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Original poster

So now I'm on JSA, when do I get my flat screen TV?

45 replies

MegaBloks · 09/04/2011 08:46

Sorry, my attempt at being light hearted.

I've recently been awarded JSA after a disatrous job. It's only temporary (I have been offered a new job already but it takes a good couple of months to do all the HR stuff first before I get a start date)

What I would like to know is, what other help is available to me now I am on benefits? I know I get free prescriptions, is there any other discounts I should look out for? I would like to still take my DD out and about (within reason, cost permitting) but as the JSA and DH wage only cover the bills with about £50 a month to spare, I would like it to stretch as far as possible!

OP posts:

AuraofDora · 09/04/2011 13:25

Gooseberrybush, the OP tone was lighthearted, most folks got that

sorry about your claim not working out but it doesnt detract from the fact that she will need this not enjoy it and tis entitled to it too
wind yer neck in a bit

HHLimbo · 09/04/2011 15:12

Free school meals?

MollieO · 09/04/2011 15:23

I'm waiting to hear if I'll get JSA. I worked for 28 years before being made redundant two months ago. Id love a flat screen tv! Well actually first I'd like a reply to my application for JSA.

Gooseberrybushes · 09/04/2011 17:07

well I would have liked to live off them too -- sadly it was not to be

Mollie O: sorry about your redundancy and good luck. There's contribution based as well as regular, and if you left work two months ago you'll be eligible. So if they say you are not entitled to "regular" or whatever it is, ask about "contribution based" because you should get it.

TheSecondComing · 09/04/2011 17:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MollieO · 09/04/2011 17:47

TSC I'm struggling to work out what i am entitled to. I was told there is a 13 week wait for mortgage interest support but on line it reads as if you only get this if your JSA is income based. I have no income but have made NI contributions so not sure what I actually will get. Seems mad to penalise those who have paid NI.

Gooseberrybushes · 09/04/2011 18:19

You might even mistakenly be told no, mollie. I asn't even told about contribution based allowance at first.

If you've made contributions you are entitled to something. What the hell is it for anyway.

Gooseberrybushes · 09/04/2011 18:21

"jealous"?

I'm sorry, are you suggesting I just accept this unfairness without complaint? Enough people whinge about not getting enough. Well I paid in (a lot) and I got nuthin. I'm not jealous, I'm pissed off.

TheSecondComing · 09/04/2011 18:22

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PinkIsMyFavouriteCrayon · 09/04/2011 18:23

Hi there, thank you to those supportive and helpful, will check out that link!
Gooseberrybushes I'm sorry you feel so bitter and that I'm a 'lucky thing'. Actually it's not so lucky that after being treat so horribly at work that my confidence is pretty shit at the moment. It's no so lucky that I've been forced to leave. It's not so lucky that I am sitting here working out to the penny whether I can afford to buy food next week. It's not so lucky that I've been in regular employment since I was 11 (and lied about my age so I could get a paper round), that was me, working hard, paying many a contribution on the way.
I have no intentions of staying unemployed and taking the system for everything I can (as I made clear in my OP, I have already been offered another job) I simply wanted to know how to make the best of a bad situation in the meantime.
Yes I was tongue-in-cheek. It's how I cope.
JSA is designed for people like me, and I'm not ashamed in the slightest.

PinkIsMyFavouriteCrayon · 09/04/2011 18:24

Oh yes, and don't worry, DH works full time and pays all of his contributions too, so don't worry, we are not total scroungers

Gooseberrybushes · 09/04/2011 18:24

No, pink, I was taking my pissedoffness out on you and that wasn't right. I don't think you should be ashamed in the least: yes, JSA is designed for people like you. Good luck in the new job.

Gooseberrybushes · 09/04/2011 18:25

oh - - are you the OP?

topsyturner · 09/04/2011 18:26

Just to let you know mega that for the first 26 weeks its contribution based JSA . And you are not neccessarily entitled to all the other benefits whilst on this . (as we found out when dh was made redundant after 25 years of continuous employment , grrr)
Its only when you go on to income based JSA that the other benefits (free prescriptions , dental etc) kick in . But even then only if you don't have a partner that earns any money .

Good luck .

PinkIsMyFavouriteCrayon · 09/04/2011 18:26

Yes I am. Sorry too, I don't like being in this situation so I make jokes.

PinkIsMyFavouriteCrayon · 09/04/2011 18:28

I've lost my brain, I name changed originally but obviously something weird happened!

Original poster

MegaBloks · 09/04/2011 18:29

See [idiot emocion]

OP posts:

MotherSnacker · 20/04/2011 17:43

Free dental care

Got a toothache gooseberry?

PeachyAndTheArghoNauts · 20/04/2011 17:52

Mollie if you've got no income (sorry to hear that) you should get CB, it just takes time ATM.

And yes 3 million jobseekers in no way is the amount of people looking for work; plenty are never counted, for example anyone trying to get off ESA, carer's allowance or who is currently a SAHP. It's also true that you are vastly more likley to get work if you already have it and so amny jobs are just shuffled between the workers.

It's worth looking online to see what makes up the available work: now that vairies and I accept I am a terrible area for unemployment as Cheryl Gillan loves to proclaim the dear, but last time I checked the only stuff that worked with my carer's hours were pyramid schemes and a few roles as extra in the soft porn (sorry, adult movie) industry. Cheers then! Thank goodness i'm so close to qualifying now!

Gooshka · 03/05/2011 12:48

There indeed does exist a stereotype and I agree that stereotypes don't arise out of nothing so here's another perspective worth consideration.... my husband is a support worker and, as part of his role, has to help people (mainly on benefits) sort out their budgeting and debts. Those with the latest mobile phones and Plasma screen televisions have those things not because of the amount of money they receive but because of places like "Brighthouse" and "Cash-a-cheque" which charge thousands of percent interest and allow people to pay weekly in cash. It's their choice to buy those things, yes, but the point is it is not necessarily because they are raking in loads of money, they just don't manage the money they get. In the homes he visits that do fit the stereotype (wall-mounted flat screen TV, iPhone etc), he has to work out budgeting plans and deal with debt collection agencies and other companies on their behalf because they just aren't managing their bills. Many of these people are young, financially inexperienced or suffering from a mental illness or addiction. I don't doubt that there exists a minority of people who do abuse the system but it really is a minority and it is those types of people who end up being front page news on right-wing papers like The Sun, the purpose of which is to wind the tax payer up!!

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