Reading the advice about non-priority debts and what you should offer those creditors... it says, You cannot split your surplus, between credit cards, and then pay a loan.. (basically).. however, what do you do in the case of a joint loan?

When I purchased my house I used the services of a financial advisor who also sold me health insurance policy to cover the mortgage at that time. Recently on speaking to a colleague at work, she has the same cover for a quarter of the price I am currently paying. I feel like Ive been pressured by the FA to take out a policy that was far more expensive than I needed to be paying. Is it possible to get my premiums refunded for this, or do I have to forfeit them if I cancel it and move to a cheaper product? Feeling really let down by someone I thought was giving me sound advice.

Hi, I received an email from my work coach asking me to attend a job fair on 20th of April 2016, I received this email at 4pm on the 19th but did not know of the email til today at 3pm giving me no time to attend. Should I be worried about sanctions as I think this is unfair as if it was so important why did they not phone me as I have given them permission to phone about important matters. I see my work coach tomorrow morning and would like some advice on what to say because I feel this is some kind of tricky tactic to apply a sanction or am I paranoid? Thanks

I started claiming UC in December and was sanctioned for 91 days and today there is 51 days left to run on it, this morning I went to an appointment with an advisor and she immediately was very grouchy picking up my blue card and shouting 'who is this' I responded and she was snotty. Anyway she called me over and said 'Yorker job search isn't really up to scratch' I responded politely 'I know,sorry it's because I have been sanctioned it's minimises my job search, Iv had interviews Iv been I haven't been able to go to because I havnt hardly any money to support it' she never said anything while I stood there like a **** waiting for a response, then she just said 'sit down', she never said another word and just give me this envelope with 2 sheets and said 'put you're job search on there and send it off to them ok, and just plonked it down on the desk when I had my hand out to get it. The point is I'm already sanctioned tell pretty much April so will this affect it if I don't send the form off? Edit: I lost the sheets on the way home but still have envelope, I called the UC number and the advised on the phone agreed with me saying Iv been sanctioned anyway but wasn't sure it will extend it, So she put a Note on the system saying Iv lost the sheets

Hi. I had a medical last month with ATOS, and got a letter recently putting me in 'work related activity group' . I then got an appointment with the job centre which I went to last week. It was basically a woman talking what to me, with what sounded like jibberish for 10 minutes before handing me a paper leaflet called 'work programme' , it didn't really have a lot of information on it. Yesterday I got a phone call from another lady from a company called 'prospects' we were on the phone for about half an hour whilst she reeled off bizarre questions which had no relevance to my situation whatsoever, she also didn't really know why I was on ESA . and said I had been found fit for work which is why I'm on the work programme . But if I had been found 'fit for work' then would I not be on JSA instead ?! I have been told to expect a letter or a call next week from my 'new advisor' who will arrange an appointment with me. I a!m ever so confused now. Theres no way I can sit in any 'group inductions' or go off on any courses, not at the moment anyway. I'm trying to remain calm but this has panicked me no end. Am I suppose to be on a 'work programme' so soon? And what does it entail?

Hi all, wondering if some-one can advise on this. Last year after a catalogue of errors and muddles with my pay and holidays etc, something happened and I had a melt down on the phone to some-one in HR (sheers frustration at being fobbed off and not listened to). It took me by surprise..didn't realize stress had been building up, so I finished conversation saying something like..I'm going to see my doctor and if I am ill you (my employer- public sector) have made me ill. T hat was on the 29th July 2014. I did go and see my doctor on the 1st August, (mainly to let them know the score) and continued to work as normal (part-time, evenings and weekends). I'd made it clear my job was not stressful it was all the management nonsense with my contracts, pay holidays etc that got me down and stressed , as I had to sort it all out in my free time in office hours.. Within a few days a letter arrived from the Occupational health service telling me to attend a meeting on Wednesday the 10th. The referral had been made on the 1st August. just two days after my meltdown on the phone with HR. So, Several questions. (the referral was for stress). a)are employers allowed to ambush some-one with OH like that out of the blue without even discussing the problem properly or formally even letting me know me I would be referred. b) I wasn't even on the sick and had never been on the sick. Did they have to right to refer me, especially without asking?( I idid get sent a consent form, with the appointment letter, but that had warnings about how if I didn't go it might affect decisions my dept made about me. I was stressed, not thinking properly, signed it and agreed to go to the appointment but made it clear it was under duress. c) The appointment was for a Wednesday 1.30, at a place about 8 miles away..in my free time plus I was expected to get there at my own expanse. As it happens I was afraid of driving in case I had a melt down again in the car (basically a high anxiety attack..sobbing not being able to breath etc.) . I asked for Time in lieu as I'd have to go on the bus,.., which would take ages. HR said no way but eventually relented and offered to pay for a taxi. Should they give me TIL as well as the taxi? The OH report basically said I was fine, just having a normal reaction to intolerable management issues. I continued to work for two months, while a review of the muddle with my holidays etc. was carried out. There is more but I'd like to see what people think about this lot first. Many thanks

