FabSwingers.com forum: the system stinks

By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

my lad lost his job in october and after trying get jsa has been refused. his gf earns £100 a wk and they are meant to live on that. he appealed and that was refused they offered him £6 a fortnight towards his stamp.

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By *ouple1234Couple
over a year ago

BELFAST UK

If he lost his job he should get JSA rite away, unless he walked out of his job they wont put you on JSA. Another thing they are funny about is if you have so much money in other accounts like savings etc they would get you to use that before signing for JSA

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Ive worked for myself fa 18 years now and now work is scarce there is no help

Actually wish id been on benefits since day one at least i would still have a roof over my head instead of lodging wi me ex wife till im sorted xx

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By *iamondsmiles.Woman
over a year ago

little house on the praire

So they are £34.50 a week worse of because she works. There must be more to it

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

he got laid off and has no savings at all. he only claimed jsa for 3 months before he got work. he hated it would much rather work. but as he said i need to be able to travel to job inter_iews and he cant with no money. hes been on the housing list from 16 and no offers at all.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"So they are £34.50 a week worse of because she works. There must be more to it"

that is what they told him its cos she works.

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By *he_original_poloWoman
over a year ago

a Primark shoebox in Leicester

"If he lost his job he should get JSA rite away, unless he walked out of his job ..."

or dismissed for misconduct/gross misconduct... or terminated for poor attendance... or any other reason which is seen as being his own fault.

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By *iewMan
Forum Mod
over a year ago

Angus & Findhorn

do he and she live together and in their own house

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

[Removed by poster at 19/12/11 16:17:32]

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By *ust_for_laughsCouple
over a year ago

Hinckley

When I was made redundant, I got JSA.

At the time, there was a lot of redundancy money in the back (and Mrs JFL had and still has, a very well paid job)

In fact, I only went there to get them to pay my NI while I was between jobs and they almost insisted I go on jsa a it was the only way they could do it !

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By *ust_for_laughsCouple
over a year ago

Hinckley

Apologies for typos...bloody phone !

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"do he and she live together and in their own house"

live with her mum but still have rent to pay and food to buy.

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By *ouple1234Couple
over a year ago

BELFAST UK

"So they are £34.50 a week worse of because she works. There must be more to it

that is what they told him its cos she works."

No thats wrong she needs to be earning i think over 10k a year before they can refusse him JSA etc, i have a few friends that work in job centre helped a few people out i know one half of a couple has full time jub but earns 9k a year so she other half gets JSA no problems, only thing they dont get is tax credits towards rent

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By *he_original_poloWoman
over a year ago

a Primark shoebox in Leicester

"do he and she live together and in their own house

live with her mum but still have rent to pay and food to buy.

Then his gf having a part-time job has not a lot to do with it.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"When I was made redundant, I got JSA.

At the time, there was a lot of redundancy money in the back (and Mrs JFL had and still has, a very well paid job)

In fact, I only went there to get them to pay my NI while I was between jobs and they almost insisted I go on jsa a it was the only way they could do it !"

I had to do the same for 3 months last year..I was embarrassed getting the 8 quid a week they were giving me...until they re evaluated my claim and asked for it back!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Tell him to go to the c.a.b

they will sort out what he can or can not get. There is normally a reason why he isnt eligible .

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I can't see how this can be right at all.

If she is on £100 a week (£5200 pa) there is no way he wont be able to get benefits.

I'd get down to the CAB as fast as they can.

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By *ushroom7Man
over a year ago

Bradford

"When I was made redundant, I got JSA.

At the time, there was a lot of redundancy money in the back (and Mrs JFL had and still has, a very well paid job)

In fact, I only went there to get them to pay my NI while I was between jobs and they almost insisted I go on jsa a it was the only way they could do it !"

Same here.

Was fine until i said i can't come the next time as i was due to be away in France.

When being told you cant do that, i asked why not, don't i get four weeks holiday pay as in my last job?

Somewhat stupidly, had to sign off and re-sign on on my return.

The system stinks by design as so many others in "Great" Britain do.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

have a look on the jobcentreplus site you can get all the info there and also you can use the benefit accessor which will tell you exactly what he is entitled to, i found out all sorts of things on there that my son wasnt getting, they tell you what you cant have but never what you can!!

