worried

ukmartian

I have been out off work for 6 months after 20 years of work despite continuously looking for suitable work. next week i have a meeting with a adviser at the job centre ...i know he will may well give me jobs to apply for but my fear is they will be the national minimum wage ...When working i was on double that wage ...my fear is that should i take a very low paid job i will lose my mortgage PPI payments ..this will obviously put my house at risk as i will not be able to meet the mortgage repayments (£500 monthly) and also council tax benefits will stop..If i dont take the low paid job they will sanction my money and then my PPI company will sanction my payments for failing to apply for work ...Am i worrying over nothing or is there other help out there.....

Many Thanks

LadyMissA

ukmartian wrote: »

I have been out off work for 6 months after 20 years of work despite continuously looking for suitable work. next week i have a meeting with a adviser at the job centre ...i know he will may well give me jobs to apply for but my fear is they will be the national minimum wage ...When working i was on double that wage ...my fear is that should i take a very low paid job i will lose my mortgage PPI payments ..this will obviously put my house at risk as i will not be able to meet the mortgage repayments (£500 monthly) and also council tax benefits will stop..If i dont take the low paid job they will sanction my money and then my PPI company will sanction my payments for failing to apply for work ...Am i worrying over nothing or is there other help out there.....

Many Thanks

you have to be offered the interview and then the job first so I wouldn't worry about minimum wage jobs as I have even argued with the job centre when I haven't got interviews at nmw as I was over qualified & they say there is nothing that they can do but they want you to apply for them all the same.

ceridwen

I've never had to have a PPI policy myself - so dont know how they work.

BUT - what are the exact words they use on this policy? Do they just state a blanket "get some work - get no payment from us" or have they got a cut-off pay point in there?

That is - I am wondering if they state something to the effect of "Payment under this policy will continue to be made to you until such time as you are earning AT LEAST £x over the course of a month from any new job you obtain".

I am wondering if they would still give you this PPI payment (or - at any rate - an appropriate proportion of it) if the amount of salary from a new job came to less than some salary level they specified in the policy iyswim. Thus - if a new job only gave you half pay - they would still give you half the PPI for instance...

Is that how these policies work? I cant imagine they would be phrased in a way that said "Even one hours pay mate - and you're toast for getting any more PPI".

Emmzi

PPI generally stops on resumption of any kind of work - too difficult to administrate otherwise.

While the policy pays out therefore I'd be having a low paid job or no job. Usually they pay for a year so for the next 6 months there's a bit of interview throwing to be done. Sad, but the pragmatic thing to do.

(Can't believe that was me saying that.)

ukmartian

When the PPI is due I have to send signed declaration that i have not worked plus evidence of jobs applied for IE e mails job agencies, letters etc ....It is not easy especially when there are NO JOBS to apply for....

Oldernotwiser

ukmartian wrote: »

When the PPI is due I have to send signed declaration that i have not worked plus evidence of jobs applied for IE e mails job agencies, letters etc ....It is not easy especially when there are NO JOBS to apply for....

If there are no jobs to apply for then why are you worrying about the JCP expecting you to apply for jobs at NMW?

stephent82

I wouldn't worry about getting a job at minimum wage. I have been job hunting (very actively) for 3 months and I have been unable to get even an interview... and I would take anything. The problem is that my experience and qualifications are too great for lower paid jobs, but not good enough for higher paid jobs. I am very much stuck in no-mans-land!

concerned43

Think your worrying over nothing - after six months unemployment you will meet with a new advisor who will look at your job seeker agreement and ensure you are keeping to it.
Its one thing applying for jobs - its another actually getting the job. Show willing at the job centre and they will cut you some slack in the future as they are trying to detect the work shy.

ukmartian

Thanks for the replies especially stephent82...your situation is identical to mine technically over qualified for nmw jobs but not qualified enough for higher jobs ..My past experience puts me in the 23k to 25k bracket ...most jobs i have seen are 15k to 18k or 30k upwards....I will consider any job (preferably in my pay range) or diversify my skills but at 55 no one is interested plus i have developed a few health issues though not chronic they do restrict me slightly in what i can do without infringing health and saftey regs so i have to declare them although technically they have little or no effect on my capabilities and i have also learnt to compensate for them ....