Benefit Payments
By Since losing my job in November I've been receiving Jobseeker's Allowance but as of 22nd March 2008 that has been stopped due to a doubt on my claim.
When I originally made the benefit claim one of the questions on the form is why you lost your job. I lost mine through misconduct and said so on the form. I'm not going to go into the details, suffice to say that the company viewed my actions as misconduct.
In the middle of December I received a letter from Carlisle BDC stating that there had been a doubt and they were waiting for a reply from the employer. I spoke to my advisor about it and she informed me that the company had a month to reply. I spoke to her again at the back end of January and she informed me that the doubt seemed to have been resolved in my favour because the company had not responded.
In the middle of February I received a letter back from Carlisle BDC stating that the doubt had been reopened after they had received a reply from the company and that I had a month to reply with my comments. My advisor recommended that I take the full month just in case the decision went against me. I did so and sent my comments back in the middle of March, stating that I had been upfront from the start and was disappointed in the amount of time the company had taken.
Anyway, I've now received a reply from Carlisle BDC stating that they cannot pay me Jobseeker's Allowance from 22nd March 2008 until 13th June 2008. I also won't be awarded National Insurance Contributions for the same period. The letter then goes on to state that they cannot pay Jobseeker's Allowance from 14th June 2008 either. They cannot pay me because my entitlement based on Class 1 National Insurance Contributions has run out. It makes me wonder why I was paying National Insurance Contributions for the last six years.
The letter states that if I'm looking for work and intend to dispute or appeal against the decision I should still provide signed declarations on my ES40. Damn right I intend to dispute/appeal. How am I supposed to live, pay bills, buy food etc? I know I live with my Dad but he's retired now and receiving pension credit and disability living allowance. I can't expect him to pay for me as well. On top of everything else I'm not totally convinced they can legally stop the payments. When I first made the claim, and more recently when the amount went up, I received a letter from the DWP that stated the amount I was receiving was the minimum the government said I needed to live on. Doubtless, there is something in the provisoning of benefits that give the department the right to withhold payment.
I will be going to my local JobCentre Plus office on Monday to lodge an appeal against the decision and to also make a claim for Hardship payments.
4 Comments
Meta
That is totally out of order! They had a month to reply and took longer - this then should not be allowed to be counted. If the government say there is a minimum, why do they stop it and give you less? Also, they should be able to give you non income based JSA - which they shouldn't have to because you have been working for the last 6 years.
A couple of ideas to try - Talishia suggested these. Write to your local MP and tell them what has happened, or become your father's full time carer. You get Income Support for looking after him, and they can't touch you.
Good luck with that
I'm going to pop into the local office tomorrow and look at my options.
And, I'm sure Dad mentioned something about the fact that he would lose some of his DLA if I started to claim any caring allowance for him.
That's a bugger.
I've received a letter from the DWP today saying that I will be receiving Hardship Payments from 31st March 2008 until 13th June 2008. No indication of how much, but I'll find out on Wednesday I suppose.