JSA, Holiday and Reclaim

LOhey

Hello everyone,

I am going away to Lanzarote on the 28th for two weeks. I intend to sign off and make a rapid reclaim when I return, but I was wondering if anybody has any advice on when to do it.

If I go in and tell them now would that mean I have to sign off there and then?

Will it be better to wait until Friday as to not miss any days clocking up allowance?

Will this be met badly if I show up on Friday saying "I'm going on Holiday on Tuesday"? (I'm already kinda expecting a bad reaction to me going away for two weeks whilst being unemployed by one member of staff who has been very rude to me already and if I can avoid more trouble i'd prefer too)

I last signed on the 13th which means that on the 27th I would usually be due two weeks payments (However, it's closed Monday due to the bank holiday and I leave early on Tuesday - so Friday will be the last day I can leave it until)
Will I receive money for the (almost) two weeks or will it be cut to one week, or will I receive nothing at all? I have still been actively job seeking, i've applied to many jobs that do not close within the time that I'm away or require immediate start, and i've attached a note on all applications that I am unavailable and out of the country between the 28th and 11th.


Thanks, new to this site and new to JSA! Any help would greatly help!

LittleVoice

You will not be paid for the period you are out of the country.

markwilkinson

If you can afford to go abroad on holiday then many would argue you shouldn't be receiving benefits, my self included.

LOhey

markwilkinson wrote: »

If you can afford to go abroad on holiday then many would argue you shouldn't be receiving benefits, my self included.

I didn't ask for your opinion on whether I should receive benefits. Everybody who is on benefits has to prove themselves to people every other week to receive a little money - I don't need to justify myself to you.

Thanks for being a !!!!!.

LOhey

Sorry, I would normally just forget ignorant comments like that but considering I came here to ask a couple of questions and you left such an unnecessary and unfair opinion (you don't know me, or the reasons I am on benefits - I said that I'm new to it at the bottom of my post and I'm not rinsing the government).

I think you're rude and inconsiderate.

Becciboobah

I wouldn't worry about the trolls, when my OH was on JSA my FIL kindly paid for him to go on holiday with him as his wife became ill and couldn't go. Some people just like to add their pennies worth without knowing the individual case!

As far as I remember you just don't get paid for the period you are away and thus not actively seeking work. So you should be paid what's owed to you before the date you go away (on a pro-rata basis if you were going away half way through the week iyswim). This might have changed but as far as I am aware this is still the case.

As long as you're perfectly transparent with the JobCentre about going abroad you should only lose the 2 weeks you are away. They are pretty good, they don't try and deprive people of the money they are entitled to out of spite!

Sorry if that's not been very helpful.

spendaholic66

You will have to sign off because in the job centre's eyes if a job came up for you to apply for whilst you're away, you obviously can't do that and therefore breaking your contract with them. Usually if you holiday in the UK that is ok as long as you promise to return if a suitable job comes up. This happened to my friend recently who went to India, it took her two months to get her claim restarted as she voluntarily ended her claim to go abroad. She had to jump through many hoops to get back on the system and get a claim restarted and was left without money for a long time. Generally it is considered by them that if you afford to go away (they don't care how the trip was paid for) then you do not need to be claiming.

gravitytolls

markwilkinson wrote: »

If you can afford to go abroad on holiday then many would argue you shouldn't be receiving benefits, my self included.

S'posing it was booked and paid for before becoming unemployed? Or does the loss of your job mean you should lose everything else in your life too?

CCFC_80

markwilkinson wrote: »

If you can afford to go abroad on holiday then many would argue you shouldn't be receiving benefits, my self included.

Here we go again a typical Daily Mail readers response. Ever thought maybe the holiday was already booked and paid for by the OP prior to becoming unemployed.

Also as much as you don't like the law, even a millionaire can claim JSA for 6 months if they have paid enough NI contributions over the past 2 years.

markwilkinson

LOhey wrote: »

Sorry, I would normally just forget ignorant comments like that but considering I came here to ask a couple of questions and you left such an unnecessary and unfair opinion (you don't know me, or the reasons I am on benefits - I said that I'm new to it at the bottom of my post and I'm not rinsing the government).

I think you're rude and inconsiderate.

You are of course, correct, I don't want to explain my reasons for my post as it will probably just stir up more 'debate' but I do apologise, you didn't deserve that kind of response from me and I should have shown more restraint and not posted anything.

To others that commented.

I wouldnt consider myself a "troll" I think, if you take the time to check my posts on this forum you will agree.

I don't read the Daily Mail either.

So, if your happy preach generalisations (like I did) it makes you no better than me.

LittleVoice

spendaholic66 wrote: »

You will have to sign off because in the job centre's eyes if a job came up for you to apply for whilst you're away, you obviously can't do that and therefore breaking your contract with them. Usually if you holiday in the UK that is ok as long as you promise to return if a suitable job comes up. This happened to my friend recently who went to India, it took her two months to get her claim restarted as she voluntarily ended her claim to go abroad. She had to jump through many hoops to get back on the system and get a claim restarted and was left without money for a long time. Generally it is considered by them that if you afford to go away (they don't care how the trip was paid for) then you do not need to be claiming.

I don't know who you mean by "they" but if you mean the jobcentre staff then they don't care that you sign off to take an overseas holiday, they do care if you sign on when you are not seeking work. They would also care if you were taking an expensive holiday with the aim of reducing your savings in order to be eligible for income based JSA.