Stopping the Jobseekers allowance question ??

JustmadeitJustmadeit Posts: 7,512
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Does anyone know : if the jobcentre decides to stop your jsa does your housing benefit and council tax benefit get stopped also ?

Its not happening to me but im curious to know how someone stands if the jsa is stopped, and how long its stopped for ?

Comments

  • Enigma77Enigma77 Posts: 357
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    How do they stand? Missionaries and soup kitchens is how they stand.
  • ArcticFoxArcticFox Posts: 359
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    Justmadeit wrote: »
    Does anyone know : if the jobcentre decides to stop your jsa does your housing benefit and council tax benefit get stopped also ?

    Its not happening to me but im curious to know how someone stands if the jsa is stopped, and how long its stopped for ?
    No you still get housing benefit and council tax there will be a few days delay because they have to recalculate it based on your income but you should get what you were getting before.

    Sanctions are usually 3 months, i got sanctioned for 3 months for having the gaul to use my initiative and posted a CV to the company i was applying for instead of to the job centre my reasoning being that it would just get put in a pile of 100s of other CVs i thought they might appreciate my initiative by sending it direct, my personal advisor agreed with me and she would have probably done the same but the decision makers decided to sanction my benefits.

    You can apply for hardship benefit which will vary depending on your circumstances but you wont get it for the first 2 weeks after your benefits get sanctioned.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,182
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    ArcticFox wrote: »

    Sanctions are usually 3 months, i got sanctioned for 3 months for having the gaul to use my initiative and posted a CV to the company i was applying for instead of to the job centre my reasoning being that it would just get put in a pile of 100s of other CVs i thought they might appreciate my initiative by sending it direct, my personal advisor agreed with me and she would have probably done the same but the decision makers decided to sanction my benefits.

    God that is unbelievable that they would stop your benefits for looking for work! I know a guy who has never even tried to get work, despite producing lists of places he's applied for every two weeks to the job centre, he hasn't worked since he was 19, he's now 36! His benefits should be stopped, not those who actively look for and want a job.
  • OLD HIPPY GUYOLD HIPPY GUY Posts: 28,199
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    In my experience, yes, and automatically,
    and they, (the H/B peeps) quite often don't inform you that it's been stopped, and if they DO inform you it can be a month AFTER they stopped it,
    and even if it was stopped by accident, it can take 12 + weeks to re start it again,

    Example, 2 years ago I came off JSA to go self employed, Before this I had been allowed, for 6 months, to work at setting up my self employment while keeping my JSA and H/B (I was not making any money at all from my business)

    I knew the date was coming when my JSA would be stopped, I would then get working tax credits, I asked the drone in the job centre if this would effect my H/B, "oh no, I shouldn't think so" she replied, "anyway, I will put a note on your file so there's no misunderstanding"

    some 6 weeks into my self employment, I get a polite letter from my landlord asking where my rent is,
    I phone the housing benefits people........ see that? how 'simple' that sounds "I phoned the housing benefits people"
    What actually happened is, I phoned and got either the engaged tone, or "sorry all our operators are busy right now please try again later" OR Vivaldi's four seasons (spring) over and over again whilst being told "thank you for waiting, you are moving up the queue"
    This went on for about 3 days, somtimes "moving up the queue" fo over 90 minutes before giving up,
    When I eventually got to talk to the cloned drone, it's all, "sorry we didn't get a note, and anyway it's all computerised and automatic now, your JSA stops, so does your housing/council tax benefits, so a 'note' wouldn't have made any difference, you will have to make a fresh claim, we will send the forms out asap, sorry bye"

    and trust me, that was by NO means the end of it, all in all, it took over 4 months to restart my housing benefit, my landlord had started eviction proceedings, I had to sell my beloved motorbike (and only means of transport) at an almost give away price, in order to pay my landlord something, and ALL this when trying to get my fledgling business up and running,

    THIS must be some of that "help" for business start ups we are all told is out there, except you wont see it printed in any glossy leaflets,
    :cool:
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 36,630
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    Justmadeit wrote: »
    Does anyone know : if the jobcentre decides to stop your jsa does your housing benefit and council tax benefit get stopped also ?

    Its not happening to me but im curious to know how someone stands if the jsa is stopped, and how long its stopped for ?

    Not anymore. Up until a couple of years ago the stopping of your JSA would generate a letter to the local Housing Benefit office saying that you were no longer receiving JSA. This would result in your HB being stopped also. Unfortunately it caused major problems, the letter was automatically generated and posted when you moved from JSA to New Deal for example, or if you went on some kind of training course that paid extra. You then had to re-apply for HB which for some people caused problems with their landlords.

    Last time I was unemployed it happened to me. I went from JSA to a New Deal course with A4E which resulted in my Housing Benefit and Council Tax being stopped. I had to re-apply which took the damn Housing Benefit Office 8 weeks to authorise, and they would not backdate it to when I started the course, only from the Monday following the day I handed the form in. Result I ended up owing my Landlord two weeks rent and had to make it up.

    When I went back on JSA after losing my job in Nov 2009 I specifically asked them about this issue should I be sent on a New Deal course, but the advisor told me they no longer do this because of the problems it caused. It is now up to you to contact the Housing Benefit Office and inform them if you come off JSA into a job, and you can be prosecuted for not doing so if they continue to pay.

    In your case, they can suspend your JSA for up to 26 weeks however, did they tell you that you are probably entitled to Hardship Payment?. They tend not to mention it but if you visit the Job Centre and ask they will advise you whether you are eligible or not. It doesn't pay as much (around £45 a week as opposed to £65) but it's better than nothing.

    EDIT: Seems from other posting it varies between areas again.
  • AndrueAndrue Posts: 23,351
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    ArcticFox wrote: »
    Sanctions are usually 3 months, i got sanctioned for 3 months for having the gaul to use my initiative and posted a CV to the company i was applying for instead of to the job centre.
    Whut? That's mad. Mind you I haven't been unemployed for over twenty years so maybe things have changed. Are you really saying that every CV you send has to go through the Job Centre? Or is it just jobs that you found through the Job Centre?

    I can understand the latter requirement. That would help them track how helpful they've been and avoids you queue jumping over other people who found it that way. But if you found the job without their help I'd say it's none of their business.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,415
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    Andrue wrote: »
    Whut? That's mad. Mind you I haven't been unemployed for over twenty years so maybe things have changed. Are you really saying that every CV you send has to go through the Job Centre? Or is it just jobs that you found through the Job Centre?

    I can understand the latter requirement. That would help them track how helpful they've been and avoids you queue jumping over other people who found it that way. But if you found the job without their help I'd say it's none of their business.

    most adverts through the jobcentre give an e-mail address to send a cv to , however some make you ring the jobcentre up for an app form ...........
  • JustmadeitJustmadeit Posts: 7,512
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    ArcticFox wrote: »
    No you still get housing benefit and council tax there will be a few days delay because they have to recalculate it based on your income but you should get what you were getting before.

    Sanctions are usually 3 months, i got sanctioned for 3 months for having the gaul to use my initiative and posted a CV to the company i was applying for instead of to the job centre my reasoning being that it would just get put in a pile of 100s of other CVs i thought they might appreciate my initiative by sending it direct, my personal advisor agreed with me and she would have probably done the same but the decision makers decided to sanction my benefits.

    You can apply for hardship benefit which will vary depending on your circumstances but you wont get it for the first 2 weeks after your benefits get sanctioned.

    if they wont pay you jsa because you walked out of a job for example can you still get housing benefit/council tax benefit ?
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