I've made a complaint about my Work Coach

There needs to be some skin in the game

Disability benefits, yes.

Employment benefits, no.

So the OP is fibbing on this point

makes me wonder what else….

Can you request for your appointment to be moved to a date after you receive your money ?

Do you have anyone that you can borrow £5 for petrol to attend the next appointment ?

To be fair, if you were employed the same the rules apply; turn up on time, phone in if cannot get to work etc

That's how it used to be . You got money because you were unemployed.

Yes. If people need them, yes.

No,there has been no reports of the UC service being down all week.

And even if it was, the Service Centre is still open

The website is “down”?

no, the universal credit site is not down

Well how it used to work was that you made a claim and you looked for a job 30 hours a week, entirely reasonable and if you couldn’t find one after a certain amount of time and support was put in place courses were offered, retraining, getting required tickets etc.

if you went through all of that and you still couldn’t find anything at all that you could do within a 12 month period I believe it was, then basically you got the absolute bare minimum.
The difference between now and then is that they at least tried to support you initially, not just financially but they actively wanted to help you to get back into work the people that you took the little cards to at the desk would phone of the employer for you and introduce you and basically sell you into the role.

job seekers £70 a week now and has been for nearly 20 years. In 1994 it was £45 a week so it hasn’t even doubled in 30 years but a loaf of bread in 1994 was 20p. That’s quadrupled in price

My mother was looked after at home by carers (before moving into a care home). Some were good some were not so good.

I guess my only point is that I’m not sure that it is a reasonable long term option to refuse to go for jobs in certain sectors because you’d rather stay on benefits than do that type of work.

If you don't agree with sanctions, how do you think benefits should work? You make a claim and then get benefits forever, without ever having to do anything?

YABVVVU, you had so many options. You could have ridden your donkey, taken your unicycle or walked. There is really no excuse! You are getting all your handouts and you won’t even try a unicycle?! What is the point in me working very very very very very hard as an extremely important tax paying tax payer when people like you can’t live off that FREE MONEY?!!

P.S. I don’t condone sanctions. They’re a disgusting punishment on poor people, pushing them further into poverty.

@hellswelshy I’m not disputing they need to do a job, but as you said they work with vulnerable people and as such should show some human decency. A lot of these people are actually suffering. Just because you have to follow rules it doesn’t mean you have to be as cold as ice, there is no excuse and quite frankly, if my employer made me treat other human beings that way then I would be off there as soon as possible. ‘Just doing a job’ is a cop out.

I’ve known people to be laughed at down the phone as they were being told their benefits were being stopped, and for no good reason either. Or being told they’re not Ill enough not to work so stop being lazy and get a job. It’s as if they love it. Awful 😣

It's not really the work coaches fault though, they are told to do this unfortunately. Some are just shit, but they do have targets and stuff to get sanctions. It is a no tolerance policy, but we voted in the government causing it. Vote better next time people.

If nobody was there to implement the benefits, people wouldn't get paid though wouldn't they? I am not sure what you're suggesting in practical terms, but benefit delivery workers are just ordinary people doing a job, have bills to pay etc.

They are just following orders are they ?
Actually if nobody was prepared to implement this nonsense it couldn’t happen.

'Just get a bus'

Hilarious. Usually written by people who live in areas with very good transport services. And who can't conceive of the fact that you very often can't 'just' get a bus door to door.

I only live 10 miles outside a city centre. To get from my home to the office would be two separate buses and an hour's journey because of the route & timetables. Costing nearer £10 than £5.

Cycling 23 miles is a ridiculous suggestion and I think the first post on it was meant to be light hearted.

I have been fortunate not to be in ops position and have no idea how I would cope, but common sense says if it was my only means of any money I would be making damn sure I put away a fiver to meet the mandatory requirements and make sure it kept coming in every month when the alternative is £0.

Whether you agree with sanctions or not, logically something else would need to go unpaid. Without a full insight in ops finances, where she indicates she can afford a car and insure it, no one can say if not having a fiver put aside was bad planning or really unachievable.

Again though, the government is responsible for the setting out of benefit legislation and laws NOT the people delivering them. I am sorry for those who have encountered ill treatment or individuals who have treated them badly or without respect. I assure you I am not defending how benefits are managed or the set up behind the scenes, but having worked in that setting I can categorically confirm the vast majority of staff are doing their best to deliver a service that is woefully underfunded and morale is low right now. These staff are dealing with vulnerable people daily and most get paid less than someone working in Aldi. I have seen staff leaving in droves, the higher management are oblivious as to why or don't care. So yes at some point it will be delivered digitally but that won't be a step up believe me.

Not everyone is able to cycle for several hours...

It also assumes that prices are predictable.

The speed at which fuel prices rose left people in full time employment struggling to fill the tank to work so anyone living on the edge without a cosy buffer in the bank could be screwed even if they are normally a good budgeter.

Perhaps Mumsnet could have a little fund of fivers is available for people to access. They could set up a page where we could all put in 10p each to make sure that nobody ever runs out of a fiver and can’t get to an interview.

What does the OP do if there's an emergency repair or bill that's needed? Good luck saving £5 out of £334. Many people will be paying anything up to 20% council tax.

It does sound tough op but you know when the appointment is, same date every month so you know you need to keep a fiver aside so you can afford to get there and it doesn’t sound like your work coach has done anything against their own guidelines

Hopefully the system will all be automated soon and these “people” Will be on the other side of the fence and have plenty of time to reflect on their behaviour.

I actually think the governments aim is to make the experience so deeply unpleasant that people would rather starve than put themselves through it. I’m probably entitled to 4 times the amount of money I would get on universal credits versus tax credits but I can’t face the humiliation of going through the process.