anybody know about job seekers allowance

[sv_rory]

Well to cut a long story short I lost my job and couldnt get a job anywhere! not even in fast food!

so...

I applied for job seekers on the 23rd sept and got a response from job center plus several days later.

I then went to the appointment as requested and filled in the appropriate paperwork and was told to return a week later to sign on.

I went to sign on and again 2 weeks later as requested but I still havent been paid a single penny.

I was told that when I sign on wedenesday they would pay me on the monday but nothing

Where do i stand because the jobcenter are so unhelpful!

[kitkat]

I would get back on to them to find out what the position was. I had a similar problem when i first signed on. They had put my details in the wrong box or something, I phoned up and was paid 2 days later. good luck with job hunting

[Bibio]

you should have been paid 2 weeks after signing on. but as far as i can remember you should get paid from when you first applied. you are paid in arrears which is 2 weeks after you sign on which is the next signing on date unless you are a 'postal signing'. they are taking the pee so i'd get on to them. if you have savings that you declared at the time and its over the threshold then they will make you use that before giving you any money.

[sv_rory]

Yeah it rele sucks

I dont have any savings and they told me I would be paid around 2 weeks after i applied. They treat people really badly in our local center, it's appauling, every week I go in there people are complaining about staff.

I dont know why it is taking so long for them to sort me out. I did however have a letter from the job center saying that I didnt turn up for one of my sign on interviews but i did go and filled out the relevant paperwork when i got there. I pointed that out to them and they said they didnt know why I got the letter.

I cant get anywhere with them, I try to ring and then they just cut you off, every single time! even the welfare manager at college where I study part time tried and gave up after it happeneing 7 times over a few days.

[Jordy]

I was on JSA about a year ago. Providing you get there on time and show evidence that you're looking for work you should get paid. Mine was paid fortnightly ~ £100 and it should be back tracked from the first day you signed on.
If you have done all this I would pop in and explain to them that you've signed on and havn't recieved any JSA, it could just be an admin delay. (they have to check you're legit and that you didn't leave your last place of work voluntarily).

[sv_rory]

I have a sign on time that I can't meet because I study part time and they have given me a time halfway through one of my morning classes.

They wont change the appointment time, they just tell me to turn up late every week.

I have signed onto a part time college course because theres no work so hopefully this will help me to get a job and make me a more desireable candidate.

You can study part time up to 16 hours a week and still claim JSA. I study about 9 or 10. they have taken my learner agreements to copy and they still ask me to sign on but they havent paid me

[DarrenSV650S]

They're really slow. Took ages before I got anything from them. It wasn't worth the hassle of driving there and being treated like crap every 2 weeks. And filling in their stupid little books. I got sick of it.

[punyXpress]

As they see themselves:
Helpful, friendly, go out of their way to get you the ideal job paying at least double what you got before.

Reality :
Treat you like schuyt,make you go through all the hoops imaginable, don't pay you what you're due etc, etc . .

BTW there wasn't an element of holiday pay or cash in lieu of notice in your final settlement, was there ?

[kellyjo]

There may be a delay while they contact your previous employer to confirm the reason your last job ended and payments made as a result. You need to keep chasing.

I have to say that my local Jobcentre have been great over the last couple of years whilst I have been claiming lone parent benefits, and they made the transition period at the start of September when I returned to work very straightforward. However, I used to manage an Unemployment Benefit Office a while back so know the questions to ask.

But the local housing benefit office on the other hand....... :smt071:smt071:smt071

[james160987]

i know, ill make it short and simples

im prob in same boat, have been for 6 months, Worked for a bank, 35 hour a week contract, eneded up doing 55+ and every weekend ( not in my contract)

pleeded /asked for them to honour contract, they didnt so i said, goodbye,,

3 months on, i applied for jsa, ( could have applied sooner but didnt need the mnoney as had saved etc etc) anyway applied, yep fine, sign here etc etc,

1.5 months on, nothing in my account despite going job centre, rang up a number ( one on the little card you have) eventually get through to someone, says o error on system, removed in, money into account,

If you have been signed on, accepted as signed on, etc etc, they will pay it to you, at your next sign on ask the guy who is asking you what jobs youve applied for this fortnight about it, he will point you in the right direction,

On the otherside, if anyone knows any jobs going in norwich that are unskilled jobs let me know

[Jayneflakes]

Just signed off after a six month period on JSA and I found that at least once a month I had to contact them due to them making an error. One chap I spoke to simply told me to get on the phone with in three days of submitting forms because they will just sit on some ones desk.

