Do I have to go to the job centre to continue getting HB?

dippy3103

Harry_Benny wrote: »

I work less than 30 hpw.

I have asked before and I must ask again :



A few years ago I had a part time job and my income was lower than the applicable amount by about £10 per week. They never had an issue.

Now, it's pretty much the same, but now they have an issue. Can you not understand why I'm questioning this? The only thing that has changed is that I'm not working for someone else.

Repeat : Nothing has changed except that I am generating this income without working for an employer.

Why does the council have such a problem with this? Why do they think that I should either sign on or get a job when nothing is different to how it was before, income wise?

Ask the council.. clearly you are not taking on board anything anyone says here. You don't appear to be seeking advicev

FBaby

A few years ago I had a part time job and my income was lower than the applicable amount by about £10 per week. They never had an issue

Because a few years ago, things were different. For a start, there were not so many people claiming to make a living of ebay. Since then, they have started to look more closely as to whether this constitute being self-employed.

Expectations have changed and so have demands for evidence

Harry_Benny

FBaby wrote: »

Because a few years ago, things were different. For a start, there were not so many people claiming to make a living of ebay. Since then, they have started to look more closely as to whether this constitute being self-employed.

Expectations have changed and so have demands for evidence

Ok so in other words it's not the amount of my income that is the issue (even though they say it is). The issue, you suggest, is that they are uncomfortable when someone says that they are selling stuff on ebay.

If that's the case, then my next step would be to inform them that I am not breaking any rules, and that I am indeed selling products on ebay.

I could certainly provide them with evidence to prove it without any doubt, but the fact that they have not bothered to ask for this kind of proof tells me that they would rather I just shut up and roll over and go to the job centre just because they prefer it that way.

But I don't want the job centre to give me free money. I want to work for my income. Albeit not in a conventional job.

They should realise that this is 2017 and many people are generating an income from various online sources. Not everyone has a job. Some people prefer to create their own income and build something.

The council seem to be living in the stone age, which is bad for them because increasingly more people will be doing the same as me. And then they're going to have to keep up by changing the way they do things.

w06

but billy you're not working for your income, you're working for a fraction of it and askign the council to give you the rest.

They'd be perfectly happy I'm sure if you were making enough in your ebay business to support yourself, but you're not, by choice by the sounds of it.

dippy3103

Harry_Benny wrote: »

But I don't want the job centre to give me free money. I want to work for my income. Albeit not in a conventional job.

But it's ok for the council to give you free money?

What will you do when UC rolls out to full service in your area?

Anyway Billy. I hope you are having a pleasant evening

Londonsu

I love it when you said in your OP 'But I am perfectly capable of living on that amount as I am very frugal' when in fact you are not capable of living on that amount as you need HB to pay your rent.

FBaby

Ok so in other words it's not the amount of my income that is the issue (even though they say it is).

The amount is an issue now. It wasn't then, but the rules have changed because of people doing as little as possible showing no interest in being self-reliant, so they had to introduce stricter rules.

I want to work for my income. Albeit not in a conventional job.

But you're not. You are working as little as you can whilst still expecting housing benefits to cover your rent.

Earning a very low income shouldn't be a mean to an end, it should be a stepping stone.

Simply put, if there was no housing benefit, you would find a way to increase your income to pay your rent. The fact that it's there doesn't mean you have an entitlement to it just because it suits you.

Sncjw

Are you declaring your self employed to hmrc. Are you paying tax and ni.

spidermagicat

Ok, here are some key figures for you.

To be in "gainful employment" they expect you to earn minimum wage for 35 hours per week.

This works out at £1137.50/month for over 25s (£7.50/hour). It rose from £1092 as the minimum wage rose in April. This might have effected you if you are between these figures.

As this is meant to be a living wage, if your rent still leaves you without enough to live on they make up the difference. Capped at the local housing allowance rate for your area (shared or 1 bedroom I think):http://www.entitledto.co.uk/help/Local-Housing-Allowance-Rates

If you earn less than £1137.50/month you are categorised as underemployed. While they will still make up the difference in rent they will ask you to increase your earnings to that level.

If you are earning above the "Administrative Earnings Threshold" (AET) ~£339/month you will fall into the "light touch" group initially. This means you will have a phone interview arranged every 8 weeks to discuss ways you could earn more. You can be asked into the jobcentre for your first appointment or subsequent appointments if you miss the phone call. Attending these is mandatory but should happen only every 8 weeks.

They will sanction you for missing these appointment and also if they consider you to have had a "voluntary reduction of earnings" at any point. So if you have dropped your earnings recently, they might think it voluntary and be willing to sanction you for it. You can convince them that is not the case, or appeal any sanctions they give you if that fails.

They can also ask you in for a more detailed interview if they believe you are making no effort to increase your earnings to the minimum income floor of £1137.50. They can then give you more specific requirements to your "claimant commitment". This they can do but likely wont if your earnings aren't too close to the low end.

If you earn less than £339/month you'll be exactly the same group as someone not working at all. You will be expected to fulfil a 35 hour job search, minus any hours you are working on a 1-1 basis. So if you work 20 hours, they'll expect to see evidence of 15 hours of job searching.

As you can see it's a simple equation really.

Earn £1137.50/month or more, they leave you completely alone.

Earn between £339-1137.50/month. They'll ask you to do a little to improve your situation.

Earn less than £339/month. They'll deem that you do not have proper employment and should be looking for an entirely new job. So you become a "jobseeker".

Edit: These are the numbers based on Universal Credit. Which councils are transitioning to.

parkrunner

Jesus wept, just go to the job centre and see what the problem is.