AIBU to be really annoyed that the one time I’ve ever been eligible for a tiny bit of benefits (outside of CB) that I’ve now been asked to pay it back!
I was made redundant last year, I applied for contribution based JSA and was awarded it. I was sent an appointment for the Job Centre to certify my claim, this was about 6 weeks after I made the claim. During the time I wa lucky enough to receive a job offer and start work.
I received two weeks of JSA in this time and then called them to say I had started a new job and please close my claim. At this point no one said you still need to attend the job centre.
Almost a year later I’ve received a letter saying it was incorrectly paid and I need to repay it. All the dates of unemployment etc are correct so I called them to ask why. Apparently nothing should have been paid before my job centre visit and if I have said I hadn’t been they could have tried to fit me in before I started work (but how was I supposed to know this?!).
I’ve appealed and apparently even their errors are recoverable.
In the grand scheme of money, it’s not the end of the world but it’s so frustrating that people can literally live on it for years having never paid a penny in. Yet I’ve paid more tax in a week sometimes then they paid me and I’ve got to repay it! Yes, I know I’m lucky to have got a job so quickly, I also worked very hard for that, attending multiple interviews a day etc.