I am writing this on behalf of my partner who is exasperated with the actions of his Benefits Advisor and does not know what else to do. He has been signing on as seeking employment for nearly a year now and during this time there has been issues with the online Jobsearch which only logs particular jobs that he has applied for and others he has to log in the Activity History. When attending the jobcentre this is a constant issue as his Advisor is always unable to access his Application History or Activity History through her own machine and accuses him on failing to seek work. Recently he was sanctioned for this even though it was untrue and he was asked to provide proof of his job search which he did. He was informed that this would be discussed with the Manager and a decision would be made. This was in December 2014, to date there has not been any reponse in writing or verbally. He has been on two courses which have been arranged by the Advisor which he attended however he was sent appointments to attend during these times and when he turned up after the courses had finished, she asked why he failed to attend appointments as she did not remember that she placed he on the courses! During this time, he was not paid as she has not update the system or informed anyone that he was attending courses and therefore should have automatically been paid. For these courses he was asked to provide receipts or a print out of his journeys to and from college in order for this to be refunded. He handed in the print out from Tfl Oyster card in December 2014 and during his appointment which was on Tuesday 13th January 2015 he was informed that she did not receive the print out and requested it again. Further to this as she was unable to access his Application and Activity History again, she again asked him to bring or email a print out to her. He emailed all the information to her on the same Tuesday 13th January and is still awaiting a response to the email. He has complied with everything she has requested and still has not received any payment since December 2014. In frustration he forwarded his complaint to Noel Shanahan who is named as the Director of Operations for the Department for Work and Pensions and is awaiting a response. He has not complained directly to the job centre as he feels that from experience nothing constructive will come out of this. What else can he do?????

Hello Everyone Please accept my apology if this post is a bit lengthy. I'm on Credits Only JSA as I'm working part-time Mon to Fri. Recently, my JSA advisor had sent me to Mandatory Work Activity(MWA) when she learnt I was having holidays from work. She did that although she knew I did not fit the MWA selection criteria. The advisor, despite my objection, just handed me the referral letter to the MWA and said if I don't do it my NI credits will be stopped. Due to her pressure I complied and went and did the MWA for 4 weeks. When I completed the MWA and on my first meeting with my advisor, she handed me another letter for the work programme (WP) personal advisor interview. At that point I protested and said I already have a part-time Job which was staring again in 2 days and I'm not interested in going into the Work Programme. I also said that as far as I know the Work Programme is not mandatory for people on Credits only JSA. All that was ignored and the letter was handed to me. On further research, I was able to confirm that indeed I was exempted from the Work Programme. I have then lodged a formal complaint in which I questioned the reason for setting up a work programme advisor interview for me from the first place without my consent or even discussing it with me. I also indicated that as it was voluntary I had no legal obligation to attend that interview. However, after the interview date (which I did not attend) , I was called by the Jobcentre and told that they have now made another appointment for the Work Programme Interview and if I don't attend it then they will close my claim. I replied that I did explain to them in my complaint letter why I did not agree with being sent to that work programme interview and it was now more than 4 weeks without receiving any reply for that complaint from them. I asked the person on the phone how come it is mandatory to attend that interview while at the same time the law states clearly that the work programme is voluntarily for people on Credits Only JSA? The person replied that all advisor’s interviews are mandatory and if I don't attend then they will close my claim without even taking it to a decision maker. I'm not sure about the motives behind insisting on forcing me into that interview but given previous experiences with my advisor I really do not want to go there. Now today, the jobcentre has sent me another letter stating that if I do not contact them to arrange for another interview within 5 days then they will close my claim. I have already contacted my MP regarding this matter as this is getting too much but can someone please advise me on these points: 1. How valid is the claim that all Advisor’s interviews are mandatory (i.e. normal bi-weekly advisor interview versus a specific Work Programme interview)? 2. Why would they insist and try to force me using threats to attend the work programme interview even although I'm not required by law and I have made it abundantly clear verbally and in writing (more than once) that I had no intention of following that programme? Is it possible that they had already sent my details ,without my knowledge or consent, to the work programme providers? 3. Can they just close my claim just like that for not attending the work programme interview without even considering the compliant that I have raised or even involving a decision maker? Please your advice is appreciated! Thanks for your help. Lucy

