ESA to JSA

mrs_motivated

A friend of mine came round this evening to use my PC.

He has been for an ESA assessment which has found he is fit for work and his ESA claim has been stopped. He went to town to claim JSA and was given a website address and told he must claim online (a ten minute process) and then they would phone him for an appointment.

We have just been online and it says if you have been in receipt of ESA in the last month , then you can't claim online and must phone :cool:

I was just wondering if anyone knew why this is?

rogerblack

Firstly, is he happy with the decision that he's fit for work, or does he believe it's arguable?
It is possible to appeal this decision, but there may only be a point in doing this if he's likely to win.

mrs_motivated

Thanks for your reply.

Yes, he wants to return to work and is waiting for interview results for a part time job.

It's complicated really, because he is physically fit and wants to work. Unfortunately he had a breakdown following the death of his wife, son and dad. So basically his head was all over the place and he was referred for specialist bereavement counselling, which helped enormously. However, because of this he didn't meet ESA requirements as he can make a meal, hold a conversation , set an alarm clock etc. they deemed him able to work.

Myself and his family have spoken to him about this and agree with his decision that he his ready to return to work. Until the last two years he has worked all his adult life and hates being dependant on benefits, initially his employer was sympathetic and allowed him to work part time (to allow him more time with his daughter to take and collect her from school). But when redundancies came, part timers were the first to go and that was when things got to much and he had a breakdown.

He says he is ready for work, and myself and his other friends and family are trying to help and support him to do this.

mrs_motivated

My original question was because, he gets stressed dealing with the whole benefit thing and was hoping I would help him complete his application online.

He wants to know how to claim, how long it takes etc. of course ideally he will get the part time job and then won't claim. But they are waiting for references and a CRB check, so in the meantime he has no income

benefitbaby

You are a good friend. He can make the claim on-line but if the ESA claim has not yet been properly 'closed' (it may be merely sitting on the JCP system) then doing the JSA claim on-line may not be the quickest way.

Your friend can claim on the phone and this may be quicker.

Although does he qualify for bereavement allowance or widowed parents allowance?

flight747

JSA claim online is a waste of time, never will work. Better do it over the phone or fill at jobcentre form there. They deal it much quicker!