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Job centre rant ARRGH!
scar_tissue
Posts: 719 Forum Member
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They're stopping my money for an entire month because I missed one lousy appointment. I mean I can understand for a week or 2 but I can't afford to go a whole month without money when I have bills to pay.
It was my first claim aswell, and when I realised I missed it I rang up 9.00 sharp the next morning and told them. The lady there said they'd probably go in my favour as it was my first claim (for a couple of years anyway).
Do they expect me to live off rice and water? I'm so peed off right now. :mad::mad::mad:
It was my first claim aswell, and when I realised I missed it I rang up 9.00 sharp the next morning and told them. The lady there said they'd probably go in my favour as it was my first claim (for a couple of years anyway).
Do they expect me to live off rice and water? I'm so peed off right now. :mad::mad::mad:
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To be honest - if you missed it because you forgot about it then I don't have any sympathy. Sorry - but as an adult if you have an appointment that is that important you should be able to remember to go.
Does seem a bit harsh though but then they are threatening sanctions for everything at the moment.
Why should they? Companies don't send reminders to staff telling them what shifts they're on - they tell the staff and rely on them remembering. If you forget chances are it's goodbye job, particularly if you're in probationary period.
Why should they? They expect claimants to be able to be adult enough to remember themselves.
She won't be eligible to apply for a Crisis Loan if her benefit has been sanctioned, which is what has happened I presume scar_tissue?
What appointment did you miss and why didn't you attend? This is important as the reason for the sanction affects the length of the sanction period. Normally if you contact the JobCentre within five working days of the appointment and show good cause for failing to attend then you will avoid the sanction. In your case however it appears as though good cause has not been accepted . You can appeal against the decision to stop your benefit within one month of the decision letter or ask the DWP to look at their decision again, but clearly in the meantime you need cash.
One month sounds too long for a sanction period if this is your first missed appointment unless your benefit has been stopped for some other reason. It's hard to advise you specifically though without knowing your precise circumstances and it's certainly not wise to disclose details on here.
You may be eligible for hardship payments (paid at a reduced rate of your standard JSA amount) if you are classed as a vulnerable person or if the DWP Decision Maker deems that you are at risk of suffering hardship if you are not paid. Certainly worth asking to make an application for this at the JobCentre Plus office. It also might be worth seeking some advice from the CAB or a local advice centre.
Actually if it was an appointment for a first signing then they probably should have sent a confirmation text in fairness as that is how I was notified of my first appointments, after that once attending for signings I was given my book, jobsearch diary and a sheet that gets marked with the next signing date and time on it and I have to sign with my advisor to acknowledge the next appointment time and agree to it as well as doing my actual signing.
They only text people with appointment time for brand new claim, at that date they hand over a signing booklet with the dates and times of the first two attendances and it's signed for to acknowledge it has been received.
The OP has already admitted they forgot and phoned the next day when they realised, so I'm still struggling to understand how this is the Jobcentre's fault? They told OP when to come back, OP was aware of when to do this, that signing booklet in the very first page tells you what might happen if you miss an appointment, I really don't see why this is anyone else's fault for a case of someone forgetting?
But you was told about an appointment, you missed it, you don't think you should be penalised because you want them to be sympathetic to your cause. The rules are set out to ensure fairness is applied in a uniform way otherwise you could have sob stories every week and no way of verifying how genuine they are.
Because in truth they're not there to try and help you find a job, or offer you any sympathy because you missed your appointment because you forgot about it.
They're there to find reasons to sanction you/stop your benefits, and you gave them one. It may be harsh but you really have to do everything you can the best you can so they can't find any possible reasons not to pay you your money.
This happened to my friend over Christmas - Missed an appointment with an advisor, and got a 4 week sanction. You won't be entitled to a crisis loan as you've been sanctioned, but may be entitled to a hardship loan after 2 weeks have passed. Apart from that, there is NOTHING you can do, other than appeal against the decision. My pal appealed his, and heard nothing, only to be told 6 weeks later that his appeal was not even registered. I believe he's still fighting it now, and going through the motions.
You're screwed basically - welcome to the governments new Britain, where the penny-less, and vulnerable are vindicated!
You'll have to pester family and friends for cash, and ride it out!
Not for 4 weeks mate, on a first time offence. It takes the piss, and I'm not sure what they expect to people to do for a month. A fine, or some kind of deduction would be enough to send the message.
As somebody else said, this is the governments regulation, not the job centres. They want people off their books, and to minimise payments - this message is very clear indeed.
To be fair to the OP, we know nothing of her personal circumstances or the reasons that led to her missing the appointment. There may be extenuating circumstances which could amount to good cause in order for the decision to be overturned. Alternatively, she could have simply forgot, which isn't going to amount to good cause generally speaking. The point is that it's easy to make snap judgements without knowing the full story.
I'm claiming JSA so therefore I know how the system works my point is it is not clear from the OP whether it is a first appointment or an ongoing claim. If it was an appointment for a first signing then yes there should probably have been a text reminder sent as you do not have your signing book yet. If it was an ongoing claim then OP should have had signing book as a reminder but they haven't mentioned having that?
At the moment it's not clear what stage the OP is at if its ongoing and they forgot then its their own fault if its a new claim and they obviously aren't used to having to sign its still technically their fault however jobcentre should have sent a text reminder so they could be partly at fault depending on the overall cirumstances.
It can't have been for a new claim, you cannot be sanctioned for not attending a brand new claim appointment, all they can do at worst is change the date you want to claim from. They cannot sanction you for four weeks so we know it is definitely not a new claim appointment. The OP has already acknowledged they forgot attending the appointment until the next day so we also know they were told about the appointment.
How is any of that the fault of the Jobcentre?
I don't agree. If the OP is entitled to the money, then what does it matter exactly when the appointment is?
If anyone else owed you a cheque and you couldn't make the agreed time to pick it up for any reason, would they be entitled to tear it up?
4 weeks IS taking the piss, I'm sure it was 2 weeks when I was signing on a few years ago - never missed an appointment myself.
If I'm honest, if you're looking for work and can afford to do without the job centre, don't go. I'm so glad I'm now in employment.
There was a tougher sanction scheme introduced in October last year. The 4 week sanction for a first offence was introduced for certain failures to comply with training scheme or employment programme conditions. The OP hasn't made it clear what the exact nature of the appointment is that she missed. If it relates to an interview on an employment programme or training scheme then the 4week sanction is probably correct under the new rules. If it's a normal JobCentre Plus interview or signing on appointment that she missed then it seems as though the incorrect sanction period may have been applied.
There are so many different sanctions that apply to a wide range of job seeking related conditions that it is impossible to say whether the sanction period is correct without the OP being a bit more specific.
You are sort of correct about hardship payments not kicking in until two weeks after the decision, although if you are deemed to be in a vulnerable group (and again we don't have any info to judge whether the OP would satisfy this condition) you can get hardship payments from the first day that your JSA should have been paid. She should apply for hardship payments anyway and also lodge an appeal as your friend did.
Do you work for the jobcentre or claiming? to know exactly what is going on since all the new rules have come into place they are a lot stricter at the moment. I heard a new claiment being threatened with sanction on their first signing because they hadn't had time to sign up for universal jobmatch yet which as they explained (they were at the next desk to me hence how I know) they had only been in to do the intial appointment 3 days before and until they got money couldn't get online at home and couldn't get online at a library which advisor confirmed that apparently the site doesn't work on a lot of library computers. So they backed off at that point but that was on their first signing and they were being threatened with sancations already.