Help :( really unfair!

KellyBraisby

I'm eighteen years old,I've worked ever since i left school I've always wanted to work and i hate being in the situation I'm in right now.

In February 24th i was dismissed from my job due to cutbacks on staff,i refused to go on job seekers allowance as i felt i could easily get a job! My parents told me i need an income,so off i went but actually took me a whole month to finally get down there!

I went for my interview on the 29th of March and went to all my interview's and meetings their,i received my first payment on the 11th April of £61 i then went to sign on again on the 20th April and also to attend a personal advisor interview,i was turned away and told my claim had been cancelled,i phoned up head office and they explained i missed an interview with my advisor on the 4th April i arranged to do a rapid reclaim for 25th April and went home,i decided it wasn't fair because i never had any appointment for the 4th! I phoned my local job centre and they told me somebody had changed my advisor date to the 4th and not given me any confirmation so it's their fault! They also said its unfair! I've had £61 to live on all month!

So here's the big question,when doing a rapid reclaim and to have it back tracked how long does it take and how much would i roughly get? And is their anybody or anything i can do or take further with the job centre for stopping this by accident?

Please help!

Thanks

Kelly

StuartMacpherson

I won't be too much help here, but from people I work with who have experienced this, if you actually speak to the Job Centre manager they can usually help you a lot.

It usually takes about 2 weeks to get a claim though, even when they put it through rapidly. But what you can do if your claim is accepted is request a crisis loan on the day they approve it. It won't be a massive sum of money, but it can help some what.

Also, due to being under 25 I think you will only receive around £56 a month I think.

The Job Centre seems to be getting very bad at moving peoples appointments around and not telling you about it.

When you go back, I would ask them to take your mobile number, your home telephone, and an email address so they have no excuse for not contacting them. But defiantly contact the manager, as the one we contact via my job is very good at solving these problems.

KellyBraisby

Thank's! I'm there tomorrow you see,really dissapointed,but feel really bad complaining because it's money i'm given for nothing as i'm not working!

Thank's anyway

StuartMacpherson

KellyBraisby wrote: »

Thank's! I'm there tomorrow you see,really dissapointed,but feel really bad complaining because it's money i'm given for nothing as i'm not working!

Thank's anyway

End of the day that's why you paid National Insurance when you were working... And you also said you are looking for a job... (I work with a number of people who have lived off JSA all their life, and see it as an income).

And don't look at is as if you're complaining, you're simply correcting a fault :-). I just hope the manager at your local branch is as accommodating as the one I know. Just ask if you can see him/her, and if they are busy ask if you can make an appointment to see them. if they see you are being reasonable, and not do what most do (scream, brawl, and demand) they usually help.

Hopefully you will get a back payment and things though.