Hey again. I'm in my last few weeks at ingeus, sentence is due to end on the 12th September. I received a text on the 28th August asking if I would be interested in a job in a sterile production line, I replied yes. I got a text back saying "I am holding a session next week and will give you more details. What is your surname" I replied with "Thanks. My surname is: ****" text back from ingeus said ""Thanks I will contact you shortly" Well almost a week has now passed, I have another real interview for a different factory job tomorrow at the ingeus office they called me to tell me about that 29th and sent a reminder text minutes after the phone call saying: "Your interview is on the 3rd of September at the Ingeus office at 9.30 with **** *****" but said nothing about the sterile production line candidate pool appointment. Today my advisor called me up and said "You didn't attend the candidate pool today." My reply was "which candidate pool? I only know about the Bombardier interview tomorrow." She said: "For Fineleys, we sent you a text out yesterday to remind you" BUT I DID NOT RECEIVE ANY TEXT!! I didn't receive anything regarding this. She checked the "system" and said "It was sent out yesterday, Monday the 1st at 1.32pm so where was you?" I explained "I didn't receive a text" she said my actions are "unacceptable" And went on to say she is "raising a doubt about my willingness to find work to the job centre" despite my efforts of trying to explain it to her. How can I prove that I didn't receive a text?? I can show them my phone but they can just say I deleted it or something. But I honest to God, did not get any text!! Just lately I have had trouble sending texts sometimes I have to resend it 3-4 times and restart my phone to send one message, maybe I have trouble receiving them too, I really dont know, because I don't use text that much anyway! Do I actually stand any chance in proving my case? What can I say/do? I have done everything else they have asked of me. Rarely missed appointments, when I did I had good reason, for example my grandma died last year. I even have an interview tomorrow. Is that not showing willingness to find work? I have had many interviews aside this one by the way and I always provide proof wherever I miss appointments or not. Now I am going to be castrated for something that is not even my fault. Please help me. And thanks!

Long/short story. Got a new advisor, and she was awful. Putting me down, being rude so I complained. She also tried to sanction me because she said she didn't think I was trying hard enough. I have dyslexia and struggle with writing. And she said me written job search wasn't good enough. I'm not sure if I will lose my money or not. Anyway - after complaining to the manager, the manager wanted to sit in on the meeting. She did. Well because I have removed access to my universal job match they are not making me email every day showing what I am doing. Are they allowed to do this? It seems unreasonable to me.

just a quick question really after my recent seetec appointments (which as always are a pain) anyway im on ESA and i am just wondering with regards to disability advisers in these places what happens if they don't have one as is the case with seetec at the moment because the previous left, do i still need to attend even with my agoraphobia and anxiety being made worse because of the fact i never know which adviser i will be seeing or whether they will give me random appointments just because they can and don't know im on ESA rather than JSA?

Hi, I'm on JSA and currently attending the Work Programme at Ingeus. My question is about my JSA Agreement, I looked through the site yesterday and the replies to a similar question just confused me as there were so many different answers. My JSA Agreement states I have to apply for 2 jobs per week. Yesterday my Advisor at the WP told me I had to apply for 8 jobs per week (3 more per week than I have currently been applying for - I was told to apply for 5 per week when joining the WP). As I live in one of the areas of the highest unemployment in the UK; applying for 8 jobs per week is pretty much mission impossible. I was struggling to apply for 5 per week. I was also told to set my sites lower and apply for entry level jobs! My questions are: is my JSA Agreement still in effect?- I read conflicting advice about this when looking for an answer yesterday. I can't remember if I signed an agreement with the WP Provider but I must have done. Can the Advisor I'm dealing with (who seems to be a right a/hole) get my JSA sanctioned if I'm unable to apply for 8 jobs per week? I will appreciate any replies/advice given. Thanks

Hello The Specialist Advisor at the education centre I go to has been non existant in supporting me. A snooty email or two and an email survey is all I got this academic year. She is the only one supposed to help me because of my condition. Can I request that somebody else less qualified support me instead who doesn't specialize in my condition? And can I request that she has no further input in my support? And that my profile be removed from her care? I hope this makes enough sense it's late and I'm getting tired now A little advice would be appreciated, thanks.

