need advice please..... does anybody work at the jobcentre?

leaannep85

Hi wondering if anybody could give some advice?

my brother is on job-seekers allowance, he moved in with his girlfriend recently so her income support and tax credits stopped as well as his job-seekers as they had to claim together. they both went to jobcenter 2 weeks ago with her daughter as he had an appointment to sign on, he was seen and given another appointment to go yesterday which he did. when he got there yesterday he was told he hadnt signed on 2 weeks ago and would have to do a rapid reclaim. he said he had been to his appointment, was on time, saw a man and was given the appointment for today (yesterday) but they said he was wrong, he hadnt gone, blah blah, blah and needed to do a rapid reclaim which he couldnt do then he had to have another appointment (which was today and which he went to)

he phoned up to apeal and was told he hadnt turned up and he should of signed on,
he said he had turned up and was seen, he was told he hadnt turned up and should of signed on,
he said he had been given another appointment and how had he got this if he hadnt turned up, he was told he hadnt turned up and should of signed on...... -do you get the picture?

what can he do? its his word against thiers and they just kept repeating themselves? im sure there is a law that says if cctv is in a building you can get a copy of it and if im right and he can would that help as it would show him, his gf and her daughter at a table with the guy? in our jobcentre unless you have an apoointment you cant be seen so that would prove he had an apoointment and turned up (its can be proved as he has his last apoointment 2 weeks ago and time on his sheet but they say he didnt turn up) he had another appointment made and he turned upto that which he wouldnt of got if he had not turned up

Not only has he lost 2 weeks of money he has lost the 2 weeks of tax credits and 2 weeks of housing benefit and council tax benefit unless he can prove he turned up and win his appeal, they has survived on 20 child benefit for past 2 weeks, he was not able to get crisis loans as they had previous loans, had to ring social services to see if they could help with food as they had nothing and been to food banks every few days for the past 2 weeks until they were paid and he has now got to wait another 2 weeks before he is paid again and survive on £20 a week which is impossible for 3 people as until he proves he gets jobseekers can not get tax credits

any help would be appreciated

Voyager2002

Presumably when they gave him the appointment it was written down, and the piece of paper with the appointment details would be evidence that he did indeed turn up and make the appointment.

I suspect that the issue is that he failed to sign on. Even though he had a good reason for this, being told not to sign on by a member of staff, that does not alter the fact that if a claimant fails to sign then the claim gets closed down.

Personally, I would make a formal complaint to the manager of the Jobcentre and arrange to see her/him, showing them the slip of paper giving the details of the appointment.

leaannep85

hi he wasnt told not to sign on, he went to a guy sat down with him, he spoke with him asked what jobs he had done, had a laugh and a giggle with their little girl who wasnt in school as she had had her teeth out and then was given his next appointment date. the guy says he cant remember the exact date but remembers him but it isnt good enough for the woman he saw yesterday who was snotty and told he he was basically lying and had not turned up for his appointment

BigAunty

AFAIK, there is no relationship between a JSA claim (DWP) and tax credits (issued by the HMRC) and council tax/housing benefit (issued by local council)...

Aren't these claims submitted individually and based on income, not conditional on receiving JSA or is there more to it than that? Other posters, feel free to correct me on this.

Claimants sanctioned for JSA can claim a hardship sum. Other posters can tell you how he can do this while he sorts out his appeal.

You could contact your MP - they are there to serve you. They can be made aware of the huge impact that comes from the poor admin of the DWP, the limitations of the crisis loan system and that they have been forced to go to foodbanks (who also tend to limit the number of donations, too). The local MP might be able to make a representation on his behalf to speed up sorting out this issue which is leaving them for weeks without any money for weeks and at risk of getting into rent arrears and being served notice by their landlord.

ceecee1

I suspect that this will boil down to whether your brother actually 'signed on' by signing the declaration on the ES40 signing sheet.

its not just a matter of just turning up for an appointment, the person you see maybe seeing you for another reason (back to work, training course..).

If your brother has been claiming for a while he must be aware that part of his fortnightly visit involves actually putting his signature to the piece of paper where he signs that he has done no work, that no changes of circumstances have arisen etc etc.

I suspect that he did not sign this and this is the crux of the matter. It is as much his responsibility to do this as the jobcentre, especially if the advisor he saw was for another specific purpose

just_trying

BigAunty is right, your brother just needs to tell tax credits they're claiming jsa i think the delay is due to it going from a single claim to a joint claim. Your brother should have tried to claim for hardship instead of living of nothing as he would receive it very quickly as he has children, he just needs to phone up and apply for it.