Made Redundant after 11yrs service

UnemployedWhiteVanMan

Hi all,

Today is the first day of my redundancy, and I know that I need to register with the Job Center etc etc, but there is a major issue with all of the answers that I have seen and that is that I need to supply a phone number for contact which is going to be really hard as I wear Hearing Aids and from personal experience alot of agencies (including Government ones) have NO real understanding how to communicate with people like me.

I have never had the need to claim benefits as I have always worked since I left school and I'm 42!

All of this is new to me, and I am feeling positive about it all because I do have the support of my wife and I willl keep myself busy too!

I have looked at the Direct.Gov site and seen that I can claim several benefits and I shall be going to my Bank and discuss with them regarding my Mortgage, but is there anything else I should be doing?

I won't always be glued to the PC and my replies won't be as quick as they should be, but I will do my best.

Thank you to you all in advance!

Paul

madeinleeds

Really sorry to hear your predicament.

I too have just been made redundant after 11 years service and I am awaiting a leaving date before heading into the big wide world.

Once I get that letter, I will ring the bank, just thankful we have fixed for 5 years recently at a lowish rate.

I have no idea where to begin on benefits - is there a link to the site you looked at?

I hope you get sorted - good luck!

JethroUK

UnemployedWhiteVanMan wrote: »

....I wear Hearing Aids and from personal experience alot of agencies (including Government ones) have NO real understanding how to communicate with people like me......l

Face to face is the best communication you can expect from anyone

Go to the job centre and get a personal appointment with an advisor and let them know you have hearing difficulty

UnemployedWhiteVanMan

I have spoken to the missus( who is deaf also) and we have both said that getting an appointment will be the best solution as it will be face to face communication.

I looked at YouGov.com for the relevent issues and points that I could see what I could and can claim.

Several benefits that I will get regardless, and the most important ones are the jobseekers allowance, council Tax benefit and income support allowance

If you have children, then obviously the child benefit stays the same, andyou can also claim working Tax credit(?)

There are lots of Gov. sponsered courses I could go on and others where I'd have to pay too...

Not sure which to go for, but is there anyway to see which would be the best?

for example, if I want to learn to be a plumber within 3 months, is that possible?

Or, I want to get back into the driving seat again but driving 7.5 tonne lorries, what course would be best for that?

Thanks for the replies!

Paul

DCFC79

Re courses the JC can send you on a course(money comes from a pot and may not be as frivulous with the money as in the past), they could have courses which are free(only to those on JSA) if you wanted to do 7.5 tonne driving but these you would have to ask when you next sign on.

re best courses i cant answer but the JC dont tend to know the answer(they just want to get you into work) but you could make an appointment to see a next step advisor who would know the answer plus ther emight be people on here who would know what course is best.

Good luck with it.

JethroUK

UnemployedWhiteVanMan wrote: »

....Several benefits that I will get regardless, and the most important ones are the jobseekers allowance, council Tax benefit and income support allowance
...

just be careful with Council Tax - It's calculated annually such that the moment you get another job you have to pay the whoooooooooooooole lot back

Unless you're on benefit permanently it's more like a council loan

I dont know how they get away with it - it's just morally cruel - a benefit should be a benefit - not a loan

UnemployedWhiteVanMan

Whoot!

I have just got off the phone with the JobCenter and I have been using my Textphone system as I found the minicom number this morning.
Very helpful, and informative...

Got an initial interview of Friday at 10.40...

That's pretty quick in my opinon...

I am still feeling positive about all of this as I know that I will have resources I can call upon and take myself forward.

Thankyou everyone with your replies and they have been helpful.

Regards,

Paul:j