JSA Nightmare Experience

mrjn

Hi all,

This is my first time on the forums so I hope you'll bear with me for this long and nightmarish post.

My girlfriend and I just left university. I'm running a business that isn't making money at the moment (but that is due to pick up soon), and my girlfriend, is unemployed. Naturally, following her leaving university, she went to the job center to apply for JSA.

Begin nightmare.

Eight weeks have passed and she is still waiting for her claim to be put through. In fact, two weeks ago they closed the claim because they had "not received correct information" within 30 days - only 22 days had passed and this information was B7 forms from myself, that no-one at any point until now had told us we needed to fill in.

Today she got a call saying that her claim was reopened, but only taken back to the 24th July - the original claim dates back to 1st June. This means she is owed around £600 in backdated claim money, but will only receive a single week's worth.

We are both good people. She has a first class degree in English & CW, and I have a 2.1 in Software Development. She has even managed to gain a job interview in this time and has received a callback this week for a second interview.

We truly don't understand what we have done to deserve this. There seems to be no communication between the Job Centre and the BDC (claims office) and people persistently ask us for the wrong information, and then fail to pass it to the BDC. Every single member of the job centre has given us a different version of what they think we should do, and the BDC, a different version again.

We currently have a complaint in against the job centre but haven't heard back.

We are now in serious debt and will likely have to vacate our property in the next six weeks. We've drafted a letter to our MP - 6 pages including a full timeline of events and full documentation, including the things we never needed to fill out or received - but are waiting to hear back from the complaints office before we send.

Any help is appreciated, I'm seriously worried for my girlfriend's physical and mental health at this point, and will soon be worried for my own.

Thanks,

JN

cte1111

Can you apply for a crisis loan?
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/moneytaxandbenefits/benefitstaxcreditsandothersupport/on_a_low_income/dg_10018856

I would send the letter to your MP, they might be able to hurry up the complaints department or help to resolve matters in the meantime.

mrjn

It's funny you should ask. The very day that my girlfriend went in to apply for a crisis loan, was the same day that she was told her claim had been closed.

And of course you can't apply for a crisis loan if you have no claim from which they might receive repayment ...

Either way thank you for the suggestion, and as soon as we hear back from the complaints department we will send the letter. If we do it now I'm not sure how it might affect the complaint. We've made sure to go exactly by the Job Centre's processes so far, so that we can't be blamed for others' mistakes.

Quick update: moments ago we were contacted by the BDC and told that she will be receiving a call from a supervisor, to whom the case has been handed off. Sounds promising ...?

Glen_Clark

Thanks for posting, Good Luck

rogerblack

mrjn wrote: »

Quick update: moments ago we were contacted by the BDC and told that she will be receiving a call from a supervisor, to whom the case has been handed off. Sounds promising ...?

Has she in the meantime been 'actively seeking work' ?

mrjn

rogerblack wrote: »

Has she in the meantime been 'actively seeking work' ?

Yes, she has been to every meeting asked of her (usually once or twice every week), and signed on every two weeks.

She has looked at many, many jobs over the period, applied for around 20, and gained an interview for one. She is attending a second interview at the end of the week, and we're both hopeful :-)

She has literally (hate using that word, but it's true) done every single thing they have asked of her, as have I.

Morlock

mrjn wrote: »

Today she got a call saying that her claim was reopened, but only taken back to the 24th July - the original claim dates back to 1st June. This means she is owed around £600 in backdated claim money, but will only receive a single week's worth.

Which official date did your courses finish? You may have finished all of your exams, but I would be surprised if the official end of term date was the 1st of June.

Elvisia

Frankly just telling the JCP you are writing to the MP is enough to make them pull their socks up, I wrote to them saying my next stop was informing the MP and I got a call straight away from a supervisor apologising, then a written apology (albeit on the back of a compliments slip!) from the person who had made the boo-boo which had caused me massive stress.

Sadly in that place the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing, nor do they have enough sense to go and ask it.

Caz3121

Are you receiving any benefits? you say the business is not generating any money currently so is she making a joint claim for you both?
I am assuming she is claiming income based JSA which will be based on the household income (assuming you live together) so if you work over 24 hours she will not qualify for any payment
http://www.turn2us.org.uk/information__resources/benefits/working_or_looking_for_work/jobseekers_allowance.aspx?page=378

mrjn

Morlock wrote: »

Which official date did your courses finish? You may have finished all of your exams, but I would be surprised if the official end of term date was the 1st of June.

Both of our finishing dates were prior to 1st of June. I provided a letter from my university with the date on, and my girlfriend's university provide a system through which it can be checked. She had to wait a few days for the JC to confirm this, but eventually they did (the end date was actual PRIOR to the date that the university had told her!)

We were scrutinized for this and told pretty much exactly what you've just said at the beginning of the claim, provided evidence, and moved past it on to the next obstacle.

Update: Just asked my GF, her university notified her personally that her end date was 4th May. Mine was nearer the end of the month (I have the letter somewhere in the pile).

mrjn

Caz3121 wrote: »

Are you receiving any benefits? you say the business is not generating any money currently so is she making a joint claim for you both?
I am assuming she is claiming income based JSA which will be based on the household income (assuming you live together) so if you work over 24 hours she will not qualify for any payment

Yes, we were told to make a joint claim INCORRECTLY at numerous times - my business has NOT stopped, I am just not receiving income - My business has an odd schedule for receiving payment, I am certain that a joint claim would have had to result in my withdrawal before the claim could go through.

We have verified this today and we were told that we took the correct steps by not putting in a joint claim (please see my next post in a moment).

EDIT: Just to be clear, when I'm not receiving payment I'm not working. All my forms say 0 hours worked for each week on - sorry if I wasn't clear there.