jsa and holiday abroad

Soldato
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its my wifes dads 50th birthday next week and me and my wife have paid for him to go to lanzorte for a week with us.

Today he went to the job centre to sign off and then to organise signing back on once we are back. They have told him he aint allowed to go and if he does he will owe a £ 1000 for housing benefit and jsa. Surely that cannot be right?

We ared ue to fly Sunday and now he doesnt want to go.

The holiday hasnt cost him a penny and its all inclusive.
 
Man of Honour
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Its usually paid in arrears so I can't see how he'd owe them money if he signed off and signed back on again after a brief period.
 
Man of Honour
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i would have just gone and got someone to phone in sick for me if i had an interview or anything that week, bit late now though :(
 
Soldato
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Im struggling to find anything concrete online. Various forums say you can have holiday but only in the uk. But he was trying to sign off for the week he is away. Fully expecting no jsa due to not actively seeking work.

He was trying to do everything by the book.
 
Soldato
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Tell them he's taking papers and will have Internet access to actively seek work.

We are due to fly sunday so they are are closed now. Such a crap situation. He is worriednow. They told him holiday in the uk is fine but not abroad. But he doesn't even want to claim money for the week he is abroad. Hence the signing off
 
Man of Honour
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Was quite awhile back but I seem to recall you could take a 2 week holiday but only in the UK and still claim JSA, if you go abroad you have to sign off JSA, but you can claim HB for upto a certain length if you go abroad though in some cases it might be paid at a reduced rate.
 
Soldato
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He was trying to do everything by the book.

First mistake right there.

I'm not saying do anything dodgy, but playing by the rules is guaranteed to have the JC **** you over every time.
I've seen it time and again - you try and do the right thing and you pay for it. You bend the rules as much as possible and you get what you want.
In this instance, I'd have been economical with the truth and not said anything about going abroad. It's not like he'd have been placed on a border agency watch list for being on jsa :p

Sadly you have to know how places like the jobcentre operate and play them at it to your advantage. That sounds bad but it's the only way to not get screwed by them. Unfortunately for your father-in-law the cat is already out of the bag.

As for owing them money, that sounds like JC scare-tactics to me.

Now, damage limitation, I'd try the signing off followed by a rapid reclaim. I don't know if you can do this over the phone (so you don't have to see the same JC staff - chances are unless he was at an appointment etc the conversation will not have been noted down on his claim). Last time I signed off I just handed my book in to the reception staff without any chit chat with the signing off bit filled out. You can post the signing off book through the jobcentre door too, by the time anyone gets to processing it, you'll probably be back un the uk anyway :rolleyes:
Say he thought he was going to get a temp job, but it just turned out to be registering with another ******** agency who like to get you on the books but never actually supply you with work. The agency in question was contacted outside of the JC and not through any of their recorded systems. There's plenty of them out there.

But as I said before your FIL has shot himself in the foot already, so take anything I say at this point under advisement.

Sometimes I despair that being honest gets you nothing these days.
 
Associate
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I don't see why they have told him he will owe them money if he signs off for a week. A guy that volunteers where I work signs off for a month each year to go to Thailand, he tells the job centre each time and they just remind him to do a rapid reclaim when he gets back. He has never been threatened with owing them money for taking a holiday. His last trip to Thailand was around 3-4 months ago, no idea if they have changed the rules since then but it wouldn't make sense to demand £1000 for signing off then back on.
He did have a bit of trouble with his rapid reclaim this time though, they somehow lost him on the system so he had to submit a fresh claim (no idea how you lose a person entirely lol).

As jumpy said, get him to fill in the signing off pages in his book and post it to them. Also get him to call on Monday (if you can) to sign off. Then when you get back in the country he should call again to arrange a rapid reclaim.
 
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Caporegime
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My dad was on JSA for some time. We would still go to the continent (camping in 5euro sites, cooking our meals and doing free activities like hiking and beach). He justed signed off for the 2 weeks, no issues at all. You just don't get paid obviously.
 
Associate
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Dunno about just signing off now and bailing for 2 weeks after asking already. Would look proper dodge. I guess for future reference its worth nothing.

As for now sounds like your stuck between a rock and a hard place?

Only thing I can think of would be to spin them a yarn about going on holiday in the UK for 2 weeks but he yer that's like some next level undercover OP! Dunno I don't condone lying but I don't see any other solution. Did you have insurance sorted out, perhaps you can claim the price of the holiday back?
 
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