JSA Stopped

patbat

Hi Everyone
Have been in fulltime employment for over 30 years until I recently left my job when my 82 year old father had a stroke & needed full time care, he has since made a good recovery & can now function almost fully again, so I began claiming jobseekers allowance which I was at first granted for about 2 months, but today have recieved a letter telling me that my reasons for leaving work were not good enough & my jsa has been stopped Incl. NI conts. So I would like to know if there are any other benefits I can claim until I find work (which I am really trying to do) as the jobcentre are totally unhelpful in this matter, also I am living with my brother which means no housing benefit although he cannot afford to keep me for nothing.
Many thanks oin advance for any advice you guys can give.
patbat

mynameistallulah

You can claim a hardship payment, which is paid at 60% of the JSA rate. You would be ineligible for payment for the first two weeks of the sanction.

How long were you caring for your father? Could you not have taken unpaid leave?

just_trying

Didn't think he would be ineligible for payments the first 2 weeks of the sanction as i have been on hardship before and it was a continued with no break in the claim. You need to appeal the decision and explain that you were looking after an ill family member and there was no one else who could take on the role. The first thing you need to do though is phone the benefit centre or job centre and tell them today that you want to apply for hardship allowance, they will then send out the forms for you to fill in. The worst sanction is actually 40% though they can sanction you less it really depends.

Arg

Ask for a written statement of reasons then look around for good causes for you to have left work then appeal if you can but IIRC there's a certain time limit you need to send stuff away. There's usually a leaflet for appeals lying somewhere around jobcentres.

patbat

Hi guys
Many thanks for your replies & advice, I was allowed to take 6 months unpaid leave but as I was still unable to return I was politely asked to leave I then continued to care for my father for another 4 months until recently & now he has recovered enough for me to return to work so I began to sign on as I had used all my savings during the year that I was a carer, I have never used the benefit system & never really wanted to but have no choice at this time.
Thanks again
patbat

Elvisia

Does your dad get Attendance Allowance or DLA (I can't remember what level he needs to have) as you'd get Carers Allowance? You have to care for him for 35 hours a week, but that can involve anything, I include time when I am just around as sometimes he just needs someone to be in the next room in case he falls over or drops his tea over himself or general moaning. That would be nearly as much as JSA. (£58 versus £71)

recoverydust

You can get Carers allowance topped up with Income Support for Carers, as a Carer you dont have to sign on for JSA, or look for work and you can earn up to £100 a week so long as you let them know
It hangs on Highest or Midlle rate care DLA or AA
It can be backdated
xx

raven83

trastor wrote: »

My daughter had to give up her job as she could no longer provide/pay for, child care for her three children - all under 10, youngest 2, after her husband walked out on her.

She was sanctioned for 13 weeks when she claimed JSA as she couldn't give a good enough reason for leaving her job. They argued that she didn't look hard enough for other suitable childcare provision.

No one told her that she could claim hardship or anything else, her housing benefit/council tax benefit also ceased at the same time.
She asked at the JC+ and they said 'no there wasn't anything else she could claim for instead and that she brought the problem on her own head by leaving so soon after her husband walked out - surely there were family members that could have looked after children'

But if her youngest was just 2, why didn't she claim income support? She wouldn't of got sanctioned appying for that.

marybelle01

raven83 wrote: »

But if her youngest was just 2, why didn't she claim income support? She wouldn't of got sanctioned appying for that.

Large pinches of salt required for anything to do with trastor https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4104803 since they have admitted to being the alter ego of a banned poster, and shouldn't be on here at all.

just_trying

trastor wrote: »

I know that now, you know that, but at the time she was guided by the JC who said she should claim JSA as she expressed a desire to get back into work asap in order to provide for herself and her family, but in a job that made childcare provison entirely possible.

She or I didn't know that she could claim IS.
The JC failed to give full and/or proper advice at the time.

As it is, that 13 weeks has cost me, her father, the grand sum of £3250 in order to support her, paying her rent & council tax (HB/CTB ceased when she was sanctioned) as well as all of the other bills, food and clothing for her children.

I don't think for a minute that the DWP/Council will re-imburse me!

Housing benefit and council tax are income based benefits so if your daughter was geting nothing then she would have been entitled to full housing/council tax benefits, even people who are working can be entitled to these benefits. The benefits system can be hard but if you had put your daughters details into one of the benefits calculators or the dwp site it would have said i am sure that she was entitled to income support. Great that you were able to help her out though.

patbat

Hi guys thanks again for the advice & information, like I said I really dont know much about the benefits system as after 30 years being in full employment have never used it but it does seem more & more like they're trying to make life as hard as possible for the poorest & weakest members of our society. Also cannot claim carers allowance as my father no longer needs care but I certainly will appeal.
Many thanks again
patbat