need help

Dunroamin

ineed wrote: »

Is the JSA your only income? You might be entitled to income support, unless this has already been changed to ESA (I'm not very familiar with income support) try this website for any help you might be able to get http://www.turn2us.org.uk/.

Why would you think that the OP would be eligible for IS?

BigAunty

ineed wrote: »

Is the JSA your only income? You might be entitled to income support, unless this has already been changed to ESA (I'm not very familiar with income support) try this website for any help you might be able to get http://www.turn2us.org.uk/.

The OP is fantasising that there is an alternative to JSA if she is a single adult without very young dependents, sickness or disability.

There is no like for like replacement for JSA unless she has a kid under 5 (IS), too sick to work (ESA) or has a disability (DLA). If she doesn't meet this criteria, there is nothing else at all.

If she's getting HB and council tax discount, this won't be affected if she pulls out of the work programme as they are based on income.

Income support is a top-up to low income benefit recipients like lone parents with a child under 5 and those in receipt of sickness and disability benefits, not those who want an alternative to JSA.

BigAunty

To the OP - are you in debt? Are you a tenant or home owner? How old are you?

ineed

Dunroamin wrote: »

Why would you think that the OP would be eligible for IS?

I thought people on little or low income were entitled to put in a claim,

Part 3:
Eligibility

To qualify for Income Support you must:

be between 16 and State Pension age

be a lone parent or carer or, in some cases, unable to work because you’re sick or disabled

be on a low income

work less than 16 hours a week (and your partner works no more than 24 hours a week)

live in England, Scotland and Wales - there are different rules for Northern Ireland

You don’t need a permanent address, eg you can still claim if you sleep rough or live in a hostel or care home.

You might still qualify if you do unpaid volunteer work or go on parental or paternity leave. Also, you qualify if you’re age 19 or younger, in full-time secondary education (including A levels) and one of the following:

a parent

not living with a parent or someone acting as a parent

a refugee learning English

You can also qualify up until the age of 21 if you’re one of the above, are orphaned or estranged from your parents and enrolled in education.

That's why I thought of it, taken from https://www.gov.uk/income-support/overview.

BigAunty wrote: »

The OP is fantasising that there is an alternative to JSA if she is a single adult without very young dependents, sickness or disability.

There is no like for like replacement for JSA unless she has a kid under 5 (IS), too sick to work (ESA) or has a disability (DLA). If she doesn't meet this criteria, there is nothing else at all.

If she's getting HB and council tax discount, this won't be affected if she pulls out of the work programme as they are based on income.

Income support is a top-up to low income benefit recipients like lone parents with a child under 5 and those in receipt of sickness and disability benefits, not those who want an alternative to JSA.

Ah ok, as I said I don't have much knowledge of income support, I assumed anyone on a very low income could claim it.

notanewuser

BigAunty wrote: »

To the OP - are you in debt? Are you a tenant or home owner? How old are you?

She's on a DMP, and asked a similar question back in July.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/54680001#Comment_54680001

BigAunty

ineed wrote: »

I thought people on little or low income were entitled to put in a claim,

Part 3:
Eligibility

To qualify for Income Support you must:

be between 16 and State Pension age

be a lone parent or carer or, in some cases, unable to work because you’re sick or disabled

be on a low income

work less than 16 hours a week (and your partner works no more than 24 hours a week)

live in England, Scotland and Wales - there are different rules for Northern Ireland

You don’t need a permanent address, eg you can still claim if you sleep rough or live in a hostel or care home.

You might still qualify if you do unpaid volunteer work or go on parental or paternity leave. Also, you qualify if you’re age 19 or younger, in full-time secondary education (including A levels) and one of the following:

a parent

not living with a parent or someone acting as a parent

a refugee learning English

You can also qualify up until the age of 21 if you’re one of the above, are orphaned or estranged from your parents and enrolled in education.

That's why I thought of it, taken from https://www.gov.uk/income-support/overview.




Ah ok, as I said I don't have much knowledge of income support, I assumed anyone on a very low income could claim it.

Although it's not very clear, many of those first conditions should be read that the word 'and' is between them whereas many people interpret them as 'or'. You are not the first to quote from the Direct Gov website which is ambigous in describing the criteria. This is why she cannot get it (note my edit in bold) and is why it isn't an alternative to JSA. It isn't sufficient that she meets the age criteria and has a low income by not fancying the conditions that come with signing on as a job seeker. A low income in itself will not mean a claimant can get IS - for some there is working tax credits, for others there is no top up whatsoever.

For the OP to qualify for Income Support she must:

be between 16 and State Pension age

AND

be a lone parent or carer or, in some cases, unable to work because you’re sick or disabled

AND

be on a low income

AND

work less than 16 hours a week (and your partner works no more than 24 hours a week)

AND

live in England, Scotland and Wales - there are different rules for Northern Ireland

girl_in_need

I can not believe this. I come here for some PROPER ADVICE but as usual it seems that people are picking on me . Well let me tell you how it is. As I have said I have searched every job Search website
And Job agents but still no jobs. And I do have a disability and it's called dyslexia ( and I also got picked on cos I have this. I can't help it I'm only human!) . As for the work program it nothing but a big waste of time cos all I was told to do is go to intranining and search for jobs on there PC's ( and I'm not joking you , I wouldn't of said about this if this wasn't so). I hope that has made more things clearer if not then I'm sorry . But what with the pressure from this intranining lot it's all becoming too much for me.

FBaby

Why is it a big waste of time if they can provide you with advice on how to apply for jobs, check your spelling, learn interview skills etc... clearly you must have done something wrong so far along the process so that you are still unemployed after 12 months, so I can't see how any such training would be a waste of time.

As a matter of fact, learning to cope with that such of pressure is good training, because this sort of stress is nothing compared to what you are likely to experience in proper employment.

BigAunty

Just to qualify for IS with a disability, it has to be something you are receiving Disability Living Allowance.

This is a bit different from saying that you have a disability, in terms of an impairment, on an employers application form as they don't require you to be in receipt of DLA to tick that box, it's a self defined disability. I just want to raise this distinction because it is possible to be treated as disabled by employers without having been defined as disabled in the benefit system.

I can't identify your age on this thread but if you are young enough, look at the Princes Trust website for information on the confidence building work placements and jobs they offer. Or look into getting voluntary work in the future when you aren't subject to work programme conditions as this will help your employability and self esteem.

Why not pop over to the employment forum for hints and tips on how to get out of unemployment and making yourself attractive to employers, etc. Also, the debt free wanabee board is good for debt advice and is less judgemental than this forum.

I know you wanted us to say that there was an alternative to JSA because you are frustrated with being unemployed, being in debt and the work programme isn't very good but there simply isn't a JSA equivalent, it's not what you want to hear but it's the plain truth.

The Direct Gov website has a section on student finance that can tell you if you qualify for any grants, loans, etc for studying, plus your local colleges may also have this info on funding. To be honest, most courses started back in sept though some may have an intake in January. What you could do to give yourself a positive point in the future is apply for a college course now, get in early, then you'll have a back up plan and something to look forward to.

busy_mom_2

OK, if you aren't happy with the work program do something constructive.

Follow the complaints procedure, write to your MP tell them your experience. Tell the provider what help you want. They have to refund all your expenses so you are not out of pocket for going. What sort of work do you want to do? look at voluntary work to improve your skills. If you want to go back into education why? Look at part time courses, look at jobs that are out there and why are you not suitable then do something to address those barriers.
People on this site will help but you have to help yourself as well. No-one at the moment will just give you a job you have to go out there and get the job by improving your prospects. No it isn't easy but only you can make the positive steps to address your issues.