Aibu to be angry with the jobcentre.

[pumpkinsweetie]

My dh worked 11 years solid for a company and was made redundant last year. We had to use the redunancy money to cover debts and went on to jsa after waiting 3 weeks. Jsa, a seasonal job, 11 months later he finally has a job we are thrilled or shall i say was

Problem is my dhs job is salary based and we are to live of child tax credits alone until he gets paid. They have also suspended our housing benefit straight away
So now we are left with bills coming out of our arse and no rent coming in. We have increased the overdraft to as high as it will go and his first wage will now be eaten and we will now be worse of until we make up the difference which could take until october

The jobcentre advisor told my dh a hunk of lies saying we would get a run on and the like but the truth is we have ended up worse than if he had have never bothered.

No wonder this country is going down the pan when people that want to work are left in dire straights.

Aibu to say Cameron is a dick as where is this run on that is supposed to exist, he wants people in work yet in itself it causes debt and worry, as we have been hit at the very first hurdle

you should get a housing benefit run on if you have been on jsa for longer than 26 weeks, call the housing benefit office of your council they will sort it out.

It's not an ideal solution and of course depends on your credit rating but I would get a card with 0% interest on purchases and balance transfers (ie virgin for example used to let you transfer to an overdraft at 0%) and use that until your money comes in. Then pay it off as quickly as you possibly can and then cut up the card.

You might have to pay a fee for the balance transfer but it may be less than your overdraft charges over a month, which is how long I'm assuming it is until your dh gets paid.

I had the same situation as a single parent when I went from income support to a monthly salaried job a few years ago. I had no run on whatsoever and a child to feed and no money. Ridiculous.

YANBU, when my husband was made unemployed with no redundancy pay at all, they left us 8 weeks with nothing, not even tax credits. We've only just paid off the debt a year on!

Just so annoyed that in bettering ourselves we have been left like this.
Even the 'bonus' they mentioned is non excistent & we haven't heard a peep about it!

He searched long and hard for this job only to be made to feel like shit from the get go. Phoned the gas & elec, british gas and no they won't change this months bill-wankers. It's not like they would notice the money anyway grrr.

The worst part is, this job may only last 6 months as it is a trial- we coupd end up back at square one and then back again.

Sounds really shit groove thats what worries me too, ending up in debt again which is now enivatable

Can you work as well?

No i am a sahm as i have a just turned 3yo and another on the way in january.

My dh was always the working one and me sahm, traditional really.
Obviously having baby is not what we planned but he wants to provide a decent life for us, never thought in a million years we would have ever ended up on jsa and then in this position.

How long has he been on jsa for continuously, I know you mention a seasonal job in your op, it may be that that is affecting the run on and bonus etc or it may be that its because its currently only a temporary job that he doesn't qualify.

It is the LA who decide and pay any Housing Benefit run on, not the JC.....so YABU to be pissed off with the JC about that. However, you need to have been in receipt for 26 weeks continually, so any breaks may affect entitlement.

If the "bonus" you mention is Jobgrant, then YANBU to be pissed off as entitlement to that ended in April 2013. If you were told you'd get that, contact the JC manager to complain.

His temp job finished in january and this new one may finish end of january but he should be taken on permanently. All jobs in my area work to trial mainly.

I phoned the jobcentre today and i have been told by the lady that we have either misheard or the advisor was spinning out a few porkies.
They didn't mention the bonus but did say a run on with jsa doesn't excist but if i get in touch with hb and fill in relevent forms they may be able to give us a run on with the hb. Thing is forms are asking how much he earns, and at present he doesn't know as he hasn't been paid yet.

Going to go down hb office monday and explain the situation whilst he is at work, hoping they will do something. In the mean time dh is going to have to get a certifate of earnings off the new employer.

The bonus was if you were on jsa continouslly for 26 weeks and on the basis a new job is to last 6 weeks or more.

Haven't had any letters of jobcentre but due to a miniscule payment i had today & a letter of suspension from the hb office i assumed all payments had stopped which we normally get monday. I phoned jobcentre and i was correct they have landed us in it well an truly. Poor lady on phone, wasn't her fault and tried to help best she could, bloody Cameron i blame him.

It could be a timing thing. You are entitled to the hb run on If you have claimed continuously for 26 weeks so when did the claim start after the last job? Hb should be automatic if you qualify you don't need to claim the 4 weeks but contact the council to check whats happening and why. I believe there is currently a back to work bonus but you'd need to claim that as it is not paid automatically and again subject to the 26 weeks.

This happened to us, Get in touch with housing benefit and council tax straight away. You should be entitled to a months rent once your DH starts work. We had to push for everything, I was literally on the phone for hours a day to get what we were entitled to. You should also be able to get a crisis loan from the job center to tide you over until tax credits are sorted.

It's definitely a horrible stressful couple of weeks until things fall into place, I wouldn't go into too much debt tho. Bills, gas, electric etc can always wait until you get paid

Thankyou phantom, just looked online and the bonus was phased out in April anyway-funny how gov say they want people in work when they make it so hard

The jobcentre said they no longer do crisis loans, whether they meant for claimants or just non claimants i don't know. She said i could get a kent support and assistant loan but the last thing i want is more debt. For now we will just use the overdraft to keep us afloat and hope that the wages cover and then somemore.

As others have asked, how long did the latest JSA claim last?

Since february the 15th of this year

And the kent support thing can only help with items as i have just looked, it's not a loan as such. So it would be no good for bills as i would obviously need cash to pay them.

Watch out when your tax credits are assessed again. DH was redundant for just under 12 months. He'd been back in employment for a year when they sent us a cheque, just before Xmas for £2,000. We questioned it and were assured several times it was correct and that it was from when he was out of work.

We had a good Christmas and paid off some debts incurred while he was out of work. Come March we had a snotty letter demanding repayment of the lot. They'd got it wrong. I was fuming with them over the whole thing and in the end told them that they would have to settle for £50 a month repayment.

If they do come back to you and give you a lump sum, check, check and triple check.

don't pay your bills, do you pay by direct debit? just cancel them for a month and set them up again when your husband gets paid, the water, gas and electric cant cut you off if you have children, they will wait, not ideal I know but needs must.

It looks like it might just be before the 26 week mark which may be why he's not entitled to it. I know that doesn't help you but it could be the reason if this claim has only been in effect since 15th Feb.

Thankyou charlie, this happened to me years ago with my pfb. They paid me £200 and assured me it's alrite blaa blaa and then harrassed me for the money. I paid them £2 a week as that's all i could afford at the time.

Sounds like you may be short of the 26 weeks by days. What date did his claim finish

Just checked the calendar and 26 weeks from 15th feb takes us to today so if his claim has already finished then I'm afraid you won't be entitled to any help sorry.

What used to be crisis loans has passed over to local councils if they have chosen to do it. So contact local council over that. They will have suspended housing benefit until you can prove your income, so if your dh has a contract or letter from employer stating start date, hours and salary or rate of pay take that to them. They may be able to use it while you are waiting to receive payslips. Ask them about the housing benefits run on but you may not be entitled. Your housing benefits have to be suspended. If you want to be angry about it blame the government that set the legislation.

Do not wait for the jobcentre to contact your local council and tax credits as this can take a while. Contact tax credits to check they have the correct information.

Cancel direct debits for any utilities. They will have to wait until your dh does get paid. You will need to do this through your bank.

Presumably you are still getting your child benefit and some tax credits?