Posting as I'm really annoyed with the situation I've found myself in today. I was unfortunately made redundant in early July. I've been working (and paying into the system) solidly for many years, and because I've not often been unemployed it didn't occur to me that I could immediately ask for income support from the government.
Once I realised, I applied the same day. But they wouldn't take my claim from when I was first out of work, instead only paying me from the appointment date they gave me AFTER I applied for the job seekers allowance (late August).
That puts me out around 8 weeks of at least some money I should have been entitled to. Thanks to the cost of living crisis making life harder for all of us, that money would have really come in handy for my family.
The lovely guy at the job centre I spoke to explained how to make a claim for backdating the payments (which the DWP say they will do up to three months on their own website). I filled in and submitted my claim, complete with evidence that I had been solidly applying for jobs since I was out of work, around 5 applications per week.
I just heard back from them today. The policy is unless someone from the DWP, Citizens Advice or a solicitor had actively told me I couldn't make a claim, it's automatically rejected.
How is this ok?! Is it just me? I feel like this is really crappy treatment, especially considering I have paid into this system for decades and now I need it they're basically just saying no if you didn't know, it's not our problem.
AIBU?