Jobseekers/Dole/Sausage...

I remember when I signed on and they ask so many questions and my reply to every one was "no". Then they ask about how much money you have, "I have about £15 in my banK I think...". Now I'm going to have to do it again because I need petrol money to keep on looking for jobs. Been putting it off because of the same reason of how Skyfall feels lol.
 
Benefits are an awkward sector to deal in, lots of people and lots of situations you have to have knowledge of. Bottom line if they don't give you JSA/Dole whatever refuse to leave until you can speak to a Manager or Security have to escort you off the premises. Thats the straight john bull of it
 
It's a strange feeling, feels like begging, but at the end of the day though, we paid our NI for a reason and this is it, we should not be ashamed. Positive though though; at least you're using the money rather than some "too fat to work" family :)

If you're entitled to benefits then there's no reason not to take them. I don't plan to be out of work for long, but that may be out of my hands.
 
I remember when I was made redundant last year, I was signing on and if it wasn't for the glass separating myself from the overweight sweaty betty behind the counter I would have killed her.

They think because you're unemployed you should be on your knees begging, they're so arrogant. When they asked how much I had in the bank I replied by saying around £8,000 in my cash ISA she looked at me as if I was scum, thankfully it was only two months until I started working again.

The social security agency are ******** and I hope they all melt in spectacular fashion!
 
I've been on the dole for 3 months now, I was made redundant just before x-mas because the company was struggling. I have to go sign on every other friday (and the feeling of failure never goes away lol). What I'm annoyed at is that i have a friend who has never worked in his life and he's not only getting more money than me per week, but also has a card that can get him free or discounted stuff at a doctors or whatever. I have a very serious kidney problem and I spend about £30-£40 a month on tablets from the doctors - I don't qualify for help paying for them because I'm on contribution based job seekers (ie, the benefits I get are based on how much I have earned since I started working). If I never had a job and lazed around all the time, I would get free medication...I feel kinda let down tbh
 
My dad got made redundant after 30 years of service because the company went in to liquidation. The Government didn't agree that the state should pay the redundancy as a company bought all the assets of the old one so they should pay. Three months later he's only just received his money. Since then he's been on job seekers allowance of ~£60. That's crap.

How do the expect a guy to support his family going from £45k joint income down to about £18k and £60 a week?

If it wasn't for my Grandad's savings my Dad wouldn't have been able to pay the mortgage. He already had to sell his car. I really don't think the jobseekers allowance has been thought through properly.
 
OP

There are 2 types of JSA, (IR) is income based i.e. Pov spec £45 per week, (C) NI contributions based i.e. £60 per week based on contributions over the last 2 years and lasts 26 weeks.

You will not get turned away from IR, but as mentioned it may take a few weeks, but this is backdated to when you first made you claim.

HB/CTB are based on several factors such as income, capital, age, dependants etc.
If you have a mortgage you cannot claim HB, but you can claim CTB. HB is for renting only.

If you are a single person under 25 you are not likley to get much in the way of HB as your needs for housing as far as the government are concerned are minimal the money for a bedsit at best.

In regards to capital most benefits have a £16k maximum, with the first 6k disregarded.

Working age claimant with £12k minus £6k = £6k divided by 250 = £24 tariff income i.e. this is the amount of money the government expect you to be able to afford to support yorself etc etc.
 
aproctor said:
There are 2 types of JSA, (IR) is income based i.e. Pov spec £45 per week, (C) NI contributions based i.e. £60 per week based on contributions over the last 2 years and lasts 26 weeks.
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As you seem to know what you're talking about can I ask is that the only difference between contribtion based JSA an income based?

It seems a bit of a cop out to me, that someone who has worked for years and probably paid tens of thousands into the NI system gets an extra £390 overall over someone who has never worked a day in their life?
 
Skyfall said:
As you seem to know what you're talking about can I ask is that the only difference between contribtion based JSA an income based?

It seems a bit of a cop out to me, that someone who has worked for years and probably paid tens of thousands into the NI system gets an extra £390 overall over someone who has never worked a day in their life?
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Your probably right, but thats the point of tax and benefits.

