£100 lost by not attending ESA appointment

red_devil

jobcentre today have been renamed sanction centres they are the scum of the earth and the people who dish out sanctions and bully claimants are no better than Hitlers Henchmen.

They no longer exist to help people its all about control and sanctions.

NYM

Godwin's Law....:(

ab1982

NYM wrote: »

Godwin's Law....:(

Clearly the Third Reich didnt pay any ESA to people who oversleep either and it didnt end well for them did it eh?

missapril75

nannytone wrote: »

it is clearly stated that the onus is on the claimant to know the rules and obligations that make up their claim.

And once again I say, yes, but would you expect the sanction to be so severe? Like the loss of £200 for missing an appointment?

What kind of world is this where the sanction is more punitive than for, say, assault, vandalism, robbery, speeding and other motoring offences?

missapril75

dippy3103 wrote: »

If I were to not to turn up to work I would be on a disciplinary. The first time would be a written warning & loss of a day's pay. The next time more serious..

Yes. Something appropriate to the offence. A series of actions.

As opposed to a 'fine' of £200 for missing an appointment.

What happens for not responding to a letter quickly enough, loss of a limb?

Yes I'm being ridiculous. Like that £200 for a missed appointment.

missapril75

red_devil wrote: »

security staff are always standing around ....

That's what security is. It's about prevention, didn't you know?

Should we abolish the police, after all they are mostly standing around or sitting in cars doing nothing.

Let's abolish the fire brigade too. Mostly twiddling thumbs aren't they?

Or is your hatred reserved for low paid civil servants?

NeilCr

missapril75 wrote: »

Yes. Something appropriate to the offence. A series of actions.

As opposed to a 'fine' of £200 for missing an appointment.

What happens for not responding to a letter quickly enough, loss of a limb?

Yes I'm being ridiculous. Like that £200 for a missed appointment.

I don't disagree that this seems a lot for an oversleep. I do wonder if there are previous instances with the OP - that could explain the severity of the sanction. Perhaps the OP could let us know if this is the case.

Mandatory reconsideration is the way to go, anyway, within the time limits stated in the letter

I do, also, think that some of the comments about DWP staff are OTT. I have quite a lot of contact with them in one way or another and, in general, they are helpful and considerate. Like most other groups of people, there are bad eggs - but no more than average

Confuseddot

SingleSue wrote: »

Yes they do.

A friend of mine (sorry no link available, just personal experience), had been claiming ESA for a mental breakdown, he also has Aspergers. He didn't receive the required amount of points at his assessment and so had to sign on for JSA.

It was at this point that the attitude towards him completely changed, he was going to organisations to help him return to work (which he had been referred to by the job centre whilst on ESA and waiting an appeal) but all of a sudden, this became a reason for a possible sanction.

The pressure put on him was absolutely immense and because it was threatening his rather delicate mental health, he signed off. He found the whole process very intimidating, very scary and he felt completely unsupported and scared about having the rug pulled from under him and getting a sanction for some wrong doing that he had no idea about.

Now this is not someone who had spent years on the dole or even years on ESA. Up to that point he had spent about a year on ESA, the rest of the time he had been working full time (so well over 30 years).

He now receives no benefits apart from council tax (I think, he might even have hit that on the head such is his fear) and is reliant on his mum (after spending his savings to live) and a few odd jobs he can do when he is well plus selling bits and pieces in his home to survive as and when needed...the fear and initimidation was far too much for him to even contemplate trying to go through the system again. Thankfully, he owns his own home (mortgage paid off about a year before he became ill) so he doesn't need to worry about the roof over his head!

To be fair this is someone who should have been on ESA not JSA, did he ever appeal the decision ? He should contact the CAB/mind or similar organisation and get help filling in the form and apply again with support.

Confuseddot

NeilCr wrote: »

I don't disagree that this seems a lot for an oversleep. I do wonder if there are previous instances with the OP - that could explain the severity of the sanction. Perhaps the OP could let us know if this is the case.

Mandatory reconsideration is the way to go, anyway, within the time limits stated in the letter

I do, also, think that some of the comments about DWP staff are OTT. I have quite a lot of contact with them in one way or another and, in general, they are helpful and considerate. Like most other groups of people, there are bad eggs - but no more than average

Reading the guides on ca and benefits and work it may actually be more than £200 as it the time between the missed appointment and attending the appointment which was two weeks I believe and then an added week sanction.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1482-employment-and-support-allowance-esa-sanctions

Confuseddot

Glen_Clark wrote: »

I wonder what proportion are real jobs?
I don't know because I have been told many jobs advertised in jobcentres don't exist. Because its free to advertise, apparently unscrupulous agencies advertise non-existant jobs just to get a wide selection of people on their books in case a real job comes in.
We will probably never know how true this is. But I still wonder if running a free jobcentre service is the best use of taxpayers money. With say, 5 million peoiple chasing 1 million jobs, there will be 4 million out of work however good the jobcentre is. They might help some to get a job, but there will still be 5-1 = 4 million out of work. Just a different 4 million. So the net benefit is nil.

I wasn't looking at any of the job centre jobs, going direct to companies websites and then looking at various search engines. Walking down the street near where she stays there seems to be a notice in most shops looking for staff. But like i said i was rather amazed at the sheer volume of jobs out there. Am sure there will be a few dodgy jobs in some of the search engines but most seemed genuine.