What benefits can I get

JAYMARSH2005

Here is my situation, I am currently in full time employment, I am renting where I live with my 2 brothers,it is my parents house who have moved away, we pay them £250 each every month which covers all bills, My dad used to work at the same company as me but since he moved I have had to pay £200 each month on train fairs as I cant drive. It has got to the stage where I have had to borrow so much money since they left to keep my head a float that I am in £12000 debt and now have no money in my bank and cant afford to get to work anymore. I have tried to borrow from family and friends and my employer but with no joy,I am now going to lose my job because on this and when that happens I wont be able to pay my rent. What benefits am I entitled to when I lose my job next week ? I have applied for loans from various companys and asked my bank for help but had no joy.

Seanymph

You should get housing benefit, and jobseekers allowance.

If you have been working, and losing money every week BECAUSE of working, then actually you ought to find yourself better off.

Three_Dancing_Dragons

Take a deep breath, this is not going to kill you. You should be able to go straight onto Jobseekers allowance even if you were quitting as I'm sure they'd consider having to pay £200 transport costs makes the job 'unreasonable'. At the same time apply for Housing and Council Tax benefit at your local council office. Am not sure how the house being owned by your parents will effect eligibility for Housing Benefit but take in all your documentation to prove that you have indeed been paying rent regularly. On the plus side, even if they turn you down for HB your parents aren't likely to evict you.

I have always found it best to lodge documents and make applications IN PERSON to keep things moving a) smoothly and b) quickly. Dress well, be polite and use your best middle class accent if applicable. DON'T WHINE. These are overwhelmed civil servants, not counsellors. Take a book to read and try to relax while you are waiting (and you will).

Once on JSA your prescriptions will be free and you can claim back bus fare when attending hospital appointments. You will not be able to study full time while receiving JSA but if you are considering retraining the JobCentre can advise of any special programs that would pay the equivalent while you were studying for up to one year. If you have paid national insurance contributions you will receive 'contribution based' Jobseekers Allowance for the first six months. If you are not employed by then this automatically transfers to 'income based' Jobseekers Allowance.

If you are eager to get back into work I can recommend Job Clubs. Usually you won't get referred to one until you have been out of work for at least six months but they don't often get people who volunteer so it's worth asking. A Jobclub will pay for a lot of your worst jobseeking expenses - printing and stationery, postage of applications, interview travel (sometimes clothes), phone calls, access to papers with job listings etc. They also can have some valuable advice.

Occasionally you also get the ones where everyone has been unemployed for years and there are no jobs in the area and even the organisers know the people are coming just to satisfy the JobCentre but these seem to be rarer in city areas where it has been hived off to private organisations that get a financial reward for getting you into a job.

JAYMARSH2005

waht will happen with my debts ? I am currently paing £103 per month non priority debts but if I'm on job seekers how can I pay them ?

jayne.doe

Hi i have answered your questions regarding benefit on another thread you are being mis-informed here. With due respect to dragons what he says is wrong. Prescriptions are only paid if you are on income based jsa. Not contribution based jsa. Hospital appts are paid by the hospital if you are on income based jsa. They claim it back. You cannot under any circumstances claim and be in f/t educucation. You can however study 16 hrs or less. You have to be willing to give it up and show an college learning aggreement stating your college hrs. You might get this for free depending on your college and if you do this as a night time course it wont interfere with you looking for work.

It dosent matter a sh** if you are m/c dress in a suit to claim jsa you either receive it or you dont. This is black and white and is regardless of anything else.

You make an application for benefit by ringing a call centre this can not be done in person. Everyone has to do this.If you get jsa cont based for six months it dosent automatically go to jsa income based. As its name suggests it is means tested and looks at all your income ie savings. You will need to fill in a jsa 3 another booklet which is a change of circumstances. This is then reviewed and you will told if you are entitled to it.

You will only receive help via the jobcentre after 6mths unemployment. Unless you are a person with a disablity, a person who has been released from jail. Come off incapacity benefit after being on there for more than 6 mths. Or Early entry to New deal. There are no jobs clubs. Only private providers who can help you back into work after the 6mths if you are not eligible for early entry. There is also an advisory discretionary fund which can help you with clothes or other needs to help with interviews this is 100 pounds for the year. Again only after 6mths there is no early entry to this scheme unless you have been on incap prior to jsa.

