UC meetings

peteuk

How often should an 18 year old be expected to have work searching meetings.  And if the work coach is away then what happens.

Son has been claiming since September 2023 and I grilled his work coach today about his sanction and have come to the conclusion she would struggle to get her shoes on the right feet if they weren’t tagged L and R.

She managed to contradict herself numerous times. 

swingaloo

Why are you 'grilling his work coach'. It should be stated in his Work Plan. Are you saying he is not getting enough meetings?

TheShape

A claimant would usually have weekly Work Search Reviews for the first 13 weeks of a claim and then fortnightly after that.

If the assigned work coach is away, an appointment would usually be booked with another work coach.

sammyjammy

Perhaps she contradicted herself as you made her feel uncomfortable with your "grilling", perhaps its would be better if you left things to your son to deal with himself.

huckster

@peteuk

You mentioned in previous thread that your Son struggles with Dysgraphia and that you helped with the claim.

Has your Son asked for reasonable adjustments under the Equalities act ?

Your Son might be better having a phone based claim and not online ? Then he can contact UC by telephone to report changes and to explain any issues regarding attending appointments etc.

Your Son could do with an early intervention to help him move forward, rather than end up on benefits for a long time.  One of the options could be referral by the Job Centre to Work & Health programme. Then he would have appointments with a provider who could help find suitable employment, help with applications, training courses etc. When he is on Work & Health programme, he would have fortnightly appointments with provider and once a month with Job Centre.

powerspowers

It’s worth challenging the sanction, as any subsequent sanction will be longer. 

And agree with previous posters, your son needs to ask for reasonable adjustments to allow him to manage his own claim 

peteuk

swingaloo said:

Why are you 'grilling his work coach'. It should be stated in his Work Plan. Are you saying he is not getting enough meetings?

Work plan…he visits fortnightly (now) and is given jobs to apply for, not always appropriate.  For instance she suggested he walk to a location if successful.  The location is on a busy A road, spread limit 50/60 MPH depending on the stretch of road with no pavements.  Sorry thats not helping my son find work. (NB there is a bus he can catch but I dont expect a work coach to fully aware of all the bus routes but as she said I drive pass it, so she knows the road)

The grilling was about the sanction, she contradicted herself when asked how often are his meetings, and then when asked to check that and showed that he was on weekly, fortnightly and then monthly meetings with a gap of two months between two meetings, she quickly said oh I was away at that point so there was no meetings…at that point she had lost all credibility.  

She also said that regardless of any problems he would have to attend appointments. 

Hence the grilling, because i was pee’d off.  Moving forward, he will get the bus to his meetings, I will not take him or pay parking (bus is cheaper) and although unreliable we will see how many meetings he does attend (there was a head on crash on the way, which she dismissed, and I advised a bus couldnt change its route, i was able to take the back roads to get there on time.

peteuk

sammyjammy said:

Perhaps she contradicted herself as you made her feel uncomfortable with your "grilling", perhaps its would be better if you left things to your son to deal with himself.

I wasn’t impressed, I usually do allow him to deal with things however due to his sanction I stepped in (with his consent).  I let the meeting go as normal, she “mansplained” his sanction letter, covered the question he raised and did no job searches with him and was about to wrap the meeting when I started asking questions about his sanction.  

Mr.Generous

Best bet for your son is to get a job and not have the stress of dealing with UC claim. Sept 23 is a long time looking, take anything then keep looking. I spoke to a car saleman once who told me his story.

He was unqualified and took a job washing vans and cars for a dealership, one day the owner had a fall out with a salesman who walked and he asked if he could try out. The owner bought him a suit and did some training, he had been selling cars ever since.

What I'm saying is get a foot in the door, work hard and make some contacts. Then look for a better position. Good luck.

JonVarnas

Well done for sticking up for your son. I've seen many a vulnerable person bullied by work coaches. They try it on me but I don't take it. I even made one cry once.

HillStreetBlues

JonVarnas said:

Well done for sticking up for your son. I've seen many a vulnerable person bullied by work coaches. They try it on me but I don't take it. I even made one cry once.

I don't think that's something to boast about.