Hi, I am on post work porogramme support. work programme lasts for two years [104 weeks] regardless the number of weeks you spent off benefits / working during the 104 weeks. Your WP prowider has your starting and finishing day on your file on the computer. Go in to see it for yourself which day the 104 weeks is over. Ask them to print it out for you [screen shot, etc]. If you were working for 100 weeks out of the 104, WP still finishes when the 104 weeks is over. I would hate to think that the Jobcentre was wrong about your finishing date. Have you got the letter about your WP starting date / first appointment date at WP provider? I was off benefits for 6 months during the 104 weeks yet WP finished when the 104 weeks from the WP starting date were up.

CCOI1 stands for Customer Compliance Office Interview 1 Template letter reference

Before my compliance interview I went through the customer compliance guidance / freedom of information request response I found online. It says they are not allowed to tell you what it is about before the interview because it may prejudice the investigation. They have to say "it is to ensure that you are getting the correct payment". Correct payment: payment continues if you done nothing wrong. Incorrect payment: when they pay those who commit fraud. So they check to see if all is in order to ensure claimants only get their rightful money. There are loads of malicious allegations and JCP can tell when it is probably not true as no evidence is provided by the person who makes the report and in these cases they do a compliance interview rather than interview under caution. They have a duty to investigate so they have to check unless the allegation is something absolutely impossible. Like a wheelchair bound 60 year old lady works in a pole dance club on the pole. That they would not look into.

There are free phones at the Jobcentre to call and ask if you JSA is in payment. Your adviser on the computer on your file shall see if it is in payment. She is the one who puts the money through when you sign on. Habitual Residency Tests can take long. You can request an on-the-day payment when the money appears in your bank account within a few hours of the JCP authorizing the transaction immediately upon your request. Otherwise it takes 3 working days for the payment to clear and appear in your account. You can apply for a short-term benefit advance when there is a delay in the processing of the claim and you are in financial hardship / short of money. Ask for the form to fill in because in a post up here it says for an Estonian girl it took 3 months to process the claim and the HRT. It is confusing that you got a benefit allowance letter yet your adviser says they have not got the claim form. So ask the benefit delivery centre on the phone if your JSA is in payment. Press button for JSA on JCP free phone.

I just want to say do not worry because I had the same letter and it is all good. Mine was signed "Compliance Officer". Other than that, they wanted to see the same documents as your letter lists. They did not ask any questions, just photocopied the docs. I explained in a covering letter that my bank statements show a few small change deposits when I paid in cash to round up my balance to a tenner to be able to withdraw my last bit of money as cash card, can not pay by card. My ex had slandered me in every possible manner to all authorities because I called the police when he hit me and he spent the night in custody. So you may be right in thinking it was allegations that you working. JCP can see on the 6 months worth of statements what money you had coming in, if there is any undeclared income. So if there is any credits apart from the benefits you get, explain what it is. Eg you sold something on Ebay and hence the 20 quid. All posts I saw up here say their compliance interview went well. When they have actual evidence against you, not just allegations, it is an interview under caution. It was my JCP adviser / signing on clerk whose name was written above the words compliance officer in the interview letter, which came as a shock. She was off sick on the day of the interview so someone in the JCP photocopied my documents. I asked the manager when is the interview going to take place. He said that was it. I said am I not going to be asked any questions? He said no questions, they just wanted my up to date info as JCP holds my old info and I just returned to them from the Work Programme after two years. I asked: Why is it called a compliance interview then? He said because they have nothing else to call it. It was two months ago and they dis not say anything about this compliance thing so it's all done, it seems. The adviser is still off sick. Got a new one as Post Work Programme. Hopefully others will post to say their "interview" went well and OP will not worry. You know you not working so these evil people are hurting you by giving you stress making false allegations. Can DWP get you if you done nothing illegal? No.

