Universal Credit - Lasted One Day in Driving Job I Was Not Capable of Doing Safely.

debtslave2024

I am on UC, do not get much, as I also manage to make a small part time income each month myself. However, I do need the small amount from Universal Credit to try and survive.

I made the mistake of attending an induction for a major delivery company. They took me out in the van, and I knew almost immediately from the experience that I could not carry out the job in a safe manner. In fact despite having a 9 years no claims discount for driving, I am fully confident that I was incapable of doing the job under the required conditions safely.

I will get paid for the day I turned up, and that will obviously now show up in my PAYE records. What should I tell UC? They also knew I attended that day, as I told them.

I am worried that they will cut my minimal benefits, for lasting only one day in a job. Though to be fair, I do not think it is right to be coerced into a job that one is incapable of, with the high probability of ending in a road accident.

UC want to speak to me on Thursday. How should I approach this?

Thanks.

elsien

What  is the reason that you felt it was unsafe for you to be able to carry out the role? If you have an unblemished driving record, then  on the face of it driving job should be fine.

It would not be sensible to tell you to tell UC it is unsafe for you, without having any proper reasons as to why that may be the case. 

tacpot12

You shouldn't be penalised for not taking a job that you cannot do safely, but as per elsien's comment, you need to be ready to justify why it would have been unsafe for you. I would recommend you make a list of everything that made it unsafe. If you have a health condition, you can also factor in how that condition might have made it unsafe to do the job, e.g. if you would have struggled to get in and out of the vehicle cab safely.  

If you are penalised (sanctioned), you can as for a mandatory reconsideration. You can also ask your local Citizens Advice service for support with this. 

born_again

debtslave2024 said:

I am on UC, do not get much, as I also manage to make a small part time income each month myself. However, I do need the small amount from Universal Credit to try and survive.

I made the mistake of attending an induction for a major delivery company. They took me out in the van, and I knew almost immediately from the experience that I could not carry out the job in a safe manner. In fact despite having a 9 years no claims discount for driving, I am fully confident that I was incapable of doing the job under the required conditions, in a safe manner.

I will get paid for the day I turned up, and that will obviously now show up in my PAYE records. What should I tell UC? They also knew I attended that day, as I told them.

I am worried that they will cut my minimal benefits, for lasting only one day in a job. Though to be fair, I do not think it is right to be coerced into a job that one is incapable of, with the high probability of ending in a road accident.

UC want to speak to me on Thursday. How should I approach this?

Thanks.

If you are a driver with 9 years NCD, then what was the reason?

itsthelittlethings

Not everyone feels safe to drive a van even if they have 9 years NCD in a car. I can quite understand not feeling safe to do a delivery job in a van with time pressure, for instance.

TELLIT01

"I am 100 percent confident I made the correct decision, and now I need advice to quite rightly protect my minimal “benefits.”

The OP seems to be taking exception to the questions from members here.  The OP needs to realise that these are exactly the type of questions which will be asked by the Work Coach (or whatever their current title is).  By asking here, people are actually being helpful.

debtslave2024

@Elsien You have made the false presumption that 9 years no claim discount equals “unblemished driving record.” I do not have an unblemished driving record. The reason I have 9 years no claim, is because I hardly drive any more!

@tacpot12 I noted that the van I was in was dented (from previous accidents.) The driver was clearly driving under pressure. I actually started to feel nauseous with all the start stops, and constant manoeuvres. Driving under pressure is never safe. Also some of the manoeuvres that they required to be carried out, I was simply never taught for my driving test - they were added to driving training as mandatory later. 

@born_again. I have explained why I have a 9 year NCD above. I barely drive over 1000 miles a year now. When I do drive it is carefully planned, slow, and very cautious - this goes against the rapid nature of the job that I witnessed in person.

On top of all this, I would be required to drive a van (which I have never driven,) with no rear windows, and no high pressure driving training.

Bottom line, I believe as stated in my original post, if I took on the job, there was a very high probability of a road accident - surely this is a decent reason for not proceeding?

elsien

But if you don’t feel comfortable driving a van and you barely drive more than 1000 miles a year in normal circumstances, why did you apply for a van driving job in the first place?

debtslave2024

@Elsien Have you tried living off absolute minimal universal credit £30 top-up per week on top of very low income, with the added obligation that you MUST apply for all sorts of jobs every week that you have never done before, to justify the benefits?

Is it not better to at least try, rather than do nothing? I tried and quite rightly admitted, that I was not capable. If you do not even try, you will get nowhere.

HillStreetBlues

itsthelittlethings said:

Not everyone feels safe to drive a van even if they have 9 years NCD in a car. I can quite understand not feeling safe to do a delivery job in a van with time pressure, for instance.

Totally agree.
Plodding around in a car is very far removed from the pressure of a van delivery job.

M25

These driving jobs are horrible.

You'll have to tell UC that it caused you anxiety, stress and you've not slept because of it. You should also mention you need the toilet a lot because of anxiety and that there's no toilet facilities.

Next time think things through.