JSA stopped incorrectly and HB stopped

[waterbottle]

I'm slowly working through all the myriad of problems that are stored up and trying to get myself back on my feet.

Last year I was on JSA. It was stopped as I failed to apply for a job. I wrote back to say that the job had been totally unsuitable and that I did not have the required qualifications. I have been fighting with the JC since then about this but they lie, refuse to answer questions or deliberately misunderstand. I am now at the stage of taking it to the independant claims assessor.

However, the stopping of JSA triggered my HB to stop. Also fighting the council about this.

Can anyone tell me whether the council are right to stop HB when JSA is stopped, as my award of HB was income based and my JSA suspension didn't increase my income, it stopped it.

For information I am close to the tribunal stage with the local council.

Lastly, has anyone noticed that the lower you slip down the financial scale the more organisations rely on maladministration to try and make you go away? Sometimes I think I'm going insane because it is by far the biggest problem in my life yet almost nothing appears about it in the papers.

So to clarify, I really need to know about whether the council were right to stop my HB because JSA was stopped.

[dpick]

Hi I am not talking law with this just experience I was getting incapacity benefit and due to IB sending a form to wrong address so that I was unable to reply my IB was stopped. They informed HB that I was no longer in receipt of IB, HB then assumed that I was working so stopped HB. I found out about this set of circumstances after talking to someone in HB I would assume that the same practise would occur with JSA and HB. I had a struggle to get IB reinstated, but HB just said that as long as I paid same amount of rent etc as when in receipt of IB they would back date HB when IB was reinstated. It was approx 6 weeks before all was sorted.

The council can stop your HB due to there being notified of a change in your circumstances by JSA

all the best dpick

[waterbottle]

I have told them what happened but I can't get anywhere with them. They just take ages to reply and then fob me off.

[shywazz]

Jobcentre Plus gives what benefits can be claimed while seeking employment, are you now claiming income support now your JSA has been stopped, it pays the same amount of benefit but is payable to persons of no income, reading you thread your JSA was stopped due to you not attending a interview over a year ago , this benefit is payable to persons actively seeking employment,( you failed to seek employment by not attending the interview ) if you can proof you are seeking employment re-apply for the benefit, otherwise if not doing so by now, claim income support....see the website for what benefits can be claimed in your postion...

[waterbottle]

Thanks for that. I'm looking for details of backdating and what is acceptable conduct.

[Zamzara]

HB is not dependant on JSA, but if you are getting income based JSA it does guarantee you full HB. This might be why they stopped it — your income is still low enough to get full HB but it is no longer guaranteed by way of the JSA, so you will have to prove your income separately.

Have you tried the CAB?

[waterbottle]

Thanks Zamzara.

CAB are useless. Here is much better. What I need to know is if they are correct in stopping my HB when my JSA was stopped.

[shywazz]

When the JSA dept stopped ur payments/benefit, it automacally informs the HB depts, hence this benefit stops also, untill you prove to them ur new form of income, you would have received a letter from the HB dept, informing you of the intended stoppage of benefit, giving you the time to hind to there request of proof of income/benefit. if ur claim from JSA goes to income support ur HB will re-start and will be paid from the date of the JSA stopping. hence no loss of HB just a pause.

[honeybee1987]

I work 40 hours a week and get about £180 after tax. My rent is £85-£90 a week. My partner was on jsa as jobs are really hard to get round our area. However now he has moved in with me they have stopped his JSA. He has NO other income. Now i am having to pay for rent and for my self and for him. I personally think it is wrong for the JC to just assume i'll pay for him. I have my own stuff to pay for i.e debts ect.
Are they allowed to let 2 people like that?

[poppynurse]

It depends if he was on income based on contributions based JSA - If on income based then I'm afraid your income will be taken into account now you are living together. It might be worth applying for housing and council tax benefit and maybe working tax credit - i'm not sure of the income requirements but you have nothing to loose by trying.

[honeybee1987]

aye. well he says he was on contribution based but they stopped it anyway. I tried working tax credit but I'd have to be either; over 25 workin over 30 hours a week; Have kids; Or be working under 16 hours a week.
I definately dont have kids. I cant afford to work only 16hours a week and im only 21. so thats out the window. I pay alot of tax from my wages per week for people that could even just be conning the system, drunks, and drug addicts. u'd think i could get some kind of benefit. we have applied for housing benefit just over 2months ago. weve had one correspondence from them since asking for another copy of one of my payslips. HB will back date any money from the date we applied until the date it starts wont they?

[Invasive_Frost]

Honeybee, they will backdate it to the Monday after you you applied, unless you applied on a Monday. At least this what what my local council does.

[honeybee1987]

Thanx We handed all the stuff in on a tuesday but put reason for why we couldnt get down the day before. do they just give to you as a lump payment into your a.c or do they send a cheque. Our housing benefit will be paid directly to our estata agents. Not our choice but thats the way it is.lol

[Invasive_Frost]

Honeybee: Most likely to be paid as one lump, but I'm afraid it'll go to the agents. If you get any further questions / problems then may I suggest starting your own thread?

[The GodMother]

Originally Posted by waterbottle

I'm slowly working through all the myriad of problems that are stored up and trying to get myself back on my feet.

Last year I was on JSA. It was stopped as I failed to apply for a job. I wrote back to say that the job had been totally unsuitable and that I did not have the required qualifications. I have been fighting with the JC since then about this but they lie, refuse to answer questions or deliberately misunderstand. I am now at the stage of taking it to the independant claims assessor. If you did not have the rite qulifications then they sould not have been making u apply for the job in the first place. My Local does not with my brother. Also if they say u need to be experianced and you have never done the job b4 you should not be made to apply for the job.

However, the stopping of JSA triggered my HB to stop. Also fighting the council about this.

Can anyone tell me whether the council are right to stop HB when JSA is stopped, as my award of HB was income based and my JSA suspension didn't increase my income, it stopped it.

For information I am close to the tribunal stage with the local council.

Lastly, has anyone noticed that the lower you slip down the financial scale the more organisations rely on maladministration to try and make you go away? Sometimes I think I'm going insane because it is by far the biggest problem in my life yet almost nothing appears about it in the papers. Yes i have and i am currently fighting this my self for my partner.

So to clarify, I really need to know about whether the council were right to stop my HB because JSA was stopped.

Yes they can stop th hb but you can appeal as the suitation made your income worse as you had no money

[The GodMother]

Originally Posted by honeybee1987

Thanx We handed all the stuff in on a tuesday but put reason for why we couldnt get down the day before. do they just give to you as a lump payment into your a.c or do they send a cheque. Our housing benefit will be paid directly to our estata agents. Not our choice but thats the way it is.lol

Most HB forms you can nominate where the money goes. Some landlords/agents wont take the benefit so you can have it paid to you. You can also nominate to have it paid to you if the landlord gets funny about only being paid monthly and he wants it weekly or something.