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

just spoke to him hes on his way to jobventre now. he is going to connections as well to get his advice worker to help.

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By *ouple1234Couple
over a year ago

BELFAST UK

The girls mother could be earning so much money that, they could say she can support him untill he finds work and if the daddy works aswell..

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I can't see how this can be right at all.

If she is on £100 a week (£5200 pa) there is no way he wont be able to get benefits.

I'd get down to the CAB as fast as they can."
If i remember rightly when they stopped my payments it was because Tra earned more than £102 pw coupled with the fact my NI wasn't up to date

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

The system is a mess. 18 months ago my daughter had to sign on after leaving her violent OH. She has 3 young children and it took more than 6 weeks to sort out her claim. Just as well she had family to fed them all. And don't start me on her trying to get help with a deposit from housing benefit to get somewhere to live.....

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

"The girls mother could be earning so much money that, they could say she can support him untill he finds work and if the daddy works aswell.."

they only asked for gf wage slips he has to take each one in in case he can get something that wk if her wage is less than normal.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

" And don't start me on her trying to get help with a deposit from housing benefit to get somewhere to live.....

i had to borrow some of mine from my brother and live on next to nothing to get what i needed. thankfully a mate moved me so that was free.

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By *ust_for_laughsCouple
over a year ago

Hinckley

"When I was made redundant, I got JSA.

At the time, there was a lot of redundancy money in the back (and Mrs JFL had and still has, a very well paid job)

In fact, I only went there to get them to pay my NI while I was between jobs and they almost insisted I go on jsa a it was the only way they could do it !

Same here.

Was fine until i said i can't come the next time as i was due to be away in France.

When being told you cant do that, i asked why not, don't i get four weeks holiday pay as in my last job?

Somewhat stupidly, had to sign off and re-sign on on my return.

The system stinks by design as so many others in "Great" Britain do.

Same happened to me, I was playing in my old workplaces annual golf day the day I should have been signing on and they told me I had to sign off but if I'd lied and told them I was going for a job inter_iew it would have been fine...go figure !

Told em to stick it and never went back, given that it was the most depressing, patronising place on all of God's Earth ! I feel sorry for the folks that really need it and have to suffer a system that seems designed to heap indignity on you !

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I understand all can get JSA irrelevant of saving etc, providing their NI is up to date...It's not means tested.

Or has it changed in the last few years?

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

it appears harder to get from 16-18 he got nothing at all. signed on for 3 months found work then got laid off. now he cant get jsa at all

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I understand all can get JSA irrelevant of saving etc, providing their NI is up to date...It's not means tested.

Or has it changed in the last few years?"

Income based JSA is means tested

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Unfortunately the Government say that a couple with no kids only need £105.95 a week to live on, hence they will only pay your sons NI contribution, as your son and gf lives with his girlfriends Mum they are not entitled to housing benefit or council tax benefit

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

This thread has really opened my eyes to the world of being unemployed. I cannot believe that some people think that they should get "holiday pay" when on full-time benefits.

I get holiday days as part of my wage - I work the relevant amount of time and I'm rewarded by a combination of money and leave allowance. If I don't work, I don't get the leave allowance and if I wanted a golfing day or a 4 week holiday abroad I wouldn't get paid for the time off work.

Benefits are there (and a lot of the time, sadly not there) for people who genuinely need them. If you want holidays, work for them!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

I think tongue was firmly in cheek when 4 week holidays was mentioned

I blame the lack of smileys

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By *ushroom7Man
over a year ago

Bradford

[Removed by poster at 19/12/11 17:35:40]

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By *ushroom7Man
over a year ago

Bradford

True and genuine, i asked about holiday pay. Didn't need it or expect to get it, but asked anyway. Why not.

Has has been alluded to, if i'd have said i'd be at say a Dr's appointment, then they'd have been no wiser.

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By *ust_for_laughsCouple
over a year ago

Hinckley

"I think tongue was firmly in cheek when 4 week holidays was mentioned

I blame the lack of smileys"

And I thought I was fairly succint in my reasoning ! I neither needed, nor wanted the benefits at that time, just my NI payments.

The golf day example was just to demonstrate that they actually told me that if I'd lied and said I had a job inter_iew, I could have signed on another day...that's how you work the system, I was way too naive/honest/stupid (delete as applicable).

