New Enterprise Allowance scheme - My story

something12

I have a new motto for the the Job Centre.

Job Centre Plus: Where Dreams Die

But seriously, the system that the job centre uses needs some serious improvement, the people that serve customers inside need to be trained a little more. Sometimes I dont know why I even go there when im just read off a list of to'dos from a screen, why cant I just view it from home instead of having to walk 1 hour there and back because im broke? More flexibility for specific types of customers makes sense.

But in the process of starting my business the job centre has to be the most inept, untrained, unmodern organisation I have delt with, no wonder people hate the place. Its the epitome of depression.

Andy2013

Well said, if you asked for my opinion it would have been " A complete shower of s*** "

One thing the job centre did teach me was how NOT to do customer service , or motivational skills.

pinkypoopydoo

I began to wonder if the Job Centre was like that on purpose, because now, even during weeks where the thought of continuing along the self-employed road has made me feel physically sick with stress, the thought of going back to that old hag at the job centre, to admit defeat, has spurred me onwards!

Andy2013

Maybe that's the new government idea , put a hopeless , miserable , smelly man with no idea as to even what day it is , as the first person you have contact with , and with luck the general public will opt to do what ever necessary to avoid ever returning :beer:

It worked for me, cant stand the place , so I made my business work so I did not have to go through the demeaning act of begging for money from a complete moron.

Oh I do love a good moan ,im getting such an old fart :rotfl:

scottel2206

First I would like to say I am shocked that this is a government scheme and there is next to no information about it on official sites. Thank you all for sharing your experiences and muddling your way through the process as I have with the information in this forum.

I was due to be paid my NEA today as far as I am aware. My last payment was JSA on 21st Feb after my sign in day on Tuesday 18th Feb I was also signed off JSA at this meeting and transfered to NEA payments.

Am I right in thinking that I get paid on the same schedule as JSA (every other week). This is what my business mentor informed me. My JSA advisor was less than useless to be fair and didn't have a clue about anything.

My questions are...
1. Should I have been given my NEA today?
2. Has anybody found a good contact for issues such as this?

Many thanks for any help.

Scott.

pinkypoopydoo

My first NEA payment was a week late, but was back dated, and thereafter it came in on what had previously been my JSA day. You should get a DWP letter at some point soon, confirming the first payment.

Unfortunately, if you phone DWP about NEA payments, the staff seem to know very little about them - I phoned as the reference with the payment changed a couple of times, and I wanted to make sure I wasn't being given money that I was going to have to pay back, and they just didn;t have a clue ("If it's in your account, then I'm pretty sure you should have received it" and "Are you sure that the New Enterprise Allowance is dealt with by us?!" were two of the most memorable DWP call centre comments I received!)

treenie01

They will tell you that it's your personal adviser that deals with the payments. I get mine weekly but I'm sure I read somewhere that it varies.

maxwonga

Hi,


I am finally on NEA working on it since early December 13 ! quick question anyone know if u get free prescriptions still?

Andy2013

Not to my knowledge , NEA is unlike JSA in the sense of "Perks", its about being self sufficient and building a working business .

treenie01

You can get a form from the chemist and put in your income and if it comes under a certain amount you get free prescriptions