friday and...the !!!!! sitting there told me I had to bring a bank statement. She was being the opposite of the previous people, really treating me like dole scum, going on about how it wasn't an automatic entitlement and it was only for people who had absolutely no money.
So I didn't get a train voucher, I had to buy my tickets on trainline that night- for I might add, twice as much as if they'd just told me first time around I couldn't get the money.

The trouble is...yes. I've saved some money in my account. I've got about £500 in there. I'm not one of these people who gets their dole money and runs off to buy 4 bottles of vodka. I'm saving it as I know when I get a job survival until payday will be hard, I don't even have enough for that right now considering deposits on flats and all that.
Whats more I don't have any income. I get £100 a fortnight coming in from the dole but I have £100 a fortnight going out in student loans. I need this money as a safety net incase the dole arbitrarily decide to cut off my money for some weeks.

I'm wondering, is there any way I can complain and get this money back?
For the future- anyway I can force them to give me the money?- I know the website says nothing about it only being for those who are totally broke.

Jowo_2

Josq wrote: »

...I get £100 a fortnight coming in from the dole but I have £100 a fortnight going out in student loans. ...

Can you renegotiate a lower payment or payment holiday? I'm not familiar with student loans but believe they only have to be paid back when a person is earning x amount in income. Call them about your change of circumstance.

dmg24

If you expect help from people you may wish to edit your post - calling JCP staff names is not going to win you any favours.

Jowo, you are correct. The OP does not have to repay his loan whilst he is claiming JSA (based on the amount of JSA he receives I assume he is under 25).

Josq

Jowo wrote: »

Can you renegotiate a lower payment or payment holiday? I'm not familiar with student loans but believe they only have to be paid back when a person is earning x amount in income. Call them about your change of circumstance.

I did that for the first few months but then with their second letter they worded it trickily so I didn't know I could continue it, come January and I get a call saying I'm in arrears (!!!!!!?) and the guy will start payments and send out another letter for me to send off. I did that but...no, apparently I was too late.
Its a post-grad loan, CDL, not a government student loan.

McKneff

If you have £500 in your account and you had taken your bank statement it would have disqualified you from getting the travel
money anyway.

Presumably you have saved this money out of your benefits.

Just calm down and move on.

If its just for people who have no money and you have some ie £500
your not entitled to it.

Josq

McKneff wrote: »

If you have £500 in your account and you had taken your bank statement it would have disqualified you from getting the travel
money anyway.

Presumably you have saved this money out of your benefits.

Just calm down and move on.

If its just for people who have no money and you have some ie £500
your not entitled to it.

The website and other people say different, it could have just been this particular woman being horrid/confused.
I'm wondering if anyone actually knows the truth of things.

Jowo_2

The info here is a bit vague but does give the impression that it's discretionary and there are other non specified factors that get taken into account. Hopefully another MSE poster will be able to give you more specific answers.

"Jobcentre Plus may be able to help you pay to get to your job interview...
Jobcentre Plus can’t pay for all interviews. The Travel to Interview Scheme has the following rules..., but other things are also taken into account....Your Jobcentre Plus adviser will have to check some other things with you and with the employer so they can decide if they can help you."



http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Jobseekers/programmesandservices/DG_173631

Jowo_2

Josq wrote: »

..Its a post-grad loan, CDL, not a government student loan.

I see. Go to the debt free wanabee board for advice on how you can handle this. It's obviously not feasible for you to repay a loan that swallows most of your current income. The members there will give you pointers.

tcr_3

The Travel to Interview Scheme is 100% discretionary, it's entirely up to your adviser, their manager & the Job Centre budget as to whether you'll get anything.

I've only ever seen awards made when the customer is genuinely skint, it's mainly paid by bus/train warrant for public transport or cash/giro where the customer needs mileage for driving to the interview. So if you've got £500 in the bank I can well understand why you didn't get an award of TIS, basically because you could pay for it yourself.

Tankrizzo_2

If you have £100 coming in every fortnight, and £100 going out every fortnight, and you have no income, how have you managed to save 500 quids' worth of dole money?

fiddlesticks

The one time I asked for travel money it was a right farce, They had to have a letter saying I had an interview- All I had was an email. They were nice and gave me it anyway but they filled in the voucher wrong so it was useless.This was 4 o-clock on a Friday and I was traveling down on Sunday. Waste of time.