Hi there,
I was due to have an office interview at my local jobcentre today. I received a “we’re reviewing your circumstances/benefits” letters and thought nothing of it as I assumed it would just be to check that I’m claiming what I’m entitled to. My car has been sat around for the majority of the festive period and (you guessed it!) wouldn’t start due to having a flat battery. I went straight back in the house, called the number on the letter and left a message to explain the situation and asked them to return my call. The woman that was supposed to be conducting my interview called back 20 minutes later and said that she was able to do the interview over the phone if I was able to. I explained that I had my three children with me (Christmas holidays) and said she’d have to bear with me, but that that was fine.
Long story cut short - someone had reported me for selling items on Facebook, and I honestly hadn’t realised that you have to inform DWP of things like that. When I turned around and asked if I did a car boot would I have to inform them of that I was told that of course I would because it’s income and that I obviously knew what I had done was wrong (I didn’t). When she asked what I had made by selling things on Facebook I told her and her response was that it wasn’t over the threshold of what I could earn (£20 a week) but that I still had to call them every time I received any money (for example, if I sold one of my children’s books for £1, I would have to tell them...). We then got on to discussing my relationship status. I’ve been seeing someone for a while now. The last relationship I was in was an abusive one and it has taken a lot for me to even get where we are now (which in comparison to most “normal” couples isn’t very far at all!). We don’t see each other very often due to the nature of his work, me having three children, and us living an hour apart). It’s normally once every couple of weeks. I explained this to her and was told that I’d been seeing him long enough to know whether or not I want to live with him, and that she would give me 10 days to speak to him about it and call me back. He met my children over the Christmas period (a matter of days ago) for the first time. He has no children of his own, and us living together (if at all) was a long way off in my mind. I came off of the phone in tears. I feel like I’ve been backed into a corner and at the moment just feel like ending things with him as I’m just not ready for that yet. Everything that I said to her was twisted - when I said that I had sold second hand items on Facebook I was told that I was running a business and working self-employed. When I mentioned car boots (hypothetically!) she then said I was earning an income doing that (even though I’ve never done one!) and when I mentioned the guy that I’m seeing meeting my parents over Christmas she turned around and said “so you said he stayed with you over the whole Christmas period”. I said no such thing. He came over from work, had dinner with us, and then left to go home ready for work the next day. The way I was spoken to was vile. I feel like a criminal and I have done absolutely nothing wrong. I would really like to put in a complaint against this woman but I don’t know whether i’ll just be making things worse for myself. Has anyone else had an experience like this?