Help With Travel Costs

[thugulike]

Will the Job Centre help with travel costs? My son has been told he has to attend an interview which involves a round trip of 46 miles. The cost will be over £5 and he has no income at all.

[factor-fiction]

When you say he gets no income at all does that mean he doesn't even get Job Seekers Allowance?
Is he registered with the Job Centre?

[thugulike]

He has just returned from living abroad so he doesn't get JSA and had to wait to register with Job Centre as he didn't have his NINO

[factor-fiction]

Can no-one lend him a fiver- it seems a good investment if he is keen on the job

[thugulike]

Yes, I can do that but it doesn't seem right that he can't attend a local office and has to borrow money

[mccfluff]

its only a fiver, its his problem surely? i don't understand why you are expecting the tax payer to cover it?

[factor-fiction]

Is he living with you? How old is he?

[thugulike]

He is living with me for a short while as his health is very poor, he is 44

[Svejk]

I would think there is help with fares. makes sense for tax payers to help people back into work.

[factor-fiction]

Is the interview with an employer or the Job Centre?
If it's an employer could they reimburse his expenses? If it's the Job Centre he could ask them.
Has he got something he could sell on ebay and then maybe buy it back if he gets a job?

[pastafreak]

A bit off topic...but ONLY a fiver for a 46 mile round trip? That's pennies nowadays.
I'd say loan it to him...though he should still enquire as to help in future.

[factor-fiction]

Maybe it's the cost of petrol- although I don't know whose car

[Cloverjo]

I don't think there is any help from the Job Centre for travel costs. It is hugely unfair, of course, given your son's situation. You haven't said if this is an interview for a job or an interview at the job centre office. It sounds like the latter, in which case this makes me more angry. If the nearest office is 23 miles away, and he will have to go there once a week to sign on -once they get his benefits sorted out- that's a big chunk of his measly £58 a week gone already.

[factor-fiction]

What's the figure of £58 a week, cloverjo?

[Cloverjo]

I think that's the Job Seekers Allowance for a week. Sorry, I just saw that the poster's son is 44. He might be entitled to more.
I was thinking of what my 22 year old son might have to do if they think he is not ill enough.

[factor-fiction]

I think it's £72- £73 for someone over 25, although I am not sure thugulike's son will be entitled to Contribution based JSA as he's been out of the country and presumably hasn't paid enough NI. He could be eligible for income based JSA but if he lives at home with thugulike maybe the household income is taken into account

[joko]

yes they pay for travel to interview - but you must ask them before hand and then show them the evidence and they will reimburse you with a receipt
you cannot just go in with a receipt and expect them to pay it

problem is, he is not actually registered at the job centre, so they are not obliged to help him at all

[joko]

you must also prove it is a genuine job opportunity

[EDDIE51]

I don't think he will get any help if he is not even registered with the job centre.
If he has just returned from abroad he is probably not even registrered as a UK resident so will not get any benefit until he can qualify as UK resident.
Once registered as a resident though he should be able to get ESA or DLA if he is in very poor health as you say. You may then qualify for carers allowance for looking after him.
We need more information, is he a UK citizen? what country is he currently registered as resident in? what is the interview for? Is he looking for work or intending to live on benefit?
In any case I think you are going to have to give him the fare to get to the interview or take him there.

[thugulike]

Thanks for all your answers. He will not be entitles for any benefits until he has been in the country for 3 months. He has to go to the JC to register, this is not a job interview. He will have no access to any benefits in those 3 months but as cloverjo said, £5 is a lot of money from benefits and even more if you have none. As we live in a small village I will have to take him for his interview and I am a pensioner although I'm not pleading poverty. I was thinking of the issue as a social policy one rather than a personal point and I was wondering how on earth people in similar situations who don't have family manage.

[factor-fiction]

The same issue will arise for immigrants coming from Bulgaria etc- it's part of a move that seems to have general support of not handing out money straight away to those coming to our shores who haven't contributed in recent years by way of NI.
If the £5 travel costs is a problem then he (you) is clearly going to have problems feeding himself and paying for anything over the next 3 months.
Hopefully he will be entitled to NHS treatment immediately if he's ill but it may be worth checking