Job centre is making me rage right now..

[Game Girl]

The job centre sent me a letter a few days ago. Apparently they overpaid me on my jobseekers allowance when I was working at Wilkinson during the winter. (It was only a 6 hour contract, so I was still entitled to benefits).

Now apparently, I owe them £307.75 because of they overpaid me.

....Wait, what?

How does that work? How come I owe THEM for THEIR fuck up? It's not like I didn't tell them I was working, because I did.

Just WTF?!

[Renegade Saint]

What happens if you don't pay?

[Yefim Zverev]

Don't pay it back. Let them go for trial lol :)

[PC LOAD LETTER]

You can get a jobseeker's allowance in the UK? :blink:

Here it's kinda like, "Oh, you're looking for work and have no money? Go fuck yourself!"

[Game Girl]

What happens if you don't pay?

It dosen't tell me what happens if I don't pay. But it says basically says I have to pay them back because thats the law.

They might stop my benefits, which is actually a loss for THEM. If I don't get paid, THEY don't get paid.

This isnt the first time the job centre fucked me over...I can't handle it anymore.

[Game Girl]

You can get a jobseeker's allowance in the UK? :blink:

Here it's kinda like, "Oh, you're looking for work and have no money? Go fuck yourself!"

I thought certain people were entitled to welfare over in the states. :blink:

[Hermes]

I thought certain people were entitled to welfare over in the states. :blink:

I think you need to live in a residence in order to receive any kind of welfare (beyond soup kitchens).
-
Also, there usually just aren't many jobs.

[Left Leanings]

The state lackeys of Job Centre Plus are not known for their outstanding administrative ability.

I did an extra year in sixth-form at school, so I was 19 when I left. Thatcher had just passed a law saying school leavers planning to go onto Higher Education, could not claim the dole for the weeks before they went. Previously they had been allowed to do so. Most school leavers were 18, so the legislation specifically referred to 18-year old school leavers.

I applied for the dole, but was turned down. They had obviously got the form, noted I had just left school, assumed I was 18, and not noted I was 19. I contacted the Citizen's Advice Bureau, and discussed it with them. They said there was no reason for the claim to be rejected.

I phoned social security/job centre staff, and argued my case. One of them read from a document telling me why I wasn't entiled. I said, photocopy it and send it to me. She said I will, but you won't understand as it is too complex for you. She was well condescending and arrogant.

I got the document, and she had underlined with a green marker why I wasn't entiltled. It bore no relevance to my claim at fucking all.

I rang her up, and she argued the toss, so I asked to speak to someone in higher authority. She said how did I mean, and there was no one in higher authority. I pissed my sides laughing, and asked her if she was the manager? Or, indeed, the Secretary of State at the Department of Health and Social Secretary (DHSS)? No, she wasn't haha. Soooo, there was someone in higher authority.

I spoke to her superior. And guess what: he told me that it appeared that I was right.

They coughed up, and I got a few weeks dole before going to uni.

[PC LOAD LETTER]

I thought certain people were entitled to welfare over in the states. :blink:
It's extremely hard to get.

You need to make less than $800 per month and have at least one dependent child under the age of 18 here in Georgia.
Medicaid (free healthcare) is only available if you're less than 133% of the poverty line. So $12,000 in annual income max. One part-time job with no benefits can leave you disqualified from medicaid and without health insurance.

The only thing the average person can get if they're having serious financial trouble is food stamps ... but that's around $100/month.

[NoPasaran1936]

It's extremely hard to get.

You need to make less than $800 per month and have at least one dependent child under the age of 18 here in Georgia.
Medicaid (free healthcare) is only available if you're less than 133% of the poverty line. So $12,000 in annual income max. One part-time job with no benefits can leave you disqualified from medicaid and without health insurance.

The only thing the average person can get if they're having serious financial trouble is food stamps ... but that's around $100/month.

Fucking hell, didn't realise it was that awful

[La Comédie Noire]

While Britain is a little better in terms of social welfare than the U.S. I heard they make life on the dole as undignified as possible.

[Ostrinski]

I say go to court.

[Decolonize The Left]

The job centre sent me a letter a few days ago. Apparently they overpaid me on my jobseekers allowance when I was working at Wilkinson during the winter. (It was only a 6 hour contract, so I was still entitled to benefits).

Now apparently, I owe them £307.75 because of they overpaid me.

....Wait, what?

How does that work? How come I owe THEM for THEIR fuck up? It's not like I didn't tell them I was working, because I did.

Just WTF?!

Fuck them. Let them jump through hoops to correct their mistake. You're not required to fix their shit for them - go to court. If you settle there and have to pay, ok, but you'll have another couple months to scrounge up the money.

- August

[lombas]

Any reasonable bureaucracy would pay you £307.75 LESS the next time, they even lack the efficiency to do that?

If there will be no next time, I see no real reason to appeal. Over here (Belgium, Netherlands) the official administration has every "right" by law to ask you the surplus back (if it is within a certain period). You'd better pay up then, it will save you a lot of pointless effort and headaches.

I should look up if there's an EU-agreement on this, but I doubt it would be in your benefit.

[lombas]

Fuck them. Let them jump through hoops to correct their mistake. You're not required to fix their shit for them - go to court. If you settle there and have to pay, ok, but you'll have another couple months to scrounge up the money.

- August

I'm not sure how it's like where you live, but where I live the losing party has to pay the judicial cost for the winning party.

