Yeh, I know what time it is :)
Good news. Four out of the five people I've helped who had their Jobseekers Allowance 'sanctioned', that is, stopped because they allegedly failed to turn up up for appointments of various kinds, have been refunded.
On a 'sanction' they have no income for 2 weeks. They're offered a 'crisis loan' of £50. Payable, should their Jobseekers be reinstated, at £13 per week. How the bloody heck do those maths work out? Meanwhile, their Housing benefit is stopped too, leaving them in arrears.
Meanwhile, they had to depend on friends (That's me folks) to eat. 3 of the 5 have babies under a year old.
Mind you, they had to wait four weeks, after lots of form filling, and the onus was on them to produce the the evidence against the Jobseekers claims. I dunno yet about their housing benefit. Looking into it.
The other one of the five? No word yet.
And Prime Mister Cameroon says "It's all too easy to live on benefits" Goggle it. What planet does the chap live on?
2 comments:
thats good news!
so once the JSA is reinstated does the housing benefit arrears get brought up to date or do they still owe the arrears?
as you say what planet does Cameron live on?
the other year when me and hubby were unemployed, son got a full time job, so the council decided that we had to pay rent and council tax even though we were the tenants and unemployed!
we got £97 a week and the rent then was about £55 a week!!
even now the direct . gov website and other says the if you're on working tax credit you get help with housing benefit and council tax and get help with dentist,opticians and prescriptions etc, erm no we don't!!
Josie x
Not sure yet. Can't give you a straight answer yet. As usual with housing benefit, there's the delays.
They were without JSA for nearly three weeks. It'll take at least that long before Housing benefit get around to being told to stop paying. Then they'll stop it. Then the JSA restarts. HB should auto restart, as far as I can see. That'll take time.
If it's council housing, those three weeks will be debited from their rent account as full rent, which will include what they would have paid in water rates.
The claimant, not having an income, probably didn't pay the weekly water rates. (£7-£10).
It'll take weeks for the council to notice. Meanwhile, as the HB is reinstated, they'll get an unpleasant letter, but the rent deducted will be repaid by HB, I hope.
However, they will still get threatening letters until they pay off the outstanding water rates.
Right then. In my post, I noted they'd been offered 'crisis loans' of about £50, repayable at £13 a week from their restarted benefits. Well, more like £26 per fortnight.
So on top of that, they have to pay the weekly water rates, plus anywhere between £21-£30 outstanding.
I've told them, now their JSA has restarted, ignore the threatening letters, grit their teeth, and pay maybe £5 a week extra when they pay their water rates. As far as I can see, though the council will demand more than that as an arraignment-to-pay, they have to accept that £5 anyway :)
Sure, the council can threaten court action, but by the time it went to court, it'll be paid off.
I've also advised them, that in future they pay an extra £1 a week with their water rates, so they're a little bit in front over the year(s)
So It'll hurt, but not as much.
Two are with private landlords, and the rent is paid from the Housing Benefit to the landlord. Again, a delay, but most landlords that accept JSA tenants know the routine, and only get stroppy after a month or more.
Those private tenants will have their own private, probably monthly, payment plan with the water company. In their case they'll just have to put a little extra aside.
Phew!
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