job seeker allowance

[monkhousebob]

i have been working part time recently as I have been out of work for a couple of months, anyway because i was under the impression you can do 15 hours a week and still get job seekers allowance i was sticking to their rules whilst i searched for something more fulltime.

Anyway......they have now infoormed me they are cutting my allowance from 60 to 30 a week....this seems like they are moving the posts and is ridiculous, how is anyone meant to live on 30 pounds a week?

Its not like im not looking for work either, they seem to be punishing me for doing nothing wrong?

I am supposed to go in to speak to them about it but its just like someone being petty at their end will mean me having to chase people up and get my money back, also have to chase up my emergency tax, i could do without all this as im trying to find work and also have better things to do !

Why do they do this? there is no point as far as i can see, i have stuck to their rules and now they just decide to slash it in half for no reason?

Ive payed taxes and have no kids , have never been a criminal etc, yet for being an upstanding memeber of community with no bad history and hard worker, seem to get punished, whilst people with kids and people who just sponge off the government get whatever they like....ITS NOT ON

[buildersmate]

One wonders who told you that it is possible to do 15 hours per week part time work without it impacting your contribution-based JSA. The rules are quite clear - that you must be actively looking for work and that you tell JobCentre Plus immediately your circumstances change.
The purpose of JSA is to help whilst you get back into permanent employment.
However you may well be entitled to another form of benefit in your situation (not sure, others are better at this area than me) because you are on a low income, and these benefits do allow some employment before the benefit rate declines.
It is worth remembering that the benefits system, complex as they are, are designed to top-up one's income to a minimum level (from whatever sources) not act as a income supplement.

[chazza]

Do you live alone? If you live alone and work less than 16 hours per week you may be eligible.

See this link:
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefit s/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/On_a_low_i ncome/DG_10018708

[helpmetoo]

what has the number of hours worked got to do with anything?

it is plainly obvious that the amount of income is the relevant figure regarding entitlement to handouts,

one could earn �6 per hour or �600 per hour presumably if you were to earn �9000 for a 15 hour week you wouldnt expect to still get your 30 quid?

[bednobs]

plus you are not living on 30 pounds a week - you are living on 30 pounds plus whatever you earn from your part time job.

Plus, you are not being "punished" you are being helped!

[monkhousebob]

its hardly help is it, �30 a week!

i probably at the moment get �60 a week from my part time job, giving me a grand total of �90 a week to live one yipee!!!

dont spend it all at once,

having worked hard for 5 years whilst others sit on their a55es spongeing ......is hard to swallow, so now im out of work not through choice and have to live on peanuts!

this country has gone to the sh1t

I have a degree and somehow am now deemed unemployable??

[bednobs]

dont take it if you are so ungrateful then!

i cant understand it - if you were getting 60 pounds pw before, and now you are getting 60 (part time job) PLUS 30 (JSA) - that makes a net increase of 30 quid!
Do you get any houing benefit? Or council tax benefit? if not, apply!

[Scarlett]

If you work part time you need to declare this to the Job Centre so that they can deduct what you are earning from your JSA. If you work, no matter how few hours, and don't declare it, and still claim full JSA (as if you were unemployed and looking for work) then this is technically fraud and they can cut your benefit or stop it completely until you pay back what you should never have received in the first place, in JSA. Nobody can be expected to live on what they give you- I recently had to come off incapacity benefit and return to full time work, even though I was really unwell, as I simply couldn't survive and pay my bills and mortgage on the amount I was receiving per week.

[sara3]

read your ES40, your signing booklet which has all the rules in it, and tells you that you have to declare ANY work you do, paid or unpaid. read the ES24, which you sign every time you sign on, where the declaration says, "I have done no work, paid or unpaid".

I wonder if they've called you in for an Interview Under Caution as you have indeed committed offences, and you may be in more trouble than you seem to think.

no one will be interested in what "impression" you were under. there are rules for claiming benefit, and they've been in your pocket all the time.