Back-dating claims & Appeals

epitome

I would have to disagree with that, it is always going to be safer doing an advanced claim, if you can, then you are not going to be subject to a decision on backdating. However, I just don't accept that you can be penalised for being unable to claim due to phone lines closed for a weekend and you phone at your earliest opportunity, after your job finished and you travelled home on Friday. It is not advertised anywhere that claims under these circumstances should be done in advance. and it may not occur to the claimant that they can claim in advance.

Also the questions about your reason for wanting to backdate do ot get asked after a bank holiday period in other words it seems to be an acceptable no questions asked reason for backdating when it is because of a bank holiday.

Taking it from Saturday is just taking it a step further than the bank holiday.

What I'm saying is if it is a good enough reason for bank holidays (as it apparently is) it should also be a good enough reason for Saturdays and Sundays as it is the same principle you are phoning at the earliest opportunity after your job ended (not including advance claiming). I would certainly appeal that if it was not accepted.

dookar

Yeah, you're wrong.


(in the nicest possible way )

epitome

And the bank holidays? Why do the backdating reason questions not get asked when it is purely because of a bankholiday?

Is it perhaps because "if your only reason is a bank holiday then that is not good enough, therefore we don't need to ask you any more qu's about this because your backdate is going to be disallowed" ?

Which is another way of looking at it that I hadn't considered before.

dookar

no, the appropriate office is normally open on a Monday (for example) and it would not be reasonable for a person to second guess changes to the normal opening hours even for reasons of a public holiday.

If a claimant notifies the SoS of state of their intention to claim on a Tuesday and wishes to backdate that claim to the preceding Monday, which fell on a bank holiday, the office was not open and they are claimnig at the first available opportunity following the date from which they wish to claim.

If they wish their claim to start on the Saturday or Sunday then the delay is not cause by a bank holiday - an event which is yet to happen cannot have caused their delay - and you should answer 'no' to that question

(the first sentence is probably not accurate but is an attempt to explain the rationale)

dookar

epitome wrote: »

I would have to disagree with that, it is always going to be safer doing an advanced claim, if you can, then you are not going to be subject to a decision on backdating.

Oh, also, an advance claim isn't really necessary. You only have to notify your intention to claim.

To paraphrase a very learned chap "writing 'I wish to claim JSA' on a piece of paper, wrapping that piece of paper around a brick and chucking it through the window on Saturday morning would satisfy the law"
Obviously, he wasn't including criminal laws

epitome

I'm afraid I just don't like the logic of what you're saying.

Claiming on a Tuesday, backdating to a Monday, which was a bankholiday an event known to everyone, the Tuesday is the earliest day following the date they wish to claim from (monday) which was impossible because the office was closed

Claiming on a Monday, backdating to a Saturday, which was a weekend an event known to everyone, the Monday is the earliest day following the date they wish to claim from (Saturday) which was impossible because the office was closed

The only difference between these is that one was closed due to bank holiday the other was closed due to weekend. The logic is exactly the same, so I can't see how one can be justified and not the other.

dookar

Maybe I'm not explaining it properly. Basic examples:

You are summarily dismissed on Sunday and phone on the Tuesday wishing to claim from the Monday, that's your first opportunity and so backdating is not required.

You are summarily dismissed on the Friday at 11pm, phone on the Monday (non bank holiday) wishing to claim from Saturday, that's your first opportunity to claim so good cause is shown

You are summarily dismissed at 8am on the Friday, phone on the Monday, you had all day to claim on Friday so would need to show good cause

You are given a week's notice that your employment will end at 11pm on a Friday, you have a week to notify your intention to claim yet choose to wait until the Monday, you have to demonstrate the good cause for the delay

missapril75

epitome wrote: »

The only difference between these is that one was closed due to bank holiday the other was closed due to weekend. The logic is exactly the same, so I can't see how one can be justified and not the other.

It's a significant difference though. The office is never open on a weekend so there was never an opportunity to register a claim on a weekend, ergo there was no lost opportunity to make a claim.

epitome

dookar wrote: »

Maybe I'm not explaining it properly. Basic examples:

Ahh so what you're saying is whether it is a bank holiday or a weekend it all depends on when you lost your job or knew you would lose it.

If you lost the job on the Fri night on the weekend or on the bank holiday you can backdate to the day after the job finished no problem because the day after the w/e or b/h was your first oportunity. So there's no difference in the way w/e and b/h are treated.

Ok, now I understand your position.....and apologies if I am still not understanding....... I assume you know what you are talking about, I don't like it, but I will accept it for now. I'd still appeal though

dookar

That's pretty much it, it all comes down to what is reasonable really. You can't reasonably be expected to claim when the office is shut. (ignoring online claims for now - the law refers to 'the appropriate office')

It is reasonable to expect a person who knows their job will end on some future date to take necessary steps at the earliest opportunity