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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think the Job Seekers Allowance staff are the biggest bunch of know-nothing sloping shoulder wastes of space ever?s

30 replies

BuntyPenfold · 01/02/2011 15:52

Or have other people different experiences?
I have worked nearly all my life, except for one year I took off, when my GS was born and my daughter was ill.
Now I am redundant, that is the only year of contributions they will look at.
My bastard ex-employer has not paid my wages, and I can't get JSA either. They just hung up on me.
I hope all their teeth fall out.
Someone cheer me up please.

OP posts:

Stirfry · 01/02/2011 15:54

I suspect the problem lies within the system rather than indivdual members of staff. Why did they hang up, were you shouting?

AgentZigzag · 01/02/2011 15:54

Can I ask why you think they hung up on you?

Could you have been giving them shit over the phone?

ambarth · 01/02/2011 15:54

YANBU. The jobcentre are fucking useless.

yogididabooboo · 01/02/2011 15:54

I have had to support a woman who had just left an abusive marriage and was having to claim benefits.

they must be trained in being ignorant dignity theives.

I understand that they must have to deal with quite a few dreggs but they must be able to recognise a genuine person surely.

they made her feel absolutely awful.

Original poster

BuntyPenfold · 01/02/2011 15:56

I wasn't shouting. I said they were being unfair and they agreed, but said that is the system and they can't help any further.

OP posts:

Silver1 · 01/02/2011 15:56

Hmm generally they hang up as a last resort to rudeness.
If your employer hasn't been paying your contributions then they can't help that- but if he has it will be recorded on your pay slips.
I would go in to the building speak to a real person nicely and see what you are entitled to (it will be something) and whether they can help you obtain a hardship loan.
YABU to think that-although I bet they secretly think the same about half of their clients.

juneybean · 01/02/2011 15:57

Aye they are a bit useless, and I didn't realise how easy it could have been to play the system if I so wanted to!

AgentZigzag · 01/02/2011 15:58

It's a long while since I've had to step foot in a jobcentre (thank fuck), but I did always find that they seemed to presume you were shit on their shoe and talked to you as such.

I understand they must have lots of people getting on at them all day and so have to distance themselves to a certain extent, but there's no need to make you feel worse than you already do.

So in that sense YANBU.

ambarth · 01/02/2011 15:59

Citizens advice can tell you what you are entitled to. They may be right but you may have spoken to an idiot.

Original poster

BuntyPenfold · 01/02/2011 16:00

I was not rude.
They agree the system is unfair.
They agree their staff are not knowledgeable.
They agree they are treating me badly.
They agree I have paid a massive amount of contributions over the years.

They say if I had made a claim 2 days later, they would be paying me.

But no one told me any rules beforehand. Of course I would have waited 2 days.

Now they say Tough, you can claim in another 3 months.

OP posts:

frgr · 01/02/2011 16:00

Need more detail, clarification....

Worked nearly all my life, except for one year I took off, when my GS was born and my daughter was ill.

How many years of full National Insurance contributions have you paid, how many years service with your employer?

Now I am redundant, that is the only year of contributions they will look at.

Why would the JSA staff only look at X year in the past when you say you've mostly worked apart from one year out?

My bastard ex-employer has not paid my wages

Why not? Are you pursuing them for this? Was it unlawful deduction of wages or some dispute re: number of years of service for redundancy? So - basically - do you think you are entitled to more payout or are they literally not paying your due wages?

I can't get JSA either

Why not? have you been properly assessed? Check the Entitled To website for that, if you're not sure how to start dealng with this/what you might be entitled to :)

They just hung up on me.

Why? Did they give a reason? Did it involve "calm down ma'm or i'm going to have to terminate this call?"

KalokiMallow · 01/02/2011 16:03

I hated having to sign on, they were ridiculously unhelpful at the one I used. Eg. they always ran late, so I was often sat there for an hour, then one time I was 5 minutes late because of traffic (had been a major crash on one of the main roads through town) and they made me reschedule - oh and stopped my JSA for failing to show up

Original poster

BuntyPenfold · 01/02/2011 16:07

Right.

I have 28 years full NIS contributions.

They are looking at 07-08 and 08-09 only.

I am pursuing my ex employer in court. It takes so long tho. I have a hearing in March.
It is unlawful deduction of wages. I worked for him for 3 years. Yes, they are literally not paying me.

I have been assessed, got conflicting advice now from 4 jobcentre employees.

They said' We can't help you. Apply again in 3 months. Other callers are waiting Mrs Jones."
I said' Excuse me but my name is not Jones" and she hung up.

OP posts:

AgentZigzag · 01/02/2011 16:09

You have nothing important to do because you're unemployed kaloki.

They on the other hand are Very Important And Busy.

