Has anyone ever been excused from signing on? (JSA)

SullyVan

Hi all.

I'm very new to JSA (today was my second signing; first ever JSA payment is expected next week: Tues).

I am a lone parent to an 8-year-old with special needs. I have been given fortnightly signings. I am in Scotland and the summer holidays in my area starts tomorrow.

I've read about postal signing and today asked the JCP advisor if I could be considered for this. I explained that now the holidays have begun, I would need to bring my child with me for the next 3 signings while school is off, and I didn't think my child would cope with the small waiting area, lots of people in a small space, waiting up to 20 mins for me to be seen etc.

The advisor made a quick phone call and then told me that instead of postal signing, I have been excused from signing from now until the end of the summer holidays in August. I was told I don't need to post anything to them, instead they will observe my work search activities through my universal job match account. The advisor will submit a form with the dates of my 'excused' period to the processing centre.

But before leaving, the advisor lowered her voice and told me (in an 'off the record' kind of way) that I should definitely keep an eye on my payments, as lots of other people who have been excused from signing usually have to call up and chase their payments every fortnight.

I'm just a little bit worried about this. I applied for JSA on the 5th June and my first payment won't be until the 30th June. And it's been really hard only relying on child tax credits and child benefit (my child doesn't get any disability benefit, nor I any carer benefit) to cover bills and food and transport etc since then.

So the thought of payments being delayed etc over the summer, too, is really worrying me. I had naively assumed that once I receive my first payment on the 30th June, future payments would run smoothly every fortnight.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, being excused from signing? Were your payments ever missing/delayed?

Thanks.

Mersey_2

Yes, claimants can be excused from signing, due to holidays, sickness etc, but the advisor will still need to action the payment each fortnight, so you could always just ring up on your signing day to double check they have. That way they shouldn't put you down as failed to attend and close your claim a week later.

kem1

From previous experience of working in a Jobcentre I know that people who have been excused signing have a greater risk of their payment being missed. This is because somebody still has to go into your account and input a dialogue to ensure your payment is issued. They would usually do this immediately after you've left the office on your signing day, or even while you're there.

If you're not attending, there will likely be a form attached to your documents to remind whoever picks it up that you are excused signing and that they still need to input the payment dialogue. Everybody has the best of intentions, but if they don't pick your paperwork up, or if they don't read it properly, or if the form comes off - your payment will get missed. Unfortunately the archaic system has no facility for them to set up automatic payments for while you're excused.

If I were you, I would try and get into the office if you possibly can - they would usually be happy to change your signing time temporarly for you e.g. for early in a morning when it's quieter, or if there's a time you can get childcare? If not, I would ring the day after your signing day to make sure your payment has been issued (it goes out overnight).