Hi guys, I hope you can help me. I signed on for the first time a few days ago. I should have really signed on, a long time, due to not having enough regular work, but i remember how the advisors at the job centre, take pride in intimidation and decided that i would rather be broke than have to deal with their insultive mannerisms. i arrive for my 1st meeting with Advisor 1. She looked like she was very board to see me, the feeling was mutual. After getting me to sign what i had agreed in my online application form, she gave me no copy, she walked me over to the 2nd Advisor. She was colder than the first and didn't even speak to me, she just kept on typing. when i asked what she was doing, she said delating templates. If i looked at the screen for too long then, she would switch the screen, to numbers, lots of different numbers. When i asked what was happening, she said that she had been having problems with the computer. But only when i was looking at the screen. Typical….. Anyway, after about 15 mins, she gave me my claimant commitment. as soon as i started to read it, amazingly, after 15 mins of only talking when i spoke to her she started to talk to me… .I WILL USE JOBSITES AND EMPLOYERS WEBSITES …..I WILL LOG ON TO UNIVERAL JOBMATCH… ..I WILL RESPOND PROMTLY TO CONTACTS/EMPLOYERS AND JOBSITES , after the 5th, I WILL, I asked if this was compulsory …remember i was trying to read the claimant commitment, she said it was a requirement for JSA. All of this took over 40mins. I obviously knew that they at the job centre would take advantage of my unemployed status but i wasn't prepared for what actually really happened. As i said, the 2nd advisor only spoke to respond to my questions and then, the I WILL section, that she fired at me, whilst i was trying to read the so called agreement. A few days later i decided to read the so called commitment, only to find that i had agreed to, Available for all types of work Travel 90mins each way to work Available any time any day for min 40hrs Hrs The only thing i agreed to was all the I WILL section, because of the false info she gave me. Fact is i didn't agree simply because she didn't ask me. What am i gonna do?

I was signing on every 2 weeks with advisor phonecalls also every 2 weeks. I went to sign on today and she said i was going to have to sign on weekly So not happy. I am on contributions based JSA which they are only going to pay me until October regardless of me finding a job or not. Feels like they are doing their best to wind people up!

In 2008 my wife and I were told that we had to have PPI for our mortgage. At the time I was self employed and told that I needed Legal and General's Mortgage Payment Protection Insurance as well Mortgage Payment Insurance which both had an 8% interest rate. The advisor and company are now not trading - does this mean I have no claim?

I am currently on JSA and my advisor appointments are done by the phone. I have a few issues with my advisor as she doesn't call regularly (ie: 2 week intervals) or at set times. And she keeps accusing me of making my phone unavailable - definitely not - i have no reason to avoid her. I also spent the last call on the phone for 40 minutes. Is that normal? it feels excessive - if i was in the job centre would i be kept talking for 40 minutes in this manner? Can I cut the call shorter next time? She is calling at some point in the next 2 days and i want a little more control of it.

I have advisor appointments over the phone - only they are never at set times and the advisor never calls when we agree a time. I have stupidly not gotten the confirmation in writing so i can't make a complaint about it. Its causing me stress because: 1) the calls are not at regular intervals 2) i am caught off guard, one time she called when i told her i was away at a wedding that day - she called me when i was out and was quite cross with me. 3) today she was meant to call and hasn't 4) she claims my phone has been unavailable - even to the point she could not reach my voicemail - quite untrue. I obsessively check my phone is on and in signal and no one else has had the same problem calling me. Should I request to have face to face appointments? What can i do?

