Initial JSA Meeting & Bank Statement/Gambling

[llita23]

Hi all,

 

Bit of a long one!

 

I left my store managers position in February due to a few issues in my personal life (caring for relatives).

 

 

Since then I've been living off what I had saved from previous paychecks etc.

 

 

I'm 23 and never been on JSA or the like before, and

 

 

now my personal issues have cleared in the last 4 weeks or so I've been job hunting again.

 

 

This is the first time I've had a gap on my CV in 7 years.

I'm now at a point where I need the JSA to survive and transport to interviews etc

and they've asked me to bring a bank statement and mortgage documents.

 

 

I have a couple of questions:

 

1) I'm not going to be using the JSA for gambling,

however my bank statement will and does indicate fairly regular outgoing deposits for B365.

As recently as a few days ago.

Will this be an issue?

(I know it won't be an income issue, as I haven't withdrawn any winnings into my bank account or have any.

My current balance is £15 in the bank!).

 

2) The mortgage details.

This is actually my late mothers mortgage that me and a brother pay.

The letters and documents just have

''The personal reps of _____'' on them.

 

 

What usually happens is my brother pays for it with DD (he doesn't live at this address)

and I transfer him the money for the mortgage, gas and electric each month.

 

Therefore, I don't actually have proof of the mortgage going out as a DD on my account,

but I felt this was the most viable option to choose when signing up between

Rent, Mortgage, Own or Rent & Own.

 

 

Will I have any issues here?

 

Thanks!

[trebormoinet]

I do not think the DWP will care where you spend your money tbh, I am on JSA and in my spare time play on-line poker, when I do get a withdraw it shows up in my bank statement as a refund, I also have a loyalty card so I can withdraw directly from the betting shop any winnings without it going through my bank.

 

I do not win life changing amounts, I only play free games so I hardly deposit and the little wins I have now and again have helped me through.

 

How many people buy scratch cards and win while on benefits, it is impossible to police and perfectly legal so as long as you do not win anything which takes you past a threshold, then I am sure it is not a problem.

[antone]

The gambling will not be an issue. I can't really see any problem with the mortgage situation either - just explain what the DD is if they ask. Since you're not asking for any benefit to help with the mortgage, I doubt they will look into it in any great detail.

[llita23]

Cheers for the advice above.

 

I went for my interview today and all seemed fine. Gave them my documents (didn't end up asking for bank statements) for them to scan and signed my forms. What checks do they actually do as part of the standard JSA assessment just out of curiosity?

 

Also I forgot to ask today, my next appointment is on the 5th of September. Am I right in presuming there's no chance of me getting paid until then? Thanks

[neword]

With new claims there is normally a period (in some claims up to 10 days) for which you could possibly not be paid. Also in most claims they are normally paid in arrears and in the case of JSA I believe when you actually sign its for the previous two weeks that you receive the benefits for( upto the day you signed)

 

Please keep in mind that they may well ask for the bank statements at a later date.

 

I am currently into the 8th week of waiting for a IS claim to be sorted and if I did not make a phone call 13 working days after I had signed the forms at the JC they would still be waiting for a B16 (declaration of earnings wrt my SE). It is now another 12 working days since they had the forms back from me and they still not showing on the computer system. Apparently, it is taking a long time for any returned forms to be scanned onto the system. But this is for IS and not JSA so your waiting time should be no where near as long as mine.