Jsa

jen007

Hi folks, I've recently finished college and i'm now qualified and looking for work. Hurrah.

I've also began to claim JSA and I had my first 'proper' sign on day 2 weeks ago. However, I had it drilled into my head it was a Friday, instead of a Wednesday and missed this appointment. It was completely my own fault and I recognise the sanction of £70ish they gave me as rightful, even though I've been left severely out of pocket. I'm a single parent and as you can imagine during the summer holidays, that's a lot of cash to lose out on. I was able to sign on the Monday after I realised my error and filled out a form to say why I missed it ect.

However, my gripe is that I missed another appointment with my advisor due to me attending an interview. I phoned to cancel this appointment, the JC says they have to record of this phonecall and I wasn't told to rearrange this. I went down to the JC and filled out another form, stating I had attended an interview with the local council, but have received a letter informing me of another sanction.

It's the weekend, so the offices are closed and I have no clue when I'm going to be paid. Do they take both payments due at the same time (As you're paid fortnightly...)

Will I be minus £140 for two weeks, or will I get payments of £70 each fortnight?

Luckily I just got my weekly tax credit money, so i'm okay for the weekend, however I signed on on Wednesday there so I was expecting a payment by Monday, will I get this?


Will my HB and CTC be affected by the sanctions?

I find it outrageous that they can take this amount of money off of a single parent. I won't be able to pay my telephone/broadband bill now, which means I will need to go to the local JC or library to look for work. (All of which is a £2.80 bus journey) I'm new to this system of benefits, I previously claimed IC before commencing study, I'd have thought there would at least be some leeway for new claimants with dependents.

dseventy

The rules are the rules.

As the second phone call, have you got records? Itemised bill? Can you show them the paperwork for the interview you attended? You can appeal if you have all this, do you?

You don't have to do much to claim your JSA, turn up when your supposed to, job seek, you already a short way in your claim and missed 2 appointments. I'm not sure what sympathy you want or why you want more for being a single parent, but the rules are the rules and apply to all.

It should not effect your other claims if you are on a live claim but just suspended.

D70

jen007

Yes I do have an email inviting me to attend the interview and I guess I could get my bill from BT when it's due. It was only last Monday so I'll have to wait until the bill is made for me to get that information.

As I said, the first missed appointment was entirely my own fault and i'm not disreputing that sanction, but it's the second one that's got my gears going as I thought I had done everything right to ensure the JC knew I was attending an interview but as you suggested I can appeal this with the documents I have of proof of this.

I realise my part of the deal is to 'seek' work, which I have been doing and I'm infact on supply list for two LA's Early Education establishments, however that won't kick in until August. I've already been notified of a possible maternity leave that I may be able to cover.

I'm just in a bubble as I have no experience of the JSA system, and I'm unsure how the sanctions work in respect to payments. I'm not looking for more money, if that's what you mean? I just would like to know that as I have two sanctions within a weeks period, does this mean I will have a full payment taken off me, or will it be split into two. So this fortnights will be £70 and next weeks £70?
If it's the full £140 I will need to apply for a crisis loan, again another system I have no experience of.

I know it's something I'll need to get used to, but crikey it's a bit of a windy road!

dseventy

jen007 wrote: »

I'm just in a bubble as I have no experience of the JSA system, and I'm unsure how the sanctions work in respect to payments. I'm not looking for more money, if that's what you mean? I just would like to know that as I have two sanctions within a weeks period, does this mean I will have a full payment taken off me, or will it be split into two. So this fortnights will be £70 and next weeks £70?
If it's the full £140 I will need to apply for a crisis loan, again another system I have no experience of. !

You should get details of the length of the suspension, and how much in the letter. It will show you how to appeal (and suspensions can last many weeks).

jen007 wrote: »

I know it's something I'll need to get used to, but crikey it's a bit of a windy road!

Is it really? Turn up for your appointments, use a diary or a phone calender. Job Seek.

Whats so hard? I always had single mums down as organised and resourceful.

D70

missapril75

@jen007

You face losing a significant amount of money and I imagine at some point you may have insufficient money to cover you until a regular fortnightly payment kicks in.

A crisis loan will be an option when you hit that point.

I'd be very tempted to throw myself on the mercy of the JC and ask that the claim be treated as continuous throughout. New to the system, genuine mistake, still available and looking for work (after all you did actually get an interview as a result of you actively seeking work) and emphasize you did make a call about the job interview clashing. Say as much as you can about that - number called, when, name or sex of the person you spoke to. Be nice, but not creepy. Throw in an "I know you're very busy, maybe something distracting happened and (s)he didn't have the chance to note the call" or something similar.