You need to get on the phone ASAP, they are less than helpful, utterly incompetent and just want to palm you off to the next person. God help you if you have a sensitive case, this means that no one can access your account and you will have to wait three days for someone to phone you back and say that they can't help you!

Get back on the phone and make a complaint. Be nice though, they are used to complaints but complaining nicely might actually get what you need sorted out!

[454697819]

in their defence, My mum works in a JCP and the burocratic ****e and quantity of forms leaves them seeming unhelpful but genuinely they do try and help.. and the staff are left fed up and ****ed off that despite their best efforts ppl who need help don't get paid on time...

[Littlepeahead]

Keep a record of your visits and calls, who you have seen etc. Book an appointment to see you MP at his/her surgery which will happen about once a fortnight. Doesn't matter if you voted for them or not although when you go in say 'I have voted for you since I was 18' anyway.

Take all the evidence with you, plus details of your course and any jobs you have applied for. Tell your MP you are looking hard for work, studying to improve your chances and trying your best to get a job and support yourself despite the Job Centre doing very little to assist you. Say you have received poor service. Stay calm, sympathise that you know they must be under pressure etc. but make it clear that you are very unhappy.

He/she will then most likely put a rocket up the ar$e of the job centre and as if by magic your case will be fast tracked.

[timwilky]

I recall that 30 years ago, I tried to claim for the fortnight between job ending and new one starting. In my mind I was at that point genuinely unemployed, but with a job to go to. The bureaucrats said I wasn't entitled to anything as I had been in receipt of a monthly pay 2 weeks earlier. They would not accept I was paid a month in arrears and as my last company had gone into receivership I was in fact owed 6 weeks pay.

so I assume they are simply incompetent. Or are you likely to have been in receipt of monies they judge to be payments up front?

[sv_rory]

well an update, I have rang still weekly and been told they will contact me back in 3 hours with a payment date but still no response.

I have even gone into my local job center and handed in 2 different letters 2 weeks apart and got a stamped receipt for them and still no response.

I still havent had any payment of any sort from them at all. I have been told that my claim is at stage 4 out of 8.

I managed to get hold of somebody at the local job center who told me the claim should have been sorted out within ten days and as it hasnt i need to go through this other number.

I keep ringing and ringing and no response.

What should I do? They dont respond to phone calls, emails, or even letters? Im so confused!?

[Biker Biggles]

Get your MP on it.Thats what they are for

[sv_rory]

what do you think the best approach would be then?

[Bibio]

Get your MP on it.Thats what they are for

yup

what do you think the best approach would be then?

first. grow a pair m8. how long has this been going on now. if its over 2 weeks from first signing then they are effectively starving you and depriving you of your right as you have paid into the system for such events as what has happened. tell them you do not want a 'budgeting loan' or an 'emergency payment' tell them you want what you are entitled to and they are responsible to make sure that you receive it i a given time.

your government owns the benefits agency which makes your MP their boss (of sorts). go and see your MP and tell him the facts and truth about what atrocities you are having to endure threw no fault of your own.

[Bibio]

i've just looked at the signing on date 23rd of September and you still have not had a payment.

since you are now on benefits go and see a solicitor m8. they are clearly taking the pee.

have you been signing on every fortnight since you first claimed?

[punyXpress]

Take a flask & sarnies into the Job Centre & await results ?

[andrewsmith]

I would do as bib and kick up a fuss.

In the system meself atm and i feel like i've done all the running around and JSA is a swizz tbh.