College and benefits.

mikey_bach

Its the decision of the lone parent advisor not I.S.
I.S get told the end date by the LP and what benefit you would be going on when your I.S ends eg JSA.
As you say, that your course would have started on your first day of JSA then your I.S claim would have closed the day before, so I dont think you would be granted TP.
But again if you have a LPA who makes the decision you can stay on I.S then I.S will accept that decision.
So hold on till they come back off Holiday or phone again there must be some LPA there to cover
Can you get a loan or grant?

jla1051

Just to let you know............

You will not be able to continue your claim Income Support. To be eligible for Transitional Protection for this phase of Lone Parent Obligations (IS to JSA/ESA Switchers) you needed to have started your course before the law changed on 21st May 2012. There is clear guidance for Transitional Protection and it either applies or it doesn't - the adviser doesn't have any discretion.

If your Learning Agreement states 20hrs then you will not be able to claim JSA.

I suggest you either try and find a part-time course (less than 16 guided learning hours) or, if you can, survive on your other benefits?

HTH

shoe*gal_2

*gem* wrote: »

Nobody seems to know whether I can or can't continue to claim IS. All the lone parent advisors are on leave or off sick until the end of next week. One person will tell me I need to speak to them for a decision and another will tell me to contact IS and send all my paper work to them for a decision. I don't know whether i'm coming or going so i give up. I will be doing the college course anyway. It's not worth the stress and upset of fighting for IS.

Mikey, the course originally due to start on the same day I sign over to JSA but due to the building not being finished the date changed. Sorry I edited the dates from my posts.

Dunroamin, there aren't any single part time courses available for the subjects i'm studying and even if there was and evening course, I can't do it as my childrens father is 70 miles away working and caring his ill mother and I have no family in the UK.

Totally off the subject but does anybody know if I can still claim free dental treatment or prescriptions for long term medication without claiming IS or JSA? I will be getting HB, CTC, CTB and CB.

Thanks!

I don't think you'd qualify for free dental care but there is a low income scheme on here -

http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/1786.aspx?CategoryID=74&SubCategoryID=742

Can you get exemption for prescriptions for long term meds? I don't get any benefits but don't pay for prescriptions as I need the meds forever.

I'd also like to wish you the best of luck with your course. You may not have your GCSEs but you are very literate (no silly text speak either) and are trying to set a good example to your children.

Dunroamin

*gem* wrote: »

Dunroamin, there aren't any single part time courses available for the subjects i'm studying and even if there was and evening course, I can't do it as my childrens father is 70 miles away working and caring his ill mother and I have no family in the UK.

!

I wasn't thinking about evening classes - most colleges have lots of part time courses in the day.

*gem*

I managed to stumble across the gingerbread.org website who advised me exactly te same as what jla1051 has said but they did say that i'd be able to continue to claim the other benefits and i'd be entitled to free prescriptions and dental treatment due to a low income. At least I finally know exactly where I stand. I've spoken to the college who are looking into how they can help and if it's possible to reduce my hours to 16. The jobcentre said as long as I am only doing 16 hrs in college then I can claim JSA. How true this is I don't know. The Xmas jobs are starting to crop up too so i'm applying for some of those hoping I can fit them around college even if its for a day a week and just for the experience to write on my cv. Knowing my luck that will just confuse things even more.

shoe*gal, thank you. My writing isn't too bad (thank god for spellcheckers), it's my maths that I struggle with and can hardly do the basics but I will be changing that. I'm a bit too old for text speak, I can't understand half of it myself! : ) I am trying to set a good example to my children, they need to see that no matter what your situation is you can try to improve it. I hope they see that the hardwork and effort I put in is worth it in the long run and benefits them also!

Dunroamin, there are a few part time courses but the mostly involve things like drugs awareness, cake making, photography and not the academic subjects I need unfortunately. There's a part time aat course which I would love to do but I need maths GCSE or equivalent to do it first.

I really have appreciated all the advice i've had here and I hope this thread has helped other lone parents in similar situations to me.