Vocal Voices

Back on 10th March I bit the bullet I went online and signed on for Job Seekers Allowance (should have done it the day I was made redundant, but hey ho). 23rd March I had an appointment at the local job centre to confirm things and was then told I had to go back on 9th April, ie two weeks later, to present myself and confirm that I was still unemployed - apparently one needs to present oneself at the Job Centre every 14 days.

Anyway, this morning I called the National Job Centre number to let them know that I have now signed a contract and that I'll be starting employment again on the 14th, so please can they stop my claims etc. Especially important as, for the new job, I had ticked a box on the HMRC New Starter document stating that I have not received any money by way of income, JSA or Universal Credit (or similar) since 1st April (because I haven't received anything yet).

Anyway turns out that apparently the first payment to me has been processed and I should receive a letter confirming within the next day or so; but what I find totally bizarre is that in order for me to cancel / stop my JSA, I still have to attend the appointment on the 9th, tell them I have a job so they can deactivate me on the local system and then I need to call the National Job Centre phone number again so they can deactivate me on the Government system; and until that is done they cannot stop payments. It's just madness - had they been able to just press a button today and 'close my case' the government could have saved about £120 or so. Admittedly it's not the hugest amount of money, but I cannot be the only person in this country in the same situation; so multiply that £120 by who knows how many people, surely that would be such an easy way to save some money and put that towards the NHS?

So now, I for once get something from the government, and rather embarrassingly have had to email new job and, with huge apologies, ask them to please change the tick box their end

Ah, Ria, the bureaucracy!

I am a private renter, single and an OAP, so I get the single person's discount on my council tax and a little bit of housing benefit.

However, when I get the council tax notification / bill I am "ordered" to inform them of any changes to my circumstances within 21 days or I could be fined.

I always pay in full before the due date but I still have to visit the office in person to tell them of any changes. Emails, phone calls, messages and PDFs are not acceptable. The only notifyable changes are to the interest on my savings accounts and for that I need paper statements from the bank. This is what I did on Friday.

I spent over an hour waiting for my number to be called. A two minute conversation later and it was all sorted. It is madness. As an OAP all of my financial dealings are on a government system somewhere - DWP, MOD, HMRC - just link them up.

Red tape - ugh! When Harry stayed with us for those few months, a few years back, he had an ongoing claim as he'd been out of work for a while. I went into the Job Centre with him and the clerk there got his details up on the screen. My ex had been Harry's spokesperson/representative or whatever they call it and had failed to tell them of the three week stint H had done at Thorpe Park, so he'd been overpaid They thought that H had been trying to "pull a fast one" until I explained, but both H and I were glad to get out of there, without some sort of bother

It's bizarre, isn't it?

Meriad, I had a brief stint on Jobseekers Allowance after being made redundant probably about 15 years ago now, and I recall having to attend every 14 days and fill in reports on jobs I'd applied for and interviews attended. I think my second or third appointment at the Employment Exchange (old-money terminology) pretty much coincided with my accepting a new position, so I told them at that interview and they duly signed me off. I think I got around £60 off them.

I wasn't overly impressed with the whole exercise, to be honest. My (perhaps rather narrow) "job skills" weren't particularly relevant to any of the jobs they told me to arrange interviews for, but as long as I could demonstrate I'd been applying for and attending them, they were quite happy to continue paying me. The whole process struck me as very much a box-ticking exercise; I found my next job without their help.

WhenI retired, I was only 63. I wanted to make sure i had enough contributions for the full State Pension at 65. So I went to the Job Centre and signde on.
Had to go back every 14 days and have my book stamped. But I did not get any money.

When I got the letter saying I had enough contibutions for a full State Pension, tye youmg clerk in the Job Centre didn't know what to do when I said I was not
coming again. H said I would not get any money. My reply was it would not make any difference as I was not getting any.

A friend hasa disabled son and gets various payments. These stopped in January. Since then she has made many phone calls and written letters trying to
get the payments re-instated. If he had been living on hos own he would not have had any money and would not have known how to deal with the problem.
Even the staf at DWP don't seem to know what to do.
The benefit system is justa shambles.
I can only get reduced counil tax, reduced water rates and a bus pass