General Chat

Although we do some part-time work each, OH and I have been claiming benefits for six weeks now I think.

Each time we go in to sign we take a detailed record of what we have done and how much we have been paid, it takes them ages to process us!

We have, however, never been paid anything and I am running out of options to live.

Yesterday we rang the DWP who promised to call us back this morning.

They have called and told us it is a complicated claim and that it is going to be dealt with this morning.

Now I understand why there is a need for food-banks. They evidently do the easy ones first.

Maybe you should apply for a job at the benefits office

:-0

They, unbelievably, are looking to make redundancies.

Have you spoken to the local council about claiming housing benefit? That is worked out differently to the way JSA/ESA are worked out.

Hello Sharron,

Not knowing how old you are so this may not apply to you. Did you know that at age 61 (Now I think) that you can claim Pension Credit. This is different from state pension. They top up your wages to a livable amount.
Although H is now of pension age we use to claim it alongside are part time jobs.

Anne

Sharron <3 they have 2 speeds, slow and dead slow, do you have a Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) near you, if so give them a call or a visit - I found them very helpful when I had to retire.

OFTG, :-D You missed one out :-D All In Due Course. meaning probably after Tea Breaks etc. :-D

Merlin - if it was after "Tea Breaks" they would all be at home or in the pub, as they only have one tea break - that begins when they arrive at their place of work and finishes when they leave their place of work :-D

Not heard anything from them yet.

Hey, Good luck Sharron

Dad is still waiting to hear about his hearing aid, and he applied at least two months ago. Government agencies are verrrrrrry slow.

In order to qualify for tax credits both in a couple must work and one for a minimum of 32 hrs the other 16. Where one in a couple is disabled the qual hours are 16. Applications can be made online or by post.

If you are due to pay utility bills, could you apply for an emergency loan?

If your hours and pay varies from week to week, it must be difficult to work out what you are entitled to. Trust you not to 'fit into a box'!

I am coping because I was prepared.

Please don't think I am asking for sympathy, I am just pointing out their bloody ineptitude!

We certainly won't starve, in fact we are eating pretty well, but we will only be eating at home.

There is, of course, a certain sum of money, collected by some really good friends to whom I am forever grateful, that is totally sacrosanct and the DWP will not be parting me from that, but thre is more oney somewhere in the system which is mine by right and I am not happy at being kept apart from it because we are trying not to need it.

Had we gone into the jobby with no income from employment and no money put by to support ourselves in times of need, we would have had all our rent paid and our full entitlement within a fortnight.

I worked in the expectation of drawing my pension at sixty and now, at sixty one, having been a carer for seven years, I am expected to devote myself to looking for a job to do for fourteen months. To do this I am expected to attend a building full of staff doing bugger all every fortnight and to show them evidenec of what I have done to find a job whilst waiting for the money they are getting round to paying me!

Now you've started me!

Steady on Sharron, Its hard work doing Bugger all Think of the old song, We,re Busy Doing Nothing woking the whole day through trying to find lots of things not to do,and that about sums it up. :-D :-D :-D :-D :-D

When I first got divorced & was on my own with my 2 children, I claimed benefit.
Then I found a temporary job for 3 months.
Unfortunately it was monthly paid, so I carried on claiming for the first month until I got paid, but didn´t claim again until a month after the end of the contract (because I had been paid a months salary.)
I was taken to a tribunal because I had claimed benefit while I was working.
I pointed out that we had no means of financial support for the first month & I hadn´t claimed for a month after the contract finished.
Grudgingly, the panel agreed that I had not made a false claim.
What was I supposed to do?
Tell the kids they can´t eat for 4 weeks, but at the end of the job, they can eat double for 4 weeks.
Some of the rules are so stupid.

It's not too hard for them.

They have decided that we are not entitled to anything and have closed the claim.

B*mmer :-(

Go to the CAB Sharron, and ask them to review the decision, make sure you the DSS give you a reason for their closing the claim.

How about self employment? you may not be entitled to benefits as such , but if you can go self employed you should get working tax credits.

It is because one of the zero hours merchants that OH worked for (try to keep off claiming benefits) insisted that he should be self- employed.

Naturally he had only a couple of hours of work from them but the DWP have decided that he will be spending a number of hours trying to rustle up work for his business which will prevent him from looking for work.

Not being familiar with the system, I last claimed in 1991 and OH had never claimed before last year, the forms were evidently not filled in in the appropriate manner.

When I became a carer there were numerous people helping me to claim..

As one of the more friendly job centre staff told me a few years ago 'If you don't know to ask about such and such benefit, we're not allowed to tell you that you might be entitled to it" .

The forms are designed by sadists and come with a built in guarantee you can't 'get it right' , go in and see an advisor and tell them you don't understand what is required and ask them to help... you are their 'client' they are obliged to do so.