So I'm with the work programme and have been taking temp work with agencies for a few weeks here and there over the last few months. I sign off JSA, then do a rapid reclaim so that DWP know the situation. I don't always tell my Ingeus Advisor and over the last week he has been demanding to know all the work info which I didn't think was relevant for him to know. After bombarding me with phone calls and answer messages, he phoned one of the agencies and they gave him details of all the temp work I had done. I would just like to know where I stand. How much information do I have to give to Ingeus, why did this agency give out all this personal information to a stranger on the phone. Also as I now look like a pillock with the one agency and will never get any temp work again through them, will he now call round the other agencies demanding information, basically killing my chances of temp work. Long post, but would appreciate any advice thanks.

Hi my name is Gerry and Im trying to turn my Welfare Advice Skills into a self supporting business.My idea is simple enough to run a Wefare Rights Advice service that will pay me and anyone who works for me a wage.Its not for profit Im just sick of doing mundane jobs Im not suitable to want to use my skills in the field they were designed for.So my problem is where if anywhere can I approach to help me set up such a business.The plan would be to provide advice on benefits and preparation of benefit appeals giving the client who has no understanding of the system the best chance of sucess at appeal.The next problem is most clients would be unable to afford more than a nominal fee,this would be acceptable as long as it covered my admin costs,but where do I get my salary from?So if anyone can help please email me at [EDIT] and I will be grateful and all constructive criticisms are welcome many thanks

Delightful experience at the job centre today. The advisor I was seeing today went through some terms in my jobseeker's agreement. She asked me if I'd applied to an agency like I was asked to back in February. I told her that I hadn't as the list of agencies I was provided with requested personal information, including account details, without offering any terms and conditions as to both why they needed this information or what kind of payment they would be taking for their services. She then told me that she would be raising a sanction doubt as I hadn't adhered to the terms of my agreement. I informed her that this issue was from months ago and I was under the impression it had already been dealt with as the advisor I was seeing at the time accepted my reasons for not signing up with one of the agencies offered. She then requested the advisor's name, so I told her only for her then to tell me that that advisor no longer worked there so they would be unable to look into it. She then continued to fill out the sanction doubt, so I asked her if she would hand her details over to a company without being provided with any details. She declined to comment but told me that as I hadn't adhered to my agreement I can't receive my money until the issue has been resolved. At this point I asked to speak to the manager, to which she replied 'I am the manager'. Silly fool. I pointed it out to her that her name tag said 'Advisor' at which point she said 'I'll just go and get a manager'. When she came back she informed me that all the managers were currently busy so I would be unable to speak to one. I then asked for her surname as her name tag only provided me with her first name. She gave me her surname and I wrote down her name so that I wouldn't forget it. The moment I started to do this she then asked me to leave the building, which I did after I finished writing down her name. What happens now? I wasn't provided with any information. Do I go in as normal on my next signing on date? Do I have to wait for a letter from them? Should I phone them? Something else? I'm also going to make a complaint that an advisor impersonated a manager and I'd like to know the correct procedure for lodging such a complaint. Thanks

Dear friends I am writing on behalf of my daughter. My daughter suffers from severe mental issues and when under pressure she blacks out and is unable to remember who she is or anything at all about her past. We are forever trying to find her after she has had some sort of pressure and wandered off. She is also in a lot of physical pain from internal scars. On 20 July she had to attend an ESA Personal Advisor Interview She was told at the interview that she has a year in which to find a job. At least I think that is what she was told as straight after the interview she phoned and told me this but that is all that she can remember. Her memory of the interview has gone due to the stress involved and the thought of having to try and find a job. Her husband did go along to the interview with her but he is not saying the same as she is about it. He says that she has 18 months in which to find a job. Of course that is not the point as whatever happened the thought of having to find a job and go out to work is causing her so much stress it is impossible to speak to her or get any sense out of her at all. There is also the stress involved with the thought that she will lose her benefits if she does not go out to work at the end of this period as they find it so difficult to manage as it is. Since the interview we have been having to watch her constantly to ensure that she does not wander off as when she does so it is difficult to find her again. I am not sure if your site is the one where I can get some help for my daughter or not. I have registered with it but I do not know where to go from here. The doctor says that she needs to appeal and get in touch with Citizens Advice. Is this the best way to go? or other? It is not helping that I do not have any paperwork about the result of the interview - all I have is the origianl letter that she was sent for the interview on the 20th. Please tell me what to do and where to go from here in order to help her. Thank you