In the end it becomes a bit of a 'us' and 'them' situation because they seem to be like that to everyone they encounter.

I've found the council tax office to take the same kind of tone straight away on the phone.

AgentZigzag · 01/02/2011 16:10

Sorry, you were unemployed.

cantspel · 01/02/2011 16:11

There are two types of JSA - Contribution based and Income based. Contribution based is worked out by calculating your NI contributions paid in the previous two full tax years.
Income based JSA is based on your income if as you live with your boyfriend/husband his income will be taken into consideration .

ElsieMc · 01/02/2011 16:27

I was told I had to sign on and did so for a year, but did not receive benefits for the last six months, only my stamp paid, after I was made redundant.

Had to look for jobs with a man who stared at my breasts and had halitosis.

I was asked to go in for an extra appointment when a younger member of staff informed me he had looked into my case and that I had paid stamp for so many years, I would get a full state pension any way and I had spent the past six months travelling in for no reason at all. Bad times.

sayithowitis · 01/02/2011 17:05

Not sure if I am going to be any help but, when I worked for them, admittedly many moons ago, for any contributions based benefits, they can only look at certain tax years. I believe it is the last two before the one we are currently in, so for you, it would be 2008 -2009 and 2009-2010. If any contributions for that period are missing, you might get a reduced amount, or none at all depending how many NICs you are missing.

If you are claiming any means tested benefits, usually you may not claim until your last salary/wages are deemed to have expired, so if you were paid a weeks wage when you finished work, it has to last a week, if you were paid six months, it has to last that length of time.The same used to be true of any redundancy pay: ie, it had to last you as long as it would have done if you had been paid it over however many weeks it represented.
cant answer for any potential rudeness, I only know that when I was there, we generally tried to understand that people became frustrated with the system and we bore the brunt of it. For the most part we tried to remain calm, but occasionally we might 'bite back', usually after having been threatened with physical violence or as happened to me on one occasion, having a male claimant p!$$ over me as I began to stand to go and ask my supervisor to authorise an immediate payment since the man was clearly in desperate need of money to feed his children. We did not always agree with the rules, but sadly our job was to implement them, not to question them.
I imagine these days it is not much different for the staff, except that there are probably fewer of them trying to do what is still a difficult job.

Original poster

BuntyPenfold · 01/02/2011 17:31

Thank you for that sayithowitis

I am more shocked than I can say at the male claimant.

I am not trying to claim means-tested benefit.

I am begging them to look at the tax years 08-9 and 09-10 but they won't.
They will only look at 07-08 and 08-09.

It was 07-08 I did not work much.

As for the rules, they don't seem to know them.

In the last week I have been told I should have waited, but they don't know how long,and can't tell me how long to wait before re-claiming, can appeal, can't appeal, there is no system of appeal, they will write and tell me how to appeal, I should sign off and wait 3 months, I should stay signed on to have my NIS contributions paid, but I am not eligible for JSA,

The woman on the phone said"I can't help you any further and other callers are waiting.' and hung up while I was still talking.

OP posts:

mrsmillsfanclub · 01/02/2011 18:39

They are bloody awful in my opinion. When I had to go on JSA it made my life a living hell dealing with people who didn't have a clue how to do their jobs. The incompetence amazed me. Two of them confessed to me (I was there so often, due to their balls ups they all knew me in the end)that they only took the job because it allowed them first look at other job vacancies!!

I hope I never have to go anywhere near the jobcentre/benefits office ever again.

Ladyofthehousespeaking · 01/02/2011 18:44

Urgh yanbu AT ALL!!
I had to go there because my SSP ran out (was on a temp contract) and they made me feel like shit they were trying to chase off their shoes.
I had to answer horrible personal questions about why I couldn't work (a misscarriage went very wrong and my womb nearly ruptured completely) and some snotty little bitch was certain that I could work even though 3 different doctors (my GP, ER doc, Gynae) had signed me off.

Cunts cunts cunts

Yasoooonbu

cumfy · 01/02/2011 18:57

Go to JCP tell them you're taking the matter straight to tribunal.
Don't leave till they give you the tribunal address, take all their names.

Something will give.

cumfy · 01/02/2011 18:58

Also go to CAB.

joydivisionovengloves · 01/02/2011 19:06

YANBU and you have my sympathy. I've been made redundant amd have been signing on for the firts time. They have lost my details 3 times, sent me a letter saying I'm not entitled to JSA "by accident" and are generally unhelpful.

Apparently "Operations Manager", "Project manager" and "Customer Service Manager" are not recognised professions so I have had to agree to look for some roles completely unrelated to my experience.

When I signed on last week I was asked "What was it you done before?" FFS, I have to find a job so I don't have to deal with this any more!

BetsyBoop · 01/02/2011 19:40

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