JSA stopped

[Abbtt]

Hi all,

 

I just heard this from my friend and I would be greatly appreciated if anyone could offer some suggestions of what other supports she could claim please.

 

My friend was made redundant last year Sept, after spent months of searching for another job but to no avail, she started to claim for JSA in last year Nov. She has then tried very hard to cope with the demands from the JSA advisers in order to make sure that she received the basic fund supports from the gov.

 

In Dec she was suddenly asked to sign on every week then every day instead every fortnight which she raised no objections. She was asked to attend various training & meetings which she did & on time & prepared, although she hardly found any of them really help. She has phone calls from the agencies all the time and had 4 interviews last year, 2 of which she reached the final stage. She really just needs an opportunity.

 

Anyway around last year Christmas time, she went to the JC and prepared to sign on again. Everything was alright in the morning. However in the late afternoon she suddenly received a phone call from the adviser asking her to return to the JC because she had "some questions" about her claim and needed to see her again. Then when she got back to the JC she was told that they think "she did not do enough to look for a job" and decided to sanction her for that. She of course disagreed with the decision and raised an appeal immediately and submitted all the job searches proof to support her claim. - So far still waiting for an result for that.

 

In January, although she received no funds from the gov she still went & signed on with JC on time, with the expectation that they would refund the money to her once her appeal won. However thing is actually getting worse. She now stops claiming the JSA because she could not cope with the pressure from the JC adviser anymore.

 

When she went to JC the adviser always said that they did not think that she was actively looking for a job and asking her to fill out some forms to prove that she did (-they never really tell her why they think so, but just told her to fill out the forms). She did it in the very first instances and then finally she reached the point- Instead of filling out the forms provided by the JC she wrote on the form that she requested a written explanation of why she was given the forms, she also described what she did to look for a job and explained why she think she has tried her best to look for a job. Sadly the outcome for this was quite ..... The JC adviser after a quick read of what she'd wrote, she went& showed it to her manager(?), she then returned to her saying that it was rubbish, and then showed her some forms saying that either to fill out those forms again or sign the forms on the desk to confirm that she would like to stop her JSA claim (?!). She was so angry & sad for all of these, she refused to sign on the forms and since then she never return to the JC.

 

She is a very lovely lady and to be honest I never saw her having any arguments with anybody. After I heard this I decided to type it up here & hopefully some of you could kindly offer some suggestions of what other supports she could possibly get without the JSA. Would she still able to claim help on rent etc? Thank you really much for your help on this in advance!

[Mr.P]

[...]hopefully some of you could kindly offer some suggestions of what other supports she could possibly get without the JSA. Would she still able to claim help on rent etc? Thank you really much for your help on this in advance!

 

She should still be able to claim HB and CTX benefits by making a nil income declaration (subject to savings). She needs to pay a visit to the local council office and speak with one of the benefits officers. Take bank statements and any letters from the DWP saying that her JSA claim has been suspended/canceled/sanctioned. She will still need to find money to contribute towards CTX as most authorities no longer provide 100% discounts for the unemployed.

 

Food and utility bills will also be taken in to account. Her savings will slowly be eaten up by these whilst she is out of work.

[Chester6]

Can she appeal? It sounds rubbish how they treated her plus JSA means a minimum of two actions a week legally I believe