To be p*ssed off that dh was advised to commit benefit fraud

[OracleInaCoracle]

by a jobcentre advisor.

dh has been claiming JSA for the last 4m but has been out of work since may. he recieves £36pw and we get HB and CTB. I am unable to work due to health problems and had to resign in july. he has been offered a job at a new shop opening near us, its in the stock room at 12h pw. not v much at all, but its a job. and at least he can continue looking in the meantime! anyhoo, yesterday he went to his ritual humilliation sign on/JSA meeting and told the blokey about his new job.

we were hoping for advice on how our benefits would change and would hope that we would be a teensey bit better off. but no. he was told that he shouldnt have declared it and was given a form to fill in every week declaring his hours etc. in the run up to xmas we were hoping that he would get more hours but now we dont know where we stand and could well be much worse off. but at least dh will have a job. but im pissed off that he was told that he shouldnt have declared the new job. illegal, no?

is it a cash in hand job then? Because if it's not, I don't understand how you could not declare it.........

illegal, but sadly honest.

Are you getting everything you are entitled to? Would WTC kick in with him working? I don't know if it's over 16 hours a week or not, but

nope, its a proper job in a proper, well known shop. but he was told that he shouldnt have told his advisor.

no, no WTC. we should still recieve HB and CTB though. we are orf to CAB on weds to work everything out.

The DHS would have found out though....the tax records would catch up unless it is cash in hand....

i know, and im glad that he did declare it. its really not worth the shitstorm that would have followed, not to mention i couldnt have coped with the guilt!

I do hope you manage to get things sorted on Wed.

As far as I was aware, you can work upto 16 hours and still claim JSA....

he should be able to, and we should also still be eligible for HB and CTB, but i doubt we will actually be any better off.

i think probably because its less than 16hrs he did not HAVE to as it shouldnt change your benifits...just the form to make sure he doesnt go over 16 then the benifits would change

ah, ok.

the benefits agency will take off the wages he earns from what he would normally get in JSA.

so if he earns £20.00 a week and normally gets £36.00 per week in JSA, then his JSA will be reduced to £16.00 per week.

None of your other benfits will be affected.

The problem could come if he gets more than 16 hours per week.

the BA usually averages it out over 5 weeks (normally over the last 5 weeks) - so if you get 20 hours one week, but you have only had 12 hours for the previous 4 weeks, they would work out those extra 8 hours over the last 5 weeks too. (so it's 12+(8/5) = 12+1.6 = 13.6 hours per week) then he wouldn't have to sign off.
if he had 20 hours per week for 3 weeks, then that would average out over the 5 weeks as (12+(8/5*3) = 12+4.8 = 16.8 hours, so he would have to sign off.
After that, if he then goes back to 12 hours, he will have to sign on again (as in from scratch)

I can see why your JSA guy was saying what he did, but it's oh so very illegal.

Just make sure that your DH keeps below the 16 hours, unless it's going to be permanent.

remember you will still get benefits for being on a low income, but I advise you to check out what these will be.

(i used to work in the Jobcentre)

You can work up to 15hrs 59mins and still claim JSA..hit 16hrs and your claim will be closed...the first £5 is disregarded....after that anything earned is taken from the JSA you receive...

Tbh..its not that a person should not declare, but the Officer probably meant well when they said he should not have told them about the work because it affects what you receive and you don't receive that much tbh..the Jobcentre do not know what you dont tell them..but obviously its probably better to let the jobcentre know so you dont end up coming in for a compliance interview or being accused of benefit fraud.

Perhaps if your DH could increase his hours..he would then be eligible for working tax credits..and you would still have eligibilty for H/B...

oh, thank you so much! he currently gets just £36pw and we have worked out that he will be paid about £78pw, so he will lose his JSA (totally ok ) but will the rest come off our HB and CTB?

Hey nickel

its a brand new store so this was all they could offer him at the mo. we are hoping that around xmas he will get more hours, and then afterwards they will lose a lot of their student staff.

I think you get to keep 10% of your earnings?

Well the H/B will be calculated according to the family income...

ah, so we really will be no better off then

Please make a complaint if he really was told this.

I think your DH should ask the jobcentre for a B.O.C calculation...that will give him and estimate on his earnings and potencial benefits he could recieve if he increased his hours..

thanks, but whaat if he isnt in a position to increase his hours? the unemployment rate around here is huge and they had hundreds of thousands of applicants for the jobs, he originally applied for no less than 16h pw, but figured that any job was better than none.

sorry, that sounded really abrupt i really meant the thank you.

O.P. It really does make you wonder. After all you try and be upfront about it and get hammered for it.

I wasn't in the same situation but tried to go 'legal' with someone who wouldn't (long story have posted already on that). In the end they got away with it and probably are STILL spongeing and defrauding the benefits as they have a working partner who just so happens to have thier own place. And he buys and sells stuff as well as claim HB and IS

Really I am wondering seriously when they say crime doesn't pay who are they kidding??

Good luck!