You never know, they might compromise and allow one but not the other. That's better than losing out twice.

Are you claiming JSA out of choice or isn't your child young enough for you to be claiming Income Support? I just mention that because if you were eligible for Income Support, then you could have been claiming it without having to attend the interviews and signings.

I'm not suggesting you go down that route but mentioning that you could have claimed Income Support without the need for the other things might win you some sympathy for their decision.

If you do apply for a crisis loan, part of your case should be the unpaid benefits as a result of the mix up on dates and your interview. Sometime a sympathetic crisis loans officer can persuade their colleagues to process a benefit payment if it avoids the need for a crisis loan

complete.newbie

Hi Jen

The same thing happened to me a month ago, I had my appt to sign on but then I received an interview for the same day. I rang the JC to let them know and they said 'thanks for letting us know, we'll see you at your next signing on'

So off I went to the interview and 3 days later I received a letter stating my claim had been stopped because I didn't sign on. I went down to my JC who would not help me so I rang through to the Jobseekers helpline and explained what had happened.

I was taken through a new claim on the phone and had an appt made for the next day with an advisor at the JC. However whilst speaking to the advisor on the phone she said to get my claim backdated to cover the days I had been signed off, as well as having to sign for the new claim I also would need to ask the advisor i was having the interview with for an appeals form.

So I went for my appt with the JC, signed on for the new claim but when I asked for the appeals form Ive got to admit she really didn't want to give it to me. I had to explain the situation to her then go and explain it to someone else, but eventually I got the form and filled it in.

I explained in the form how I had rang 3 times to confirm I would not be there to sign on and what job searches i had been doing in the days in which they had signed me off. They will only backdate your claim if you can provide them with evidence that you were job hunting.

After filling the form in at the JC I handed it back to the advisor who told me how the appeal would take anything up to 6 weeks and not to be too hopeful as they rarely upheld appeals.

Fast forward 7 days and I received a letter to state that I had upheld the JSA agreement and my appeal had been upheld and my claim was backdated.

Ive written this Jen so you know that it can get sorted out with JSA and what the process should be,

Good luck!!!

missapril75

complete.newbie wrote: »

After filling the form in at the JC I handed it back to the advisor who told me how the appeal would take anything up to 6 weeks and not to be too hopeful as they rarely upheld appeals.

Fast forward 7 days and I received a letter to state that I had upheld the JSA agreement and my appeal had been upheld and my claim was backdated.

When someone makes an appeal, a specialist looks at it to see if they made the right decision. If they think it's not right or they think they won't win the appeal it gets referred back to someone to reconsider and the decision changes.

It would appear that's what happened. More the decision being corrected/changed rather than technically winning an appeal. Same result though. :T

NickyBat

What you need to be doing is getting a jsa hardship form fill it in and hand it to the jc to pass to the BDC.

Depending on the length of time you are sanctioned for, with you having a child you WILL be awarded hardship which is a reduced amount of your benefit.

jen007

dseventy wrote: »

Y


Is it really? Turn up for your appointments, use a diary or a phone calender. Job Seek.

Whats so hard? I always had single mums down as organised and resourceful.

D70

I have dyslexia, which in turn affects my memory and organisational skills. It's not been formallydiagnosed so can't use it in a appeal for JSA. My college screened me for it, and suggested I apply for a grant to go to a psychologist to get a formal diagnosis but as I was half way through term I didn't think it was necesary as I was already getting the support I needed to help me with my work.

jen007

missapril75 wrote: »

@jen007


I'd be very tempted to throw myself on the mercy of the JC and ask that the claim be treated as continuous throughout.

What do you mean continous throughout?

missapril75 wrote: »

Are you claiming JSA out of choice or isn't your child young enough for you to be claiming Income Support? I just mention that because if you were eligible for Income Support, then you could have been claiming it without having to attend the interviews and signings.

My son is 6 so I'm no longer eligible for IS.

robpw2

jen007 wrote: »

I have dyslexia, which in turn affects my memory and organisational skills. It's not been formallydiagnosed so can't use it in a appeal for JSA. My college screened me for it, and suggested I apply for a grant to go to a psychologist to get a formal diagnosis but as I was half way through term I didn't think it was necesary as I was already getting the support I needed to help me with my work.

im sondused why did you not get screened ... if you think you have a medical condition get checked for it
its also not an excuse for you not making a note of your sign on date , if you know you struggle with organisation and memory then put info into a phone all phones have calenders/reminders. get the person at the job centre to right it down for you .. or pin your sign in book to your front door to remind you to check what date your due to sign in