To think cycling isn't free and job center should pay milliage

[feellikeahugefailure]

I have to sign on every week. Every other week they pay expenses. It's several busses to get there, so is 14.60 return.

They will pay this bus fare or pay 25p a mile but if you use your bike you get nothing.

When you are on such a limited income ware and tear on the bike does happen and is a big expense also the calories used are an expense. Even just something like 5p a mile should be possible imo.

I was going to use my bike on nice days and I would end up saving the country money and be fitter. But seeing as they pay for the bus fare I would never bike there. Its a reasonably long way and I would need alot of calories after doing the return journey.

And before everybody gets their knickers in a twist over giving job seekers free bikes, they're loan bikes and are 2nd hand in my local scheme

Good gravy. How about all that extra UV exposure when you have to cycle, too? You should definitely claim for some sort of anti aging skincare allowance to undo all that damage. Then there's all the bodily fluids you'll lose through sweating, best pop some more on the bill for bottled water.

Where I work pay mileage for bicycles.

"Are you telling me that they pay you £14.60 every week alongside JSA to sign on ???"
So given that JSA is set at minimum subsistence level, are you expecting people who live rurally (where jobcentres are being centralised more and more) to basically starve?

It's really normal for companies to pay mileage for cycling, as pointed out there's wear and tear on the bike - inner tubes, brake pads etc.

Its also very true that if you do a 25 mile round trip bike ride (what it would be for someone cycling from my town to nearest jobcentre), you're going to eat substantially more than if you get the bus. On a minimal income, it'll be noticeable.

RedRoses I can't see where the OP has said she's in London?

Loads of companies DO pay the 20p per mile for bike travel between sites or out to client meetings, so OP is not being U.

Also she does have a point about it needing extra calories to replace. It's not cheap to replace 600 calories with something healthy (easier if you'll have 2 snickers bars).

Why don't you use your Oyster card

Maybe the OP doesn't live in London?

Have you thought of work as a cycle courier?

You also seem to be viewing the signing on arrangement as potentially long term...

Outside London, bus fares are often very expensive. Job Centres do pay travel costs if they are beyond a certain distance.

If they wouldn't pay for the op to use the bus, or may strengthen the argument for needing reimbursing for extra calories needed (I say maybe, I'm still ) but they do pay for the bus, so the op doesn't need to cycle, she just wants to.

My employer pays something, might be 25p/mile, for cycling on work-related errands. Actually, I could have claimed that for something other day! (I won't). Totally YANBU.

I can see the point about bike wear and tear. However, you say you will only be doing it on nice days.

Chances are there won't be many of them that happen to land on your sign in day. Assuming you are in the UK.

The extra calories argument is bollocks. If cycling means your appetite is that much bigger you can't afford to eat, then don't cycle get the bus.

No one pays less tax for being fit, so I can't see why they should pay for being fit.

Or do you think that over weight people should get less cycle mileage? Should they also pay more tax?

I volunteer for a charity which pays 10p per mile cycling expenses, and we are encouraged to claim it.

Bikes do actually cost money (admittedly not a lot) to own and maintain. It's in no way a ridiculous suggestion.

Saying you might have to buy more food because you cycle is, however, ridiculous.

OP, are you saying you need to sign on EVERY week but the job centre only pay your bus fare every SECOND WEEK?

Also can I ask how they would know if you drove? How would you prove it to claim back petrol costs?

I'm afraid the extra calorie argument seems too far but I don't see why you can't claim mileage regardless of transportation.

She's signing on, she doesn't deserve this scorn. We don't know her circumstances and I'm pretty sure it's not a lifestyle choice as some are inferring. I think it's reasonable to point out that there could be a small token paid for bike mileage but OP you haven't got a chance of getting it as you are probably aware.
Good luck job searching as surviving on jobseekers allowance is hell.

Of course it's not free, and of course they should pay for mileage and extra calories, BUT they're not going to. Just take the bus and get the fare.

Yes, they should. A lot of Ian Duncan Smiths on this thread.

You can't get enough to eat on JSA anyway.

If you cycle you can claim 9.6p a mile while on jury duty here.

If they offer the bus fare just claim that.

The issue is not paying cycling mileage leads to inefficient decision making. If they paid for cycling, OP would bike which would be cheaper for the job centre and jeep her healthier. But they don't, so she will get he bus, which costs the job centre more money.

At my work we don't get oyster fares back if we go to meetings but we do get taxi fares back... So if you're going out to zone whatever it makes personal financial sense to get s taxi but that's bad for the firm!

You can't get enough to eat on JSA anyway

Bollocks, of course you can. It might not be a lot of money but don't be making out every unemployed person is starving to death....

Wow. Just wow at some of the attitudes on this thread.

I agree with Ilostit - OP should get a small amount for bike mileage, why the heck not - it's better for the environment, means feel will get valuable exercise so less likely to need NHS resources and fuel free travel should be being encouraged where possible.

Or to put it in a way that may be more acceptable for some on this thread. If job dodging workshy layabouts can be given a token amount for travelling by bicycle to sign on, then us hard working, righteous tax -payers will subsidise them less. (NB this is not a way of thinking that I subscribe to.)

JSA is very little and you have to watch every penny. I remember when BIL was alive, if he had to get the bus to an interview ( which wasn't paid I seem to remember) it meant he couldn't do the one social activity of the week which meant a lot to him - go out for a couple, and I do mean two pints with his pals on a Friday night. And before you all say that the jobless shouldn't be able to afford to drink - it's ok he's dead now, for lots of reasons but a big factor being that a jobless 50s something single man with difficulty expressing himself didn't seem to be high on anyone's agenda.

Not RTFT, so apologies if someone has said it, but I used to be a community carer and we could claim our mileage back from HMRC. It was 45p per mile for a car and 20p per mile for a bike

they MAY not be starving to death, provided all benefits are being correctly paid, however a healthy balanced and varied diet is difficult to acheive on benefits
and for claimants who get penalised (eg because they fail to turn up to an appointment that they are not informed of till the date has passed) they may indeed starve, and that is why there are food banks, to the shame of this bunch of wankers we have for a government