I don't think anyone was seriously suggesting you should get benefits for being on benefits !

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"This thread has really opened my eyes to the world of being unemployed. I cannot believe that some people think that they should get "holiday pay" when on full-time benefits.

Benefits are there (and a lot of the time, sadly not there) for people who genuinely need them. If you want holidays, work for them!"

I like how you have picked the bits out and ignored the other 99%.

And a big irony that you end with benefits are there "for those that genuinely need them."

Pop quiz. What do you think this thread is actually about? The lady's son is getting a grand total of 6 quid a week. Presumably you think he is having it easy.

The guy with his golf day didn't get the benefit did he either?

Let's hope you never need benefits.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

when i went they wanted to send me to a one day course to see if i had any transferable skills

I'm a decorator,what transferable skills would i have? other than my skill in applying transfers

I had a bad back that day tho

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

When i left the navy i had a transition period and had no work (i left forces as i lost my hubby to ptsd after afghan) and i had to sign on, and they were gobstruck when they asked what skills i had. Im a qualified aircraft mechanic weapons electrical specialist. I was told i was overqualified and they offered me an inter_iew at the local halfords, so for experience sake i went for inter_iew and the guy took one look at me ( yep im blonde, slim and a girlie girl) and said, honey do you know this is a job for building and servicing pushbikes, would you be able to cope, my reply was, well if i can fix a weapons system and programme it to hit a small margin, then i think i will be ok. He thought i was being pedantic and told me to leave. When i went to jobcentre the following week i actually got a bollocking for having a poor attitude!!!!! needless to say jobsworth took an ear bashing and my benefit was stopped until i appealed.

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By *emima_puddlefuckCouple
over a year ago

hexham

"I understand all can get JSA irrelevant of saving etc, providing their NI is up to date...It's not means tested.

Or has it changed in the last few years?"

All that happens now if you have paid your NI is that you get JSA at a higher rate for 6 months.

All JSA is means tested...

OP...as others have said contact your cab or welfare advisor.If he is living with his girlfriend her income will be taken into account...but one wage slip i not usually enough.Was it representative of her average wage?

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

agree that the system is not working in the way it should be.

there are people who are prepared to be economical with the truth who gain benefit they are not really entitled and those who are not who lose it perhaps correctly so, but unjustly in the light of the liars who get it.

There are also occasions when the system denys benefit to someone who should have it. I helped with such a case recently and the system was wrong.

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By (user no longer on site) OP
over a year ago

he was asked to take 2 months of wage slips in which he did her wage varies depending on her hours.

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By *isscheekychopsWoman
over a year ago

The land of grey peas and bacon

"The system is a mess. 18 months ago my daughter had to sign on after leaving her violent OH. She has 3 young children and it took more than 6 weeks to sort out her claim. Just as well she had family to fed them all. And don't start me on her trying to get help with a deposit from housing benefit to get somewhere to live.....

There are schemes set up with local athorties that will help with deposits for single and famiies. Though with hosuing benefit changes if you are a single person you will only be able to get the shared rate for private rented accommodation until the age of 35 so the goverenment are saying you have to live in shared acc till you are 35. Also come March/April time the council are going to include privatel rented accommodation as a suitable offer. In regards to the OH post. I take it that he is under 25 being linked in with connections? It is best that he speaks to an adviser as they may of not gathered all the information needed.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

Tell me about it

I've opted out and they can shove their rules and regs up their arse!!

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

My son and his gf would have been better off signing on as single claimants. She was working and got £200 per week. He got nothing. So they couldn't save to get the deposit towards a flat. She then got paid off, cos it was agency work, and they will get just over £200 between them every two weeks. Same position. So I still can't get rid of them! LOL

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

The way the system currently works they may be better off not working and on benefits as they will get free dentistry, prescriptions for medicine, glasses etc.

I might well be better off not working. However, work is good for the soul. (just my opinion)

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By *emima_puddlefuckCouple
over a year ago

hexham

"My son and his gf would have been better off signing on as single claimants. She was working and got £200 per week. He got nothing. So they couldn't save to get the deposit towards a flat. She then got paid off, cos it was agency work, and they will get just over £200 between them every two weeks. Same position. So I still can't get rid of them! LOL"

Better off until they got done for fraud

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

i work for benefitsand if u would like help and info please reply privately ule be surprised wat infact u are entitled to wel known fact that its the individuals job to know wat ure entitled to they are not at liberty to tel u all

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

If I remember correctly, a couple on benefits get £95 so they are right unfortunately. Get him to try bar work, sign on with temp agencies; there are some really good ones and some dreadful ones, try supermarkets too. I hear this time of the year is good for job hunting as lots of people decide to change jobs.

