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Lha and casual work
dibblersan
Posts: 588 Forumite
This is something I'm asking for a friend of mine. He's very upset about this and it seems like he should be missing something as what he describes can't be right to my mind.
Sorry if I give too much detail, but I'm not very famillier with benefits so I'm not sure what's relevant.
He's a young lad that lives near me, and he's on and off jsa as he tries his hardest to pick up work on a short term and casual basis as and when he can.
He's also recently moved into near me to get away from an unpleasant and threatening landlady, and recently been diagnosed with epilepsy, so's not been having a great time of it at late. He also has learning difficulties but is quite high functioning - autistic.
He got some casual work from a local guest house over Christmas. It was cash in hand, and he went and told the jobcentre before he started- they said he should record his hours/pay and they'd sort the paperwork at his normal appointments (every two weeks I think).
He worked 20 or so hours over Christmas and went in for his normal appointment. He declared the hours/money and they told him he would have to sign off as he'd worked too long. He was ok with this as this has happened before and is apparently quite quick. They also said they'd sanction him because he took too long to tell them, but I helped him with the appeal forms as he does what he's told and he was told to go to normal appointments. This now seems ok.
The problem is with his lha. He moved from flat a to flat b in October. There was an overlap in the rents and he was told by his advisor when he filled in the paperwork he could try and claim this due to the aggression of the landlady and the old tenancy being every 4 weeks vs the new tenancy being monthly. He paid rent on both for the period the 6th oct to the 2nd sept.
He filled in the forms late - seems like in early December - as he was having undiagnosed fits/ undergoing diagnosis, moving house and sorting this christmas job and forgot - this isn't a good thing but with his disability I think it's understandable. He did remember to tell everyone else, but forgot the lha. He asked for it to be backdated due to his disability.
They were still processing this claim ( for new flat and backdating) when he was taken off jsa (for one week) and so demanded proof of his income.
He offered to send bank statements but told them he was paid cash in hand and therefore they would not show the payments. He explained exactly how much he was paid and when he was paid it, but they demanded pay slips. He again explained that he was paid on a casual basis and didn't have payslips, or a contract, or anything else.
They have refused him payment and have demanded the return of earlier payments because he can't prove this £300 and have closed his claim.
This makes no sence to me. I've spent time with him this afternoon trying to work out what he should do, and it seems the best answer I can give him is to turn down any casual work in the future.
It was cash in hand, he could have just kept it but he's been brought up to do the right thing and now he has to pay back the council £400 he doesn't have for payments from November (when he was on jsa) will not get the 400 for December, and currently has no claim for January.
All because he would rather take any work than sit on benefits.
Sorry if I give too much detail, but I'm not very famillier with benefits so I'm not sure what's relevant.
He's a young lad that lives near me, and he's on and off jsa as he tries his hardest to pick up work on a short term and casual basis as and when he can.
He's also recently moved into near me to get away from an unpleasant and threatening landlady, and recently been diagnosed with epilepsy, so's not been having a great time of it at late. He also has learning difficulties but is quite high functioning - autistic.
He got some casual work from a local guest house over Christmas. It was cash in hand, and he went and told the jobcentre before he started- they said he should record his hours/pay and they'd sort the paperwork at his normal appointments (every two weeks I think).
He worked 20 or so hours over Christmas and went in for his normal appointment. He declared the hours/money and they told him he would have to sign off as he'd worked too long. He was ok with this as this has happened before and is apparently quite quick. They also said they'd sanction him because he took too long to tell them, but I helped him with the appeal forms as he does what he's told and he was told to go to normal appointments. This now seems ok.
The problem is with his lha. He moved from flat a to flat b in October. There was an overlap in the rents and he was told by his advisor when he filled in the paperwork he could try and claim this due to the aggression of the landlady and the old tenancy being every 4 weeks vs the new tenancy being monthly. He paid rent on both for the period the 6th oct to the 2nd sept.
He filled in the forms late - seems like in early December - as he was having undiagnosed fits/ undergoing diagnosis, moving house and sorting this christmas job and forgot - this isn't a good thing but with his disability I think it's understandable. He did remember to tell everyone else, but forgot the lha. He asked for it to be backdated due to his disability.
They were still processing this claim ( for new flat and backdating) when he was taken off jsa (for one week) and so demanded proof of his income.
He offered to send bank statements but told them he was paid cash in hand and therefore they would not show the payments. He explained exactly how much he was paid and when he was paid it, but they demanded pay slips. He again explained that he was paid on a casual basis and didn't have payslips, or a contract, or anything else.
They have refused him payment and have demanded the return of earlier payments because he can't prove this £300 and have closed his claim.
This makes no sence to me. I've spent time with him this afternoon trying to work out what he should do, and it seems the best answer I can give him is to turn down any casual work in the future.
It was cash in hand, he could have just kept it but he's been brought up to do the right thing and now he has to pay back the council £400 he doesn't have for payments from November (when he was on jsa) will not get the 400 for December, and currently has no claim for January.
All because he would rather take any work than sit on benefits.
One of the hardest of all life lessons is this:
Just because I feel bad doesn’t necessarily mean someone else is doing something wrong.
Just because I feel good doesn’t necessarily mean what I am doing is right.
Just because I feel bad doesn’t necessarily mean someone else is doing something wrong.
Just because I feel good doesn’t necessarily mean what I am doing is right.
0
Comments
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Your friend may be eligible for ESA instead as he has epilepsy and autism - it would be worth checking with the DWP to see if they think it would be better for him to be on. He could still do some work in time once it is known if he will pass the WCA or not - either as permitted work or as a casual job - this time getting something in writing advising how much he was paid and then declaring it to DWP to make the approp adjustments to his ESA or not.0
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