About the differences though, yeah the ony differences are that if you have paid enough NI over the last 2 years you automatically get JSA (C) for 26 weeks, then you go on JSA (IB).

If you want some good benefits;

Be a single parent
Have a disability
work 16 hours
And keep savings and capital below £6k

To those wanting to speed the benefits claim process up, bring all the information that they ask you for asap, as that is what holds claims up the most, but a wiat of 3/4 weeks is not uncommon.
 
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Man the stories i could tell you about people.

We have a guy on programme atm never worked in his life (he's 28) been in and out of prison all his life and not ashamed in the slightest. He keeps coming in in what i describe as Golfing trousers, nice spangly trainers, nice watches etc. Now this guy is by his own admittance getting £800 per week dealing drugs (something he has done time for in the past)... do the JobCentre care... nope.

We've had another guy always having days off here and there etc etc... one day when one of the other trainers were off they notice him... walking up to someones house with parcels, he notices the trainer legs it to his wait for it... 4x4 07 plate Rangerover (no bull) and speeds off. We call his Advisor to let them know he's doing fraud... she says "oh we've already had a chat with him about this and he assures me he's not working".. 30mins and a frustrated member of staff later and she insists he isn't working... *beggars belief*

Had a woman before Xmas hasn't worked since 1971 and has been claiming since 1975 (34years), dole won't stop for her. I've had people who haven't worked in 20years, 30years the record is the first mention 38years in this paragraph.

You really have to see it to believe it. Dealt with people who have been offered a job and they never turned up for work, people who admit they don't want to work a lad recently said he did a good week dealing his bud £1200. When asked why not sign off if its that good of living "nah dole pay me house don't they" and to be honest there is nothing you can do.

When i was unemployed (twice thankfully) i couldn't claim a penny.
 
Honesty (or should I say effort) doesn't pay by the sound of it. Perhaps I should claim income support when my child is born...:rolleyes:

By the way, people here appear to have difficulty distinguishing between dole and income support. Anyone who's signed on at least once will know by now that dole claimants are subject to far more stringent checks and monitoring.

I've applied for close to 420 jobs since January yet I still had the advisor whine at me because I hadn't gotten a positive reply from any of them.
 
sr4470 said:
By the way, people here appear to have difficulty distinguishing between dole and income support. Anyone who's signed on at least once will know by now that dole claimants are subject to far more stringent checks and monitoring.
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What is the difference? Is dole JSA (what I am in the process of claiming)

I presume you cannot claim income support when you live with parents?
 
sr4470 said:
Honesty (or should I say effort) doesn't pay by the sound of it. Perhaps I should claim income support when my child is born...:rolleyes:

By the way, people here appear to have difficulty distinguishing between dole and income support. Anyone who's signed on at least once will know by now that dole claimants are subject to far more stringent checks and monitoring.

I've applied for close to 420 jobs since January yet I still had the advisor whine at me because I hadn't gotten a positive reply from any of them.
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If you have applied for 420 jobs i'd have a think at what you are doing wrong tbh. Update your CV, any applications you fill in, on the supporting information section to be bullet pointed rather than write an essay
 
arknor said:
i thought you could apply online aswell? and you used to be able to go down the jobcentre and pick up an application form then have a minute interview some weeks later
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You can apply online then they phone you up, ask money questions and get you a interview at the job centre. It's all very long and pointless. You should be able to do it all online and they give you a appointment date, would save some cash on staff.
 
mattyj1085 said:
What is the difference? Is dole JSA (what I am in the process of claiming)

I presume you cannot claim income support when you live with parents?
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No. Income support is generally only available to a parent or parents out of work with dependant children. Sometimes other groups are eligible - but anyone who's been on benefits for years is almost certainly receiving either incapacity benefit or income support. These two do not require you to be seeking employment.

Tobes said:
You can apply online then they phone you up, ask money questions and get you a interview at the job centre. It's all very long and pointless. You should be able to do it all online and they give you a appointment date, would save some cash on staff.
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So would putting the contact details of employers in the job adverts they have, instead of wasting money on JCP callcentres dedicated to telling people how to apply for a listed vacancy...
 
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