You might be able to claim travel to interview scheme which helps you with travel costs when applying for a job. Again you need to ask about this as there are a few rules to this scheme. Your debts will be your own problem the government will not help you with these.

If you are eligible for jsa contribution based then this takes precedent over the income based part. So for 6mths you will not be entitled for any of the things that you can get with the income based part of jsa.

I have already explained about possible sanctions for leaving work voluntary and showing an independant decision maker `good cause` as to why you left. This is based on law not personal decisions. Also it is not made by the jobcentre staff.

Three_Dancing_Dragons

jayne.doe wrote:

Hi i have answered your questions regarding benefit on another thread you are being mis-informed here. With due respect to dragons what he says is wrong. Prescriptions are only paid if you are on income based jsa. Not contribution based jsa. Hospital appts are paid by the hospital if you are on income based jsa. They claim it back. You cannot under any circumstances claim and be in f/t educucation.

That was exactly what I said re: full time education. I was referring to the one year New Deal type training schemes.

Oh and to misquote Aerosmith, " that, that, dude's in fact a lady..."

jayne.doe wrote:

It dosent matter a sh** if you are m/c dress in a suit to claim jsa you either receive it or you dont. This is black and white and is regardless of anything else.

I was merely explaining how I have always managed to get the best out of the system - by being polite, punctual and presentable. A suit is not a qualifying requirement to get benefits but dressing neatly at least helps when you are dealing with real people across a desk. This is life experience, not snobbery.

jayne.doe wrote:

You make an application for benefit by ringing a call centre this can not be done in person. Everyone has to do this.

This may now be the case with JSA but housing and income tax benefits are still administered from an office in the local council HQ. I always make an appointment and go in personally to lodge documents and ask questions.

jayne.doe wrote:

You will only receive help via the jobcentre after 6mths unemployment.

This makes it sound like you can't go in for six months. Provision may vary area to area (they are always trialling new schemes before rolling them out nationally) and is always changing so why not stop in and ask exactly what help is available.

jayne.doe wrote:

I have already explained about possible sanctions for leaving work voluntary and showing an independant decision maker `good cause` as to why you left. This is based on law not personal decisions. Also it is not made by the jobcentre staff.

But they should be able to advise you as to what the decision maker will be looking for so you can include the right evidence with your submission for a decision.

I've always obtained better service going to a smaller jobcentre and building a personal relationship with one or two of the staff. This might be harder to do now everything is being incorporated into mega JobCentrePlus-es.

Scarlett1

JAYMARSH2005 wrote:

waht will happen with my debts ? I am currently paing £103 per month non priority debts but if I'm on job seekers how can I pay them ?

contact the people you owe money too and try to come to an arrangement of £5 per week, you wont be able to afford any more and they might take that rather than nothing.

You might get housing benefit, but my LA wont pay it to people living in a house that belongs to a family member, this is worth noting, it will help your cause if you can show proof that you pay rent, and show a tenancy agreement, without this housing benefit wont be paid.

If you are leaving your job you can be sanctioned for up to 26 weeks (think ?), but if you can show them that you were forced to quit cause you couldnt afford the fares then it might work in your favour, this can take time, so dont expect to recive JSA straight away.

You would be better off looking for another job (local) than going onto benefits, you can do this straight away and you might be able to walk into another one straight after you leave the one you are at, good luck

astonsmummy

JAYMARSH2005 wrote:

waht will happen with my debts ? I am currently paing £103 per month non priority debts but if I'm on job seekers how can I pay them ?

go to the CAB or go to the https://www.nationaldebtline.co.uk website which has a lot of uselful info, dont offer £5 a week (sorry scarlett) as you will be laying out most of your jsa on these, do a personal budget with you incomings and outgoings which you can do on the website, it will then show what money you have left to pay your creditors, jsa is only abut £40 or £50 a week, so you will be able to ask them to accept token payments of £1 a month, i printed them out and sent them with a template letter that i done so they can see your incomings and outgoings, hope you get it sorted x

Fran

JAYMARSH,

I have moved your thread to the Debt-Free Wannabe board where you can get help with the debts.

Gemmzie

He's already posted here Fran, and wanted just benefit advice

Fran

Gemmzie wrote:

He's already posted here Fran, and wanted just benefit advice

Thanks. :rudolf:

JAY - If you want it moving back to benefits board one of the boardguides can move it for you: nearlyrich or plumpmouse.