Just had my JSA cut to only £3.33 a week!

FairyKitty

I now have only £15 a week to survive on. I have a part-time job, but it was only 4 hours, now been cut down to only 2 (I am trying my best to get another job, but it was difficult enough to get this one). I received a letter in the post saying I earn £68 a week, so this would be removed from my JSA, and they will now only pay out £3.33 per week instead of around £40 a week. (the rule is it must add up to £71 a week, the amount needed for someone of my age). I tried to get in touch, the first time they hung up on me, the second time they answered, said they were busy and hung up. It all seems pretty rude. I've had my JSA cut far too much in the past, and I wasn't believed, so lived on £50 a week for a few months, until they realised their mistake themselves, and rectified it. I could not do anything in that time though, I called a few times and told them their mistake, but they insisted it was not a mistake, I really was earning as much as they said, so was not entitled to as much JSA as I was claiming. Now and again I get overtime at work, but not that often, the summer has been pretty barren as I work in greetings cards so seasons are our busiest times. I have had no overtime since June (Father's day). I worry that I will have trouble getting it sorted again, and may end up living on £15 a week for the foreseeable future. I could cope on £50, but £15 is a joke.

benefitbaby

Although the level of service you have received on the telephone has been atrocious, stick with it... call again (the earlier the better) and request a call back from the JSA processing team, they should cal lyou within 3 hours. If they don't then call the contact centre again and tell them you have not received you ring back, they should then make an urgent request for a call back within 1 hour.

Make sure you have evidence of your earnings so you can send copies to JCP so they can recalculate your entitlement.

dookar

When you phone them make an official complaint. The complaints resolution manager should be able to sort it in a couple of phone calls (they'd still need evidence of earnings though)

FairyKitty

Every time I sign on, I must fill in a time sheet, and every time I get paid I take in my payslips so they can photocopy them. They have all the proof under the sun of the hours I work and what I earn. It's kind of frustrating to have this happen again, but this time with an even smaller amount to live on. I did do some cover work in June, but it didn't go over 16 hours a week, so I was told my my JSA would not be affected. It seems it now has, but why should it permanently be reduced down to £3.33 if that was some one-off cover work I did? I actually worked through all my own holidays, as I work so little hours I didn't see the point of taking any time off, but in the meantime I am available to cover for my colleague. But like I said that was a while ago now. I guess it takes them time to play catch-up? But if they need any proof to sort this out, I have kept every single one of my payslips and time sheets I fill out for my boss.

missapril75

It's possible that you are getting a decision letter following a reassessment and even though they have the next details they haven't done the reassessment yet.

At another time you might provide details of an increase in earnings and then you get a letter saying JSA is increasing because they just assessed for the previous pay details.

busy_mom_2

Have you any deductions for loans or overpayments?

FairyKitty

I just spoke to a friend of mine who used to be a benefits advisor, she told me they will probably reassess my claim, I'm just still worried that the next time I sign on, I will only see just over £6 for two weeks in my account. They take too long to sort things out in my opinion.

I don't have any loans or overpayments. The last time they overpaid me (£7 over payment), they chased me for it, it was annoying as they could have just told me at my next sign on. It's not even a big amount, they owed me way more than that when they underpaid me for four months earlier this year. I was struggling to get by, and that was £50 a week. I dread to think what I will do with a smaller amount this time. I have a feeling it won't get fixed for a while.

FairyKitty

Ok wow, just saw the last time I posted about this. Currently I am still receiving £3.33 a week, have done for a month and a half now. I phoned them up, they told me to write a letter so I did. I also complained to my advisor in the jobcentre. So far nothing has happened. My advisor checked the status of my claim on the computer and she said no reassessment was currently in place, meaning they want to leave it like that. I should only ever have been paid £3.33 for two weeks since that was how long my cover work was, this has clearly been going on a lot longer. I worry whether I will get my money back up to what it should be at all. I'm thinking to go to the citizens advice bureau. It's just a joke really. They have my last payslip, where they can see my salary went back to how it should be since I had finished the cover work. It was only two weeks in June, why am I being punished like this? I've even been trying to get another job, but its very difficult.

Horseunderwater

Contact your MP - you need to do this now.

FairyKitty

I went to the citizen's advice bureau, they were really helpful and called the benefit office on my behalf. They told CAB a hell of a lot more than they ever told me. Apparently they don't know how much money I earn, despite the fact that my rate of pay is printed on every pay slip that the Jobcentre photocopies every month. The guy at the CAB office seems to think they are not really paying attention to my pay slips, weird since they acted immediately when I had one month where I earned a little more due to cover work. Lady who initially interviewed me said I was lucky I lived with family as I would have been struggling a lot more. Basically if they don't act on the information they have about me, how much I earn, then I can take it further, so we'll see what happens. Should I still contact my MP in the meantime?