If you have no case at all - and I don't think Gaming Girl has a case - it is better to pay up or to protest, get extra time (which she would get in my opinion), and pay up nevertheless. Going to court can cost her a lot more than the 300 pounds she "owes" the administration now.

Seriously, you people should think twice before giving "advice" like that.

[Rooster]

While Britain is a little better in terms of social welfare than the U.S. I heard they make life on the dole as undignified as possible.

When you have been unemployed for six months, they send you to a "training centre" which is little more than a re-education centre. There, they basically try their best to break you down so that you'll accept any shitty job that comes along. It's basically just so the government can say that you're not receiving benefits anymore, you're receiving training. Plus, the jobs that usually come up are only temporary jobs. Lasting anything from a couple of months to six months.

[Left Leanings]

While Britain is a little better in terms of social welfare than the U.S. I heard they make life on the dole as undignified as possible.


When you have been unemployed for six months, they send you to a "training centre" which is little more than a re-education centre. There, they basically try their best to break you down so that you'll accept any shitty job that comes along. It's basically just so the government can say that you're not receiving benefits anymore, you're receiving training. Plus, the jobs that usually come up are only temporary jobs. Lasting anything from a couple of months to six months.

Reading posts like this, what comes to mind is how times change.

When I first signed on the dole, it wasn't known as Job Seeker's Allowance, but Unemployment Benefit, which peeps could claim if they had paid enough National Insurance Contributions. If they had not, they could claim Supplementary Benefit in lieu of Unemployment Benefit.

Claimants were not required to be 'actively seeking employment', but simply to be 'available for work' (not in full-time education, for example, or out of the country, caring for someone etc).

Also, Jobseeker's Allowance is now only paid on a contributions-based basis for six months. It used to be twelve. After that, it becomes means tested, which means the unemployed who have savings, or a partner in work, often get paid nothing. This was not the case with Unemployment Benefit. If you had paid enough National Insurance, you were entiltled to the benefit until you found a job.

[Blake's Baby]

In the old days (before about 1986 or so) you paid stamp for a year, you could claim Unemployment Benefit for a year. Now yo pay stamp for two years and you only get Unemployment Benefit (= 'Contributions-Based Job Seekers' Allowance') for six months. Half the return for double the input is a bad change.

Game Girl: I've been in a similar position. I was overpaid around £2,000 over 2 years. Around £20 a week extra for a family of four so we didn't notice. In the end they wrote it off and said they wouldn't pursue it, but they could have done. When you sign on, part of your agreement is that you return money that's given to you in error.

I've been in the other situation too, when money has been taken off me. It usually works that a small amount is taken from your benefit, typically about £3 per week. It can take years to pay off like that but I'm not sure it's legal to demand everything at once, especially if it's their error. If you make a 'reasonable offer to pay' you shouldn't have punitive damages charged against you. I'm not recommending you totally dig your heels in but it would be a perverse decision to make you pay over-and-above because they were demanding back money that you were given because of their error.

I think all you can do is make it hard for them. Ask for written decisions on why they've decided that you need to pay it back, appeal against it, ask them what it was that you were supposed to have supplied to give them the information that they didn't seem to have, ask why you weren't told to supply that information etc. Get all the info you can, take notes of dates and conversations, keep records of everything, get organised and respond to deadlines they set for appeals etc. Otherwise they'll turn round and tell you you've missed your chance to appeal.

Do you have a Claimants' Union or even a Citizens' Advice Bureau near you? Is there a local Council benefits advice team? They're often very keen to help people against the Dole Office, it proves that one department is working while the other is rubbish. That's your best bet really, but you have to get moving or you'll miss dates you need to request them to look at decisions again and appeal and whatnot.

I think (I don't have a 'What to do if you think this decision is wrong' leaflet to hand) the course of action is:

1 - write asking for a written statement of reasons;
2 - ask them to look again at the decision;
3 - appeal against the decision.

If you do have a 'What to do if you think this decision is wrong' leaflet, read it and see if it agrees with what I said. If it does - you can do 1 and 2 on Monday, and look for a Benefits Rights team/Citizens' Advice Bureau/Claimants Union.

You're not in Edinburgh are you? If you are it might be worth getting in touch with the Edinburgh Coalition Against Poverty to see if they have any advice.

[brigadista]

game girl if you can go to your local law centre or CAB [if they are not closed by the cuts...] to get some help so you don't have to pay it back - hope you get it sorted.:):)

[Game Girl]

game girl if you can go to your local law centre or CAB [if they are not closed by the cuts...] to get some help so you don't have to pay it back - hope you get it sorted.:):)

Well, I sign on every two weeks on Tuesday. This Tuesday is my sign on day, so I'll talk to them about it. My advisor is infact a very nice person and hopefully she'll understand that I'm unable to pay all of it right now. My mother thinks I should request for me to pay them a certain amount every 2 weeks (when I get paid) and just pay it off slowly.

[Left Leanings]

Well, I sign on every two weeks on Tuesday. This Tuesday is my sign on day, so I'll talk to them about it. My advisor is infact a very nice person and hopefully she'll understand that I'm unable to pay all of it right now. My mother thinks I should request for me to pay them a certain amount every 2 weeks (when I get paid) and just pay it off slowly.

This is how it works, anyway. They will 'dock' your benefits, and take out a re-payment every fortnight, until the full amount is recovered. I'm not sure how much they will take, but out of Job Seeker's Allowance, it will only be a small amount.