As to the housing situation, if he is signed on as a single but living with you, he is adequately housed and therefore a low need. You may want to do a letter "evicting" him which may move him up to homeless but I wouldn't want to give you hope, sorry. PM if you want more advice though not sure what I can do. Private renting is probably his only hope but very expensive depending on where you live.

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By *emima_puddlefuckCouple
over a year ago

hexham

"OP...as others have said contact your cab or welfare advisor.If he is living with his girlfriend her income will be taken into account...but one wage slip i not usually enough.Was it representative of her average wage?

he was asked to take 2 months of wage slips in which he did her wage varies depending on her hours."

That is always a killer...as they dont have kids and the DHSS have seen her wage slips they are probably over the income threshold then.

Anyone who thinks living on jsa is easy is an idiot.

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By *isscheekychopsWoman
over a year ago

The land of grey peas and bacon

"If I remember correctly, a couple on benefits get £95 so they are right unfortunately. Get him to try bar work, sign on with temp agencies; there are some really good ones and some dreadful ones, try supermarkets too. I hear this time of the year is good for job hunting as lots of people decide to change jobs.

where you live."

The council have cottoned on to the "eviction" letter and may find you not homeless because of colbration, Not good if you do ever really end up homeless.

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By *emima_puddlefuckCouple
over a year ago

hexham

where you live.

The council have cottoned on to the "eviction" letter and may find you not homeless because of colbration, Not good if you do ever really end up homeless. "

Add in the shortage of accommodation for the homeless, and even if the council wanted to help they might not be able too.

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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago

"I think tongue was firmly in cheek when 4 week holidays was mentioned

I blame the lack of smileys

And I thought I was fairly succint in my reasoning ! I neither needed, nor wanted the benefits at that time, just my NI payments.

I don't think anyone was seriously suggesting you should get benefits for being on benefits !"

That's bollox. I had an inter_iew on a signing day and they asked for a letter from the agency to confirm that I was not able to turn up.

If you are out of work, your sign on day is like going to work, turn up on time, fill in the forms that they give you (after all, it's not too much to ask to take 3 actions per week to try to seek work).

I always did exactly as asked and more, pushed to go on courses, before the inter_iew I checked the job machines and had at least 5 jobs to apply for. As a consequence I was never once challenged as to whether I was doing enough to find work and was treated with respect. I scratched backs and the staff bent over backwards to provide whatever assistance they were able to......

Treat these people like shit and you can hardly be supprised if they fuck you over whenever they get the chance.....

Re OP, get in touch with CAB (as has been suggested) and they will set you right.

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By *waymanMan
over a year ago

newcastle

where you live.

The council have cottoned on to the "eviction" letter and may find you not homeless because of colbration, Not good if you do ever really end up homeless.

Add in the shortage of accommodation for the homeless, and even if the council wanted to help they might not be able too."

In may areas childless non-vulnerable homeless just get a list of private landlords. That's it. In our neck of the woods they might get a hard to let flat in a council block, but there are strict affordability tests to try and reduce tenancy failures.

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By *abioMan
over a year ago

Newcastle and Gateshead

in my new role in the Civil service I can help a bit with regards to NI.....

if someone is claiming for JSA, incapacity or carers... they get a credit towards NI contributions.... 1 credit per week, you need 52 for the year....

if you are missing any then you can pay class 3 voluntary ni contributions at £12.50 per week....

you need 30 years of eligable contributions over the length of your worth life to get the full basic state pension (at this point £102.15 per week) any years missing you will still get that percentage..... each year missing is worth roughly £3.40 per week atm...

now... this is where it becomes a tad complicated...

if you earn between £102 and £139 per week, you are in 'Null Band'.. which means no NI is coming out of wages.. but the contibutions are being paid for you...

once you get to £139 per week... you then start paying your own NI contributions (at approx 12%)

hopefully that helps with regards to it... if there are any other questions then feel free to ask me....

sean xxxx

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