Under the Data Protection Act the individual's private information is protected and they do not have to consent to waiving this right. I may decide to publish my number in an advert but all kind of weirdos can call me and may have to change my number. OP doesn't say adviser instructed to publish number. Open an email account. Email address must not include your full name so safe to publish and can be discarded later on. Advisers are supposed to help and may be at a loss at what new help they may come up with. Advertising on the internet is easier than in a newspaper. The net ad will be seen by more people. Jobseekers must give themselves the best chance of finding a job so refusing to advertise in paper may lead to an entitlement doubt / suspension of JSA for weeks on end. You don't want the stress so place ad and see what useful JCP advice next. Jobseeker's Act 1995, Jobseekers Allowance Regulations 2006 & 2013 the client should read. http://www.legislation.gov.uk

Some mortgages state owner occupiers only [as opposed to rent to buy]. Allegedly some mortgages do not allow DSS tenants as insurance is higher in those cases. Owner occupier can have a lodger if informing the mortgage company so on that basis why couldn't she have a friend staying for a few months. I misunderstood the redirection, it seems, and ended up being an alarmist.

They are not allowed to define the meaning of Worker. Define status they do. Language barriers so read the links, not my blurb.

The same out of work benefits, I meant. In-work benefits are the same already. Hence the UK desperate to define what genuine and effective work is. Member states are not allowed to define Worker status so Britain came up with "earn at least £153pw otherwise you are a Jobseeker and not eligible for HB".

Please read attached HB circular to see what council HB staff is to do. You will be fine even if amount of rent changes, just submit the new tenancy agreement to be photocopied. Only take a job that pays minimum £153pw and provides a 12 month written contract. Sign on immediately if you lose the job to retain HB with a retained Worker status. Short-term work means you keep looking for work and you are classified as a Jobseeker while doing the temp job so no unless absolutely necessary. Move within the borough only to avoid suspension or disallowance of HB. Current borough is unlikely to suspend your HB for 3 months after you start working. If the HB Circular does not say so then they won't. Reading the info on the links above you will know where you stand and less stress means you get better sooner. The UK ignored the EU case law saying worker status can not be determined by the amount earned but work has to be genuine and effective as opposed to marginal and ancillary. DWP says it is not genuine and effective unless getting £153pw. If it is not applied to the British.. EC Directive says no discrimination btwn member state workers.. It won't be overturned for a couple of years as a case would need to reach Brussels after going through the British courts. Don't know if a judicial review can be done or would be called for. Earn £153pw for three months before getting the same in-work benefits as the British is not that harsh so we have to live with it.

Her home address is where she actually lives. Main home and secondary residence. If she sleeps at yours at least 4 nights per week, it is her main home address. Stating on paper main address as her parents' address is misrepresentation which may account to fraud and if found out, criminal conviction. From the post it sounds like OP's friend will be visiting parents every now and then but not living at parents'. No need to visit to pick up post as it will be redirected so even these visits are not 100%. What if they live 100s of miles away.. I would declare everything as it is stating you do not charge rent or for food but split the utility bills and she buys her own groceries. On the envelope of the letter I got from my council it says DO NOT REDIRECT so Royal Mail will not do so. It is about my housing benefit claim so authorities have measures in place to avoid fraud by misrepresentation. Not saying OP intends to commit fraud but why not declare friend living at hers if it is for several months and as a main residence? Saw a case up here in which DWP decided that 2 female friends living together were not declaring living together as partners and made them out to be lesbians which came as a shock to the flat mate as they were straight as ever. Flat mate was not even interviewed about the alleged benefit fraud case before decision was made. Not making it up, seen it on this site. So better declare things immediately as they are in detail in writing using recorded delivery.

Please save and read the attached case law about the required weekly steps to take to be considered actively seeking employment. Your adviser says you have not done enough to find a job and it falls within the not meeting the actively seeking work requirement. The case law says regardless what your Jobseeker's Agreement says, you have been actively seeking work in the relevant week if in that week you took more than two steps which give you the best chance of securing employment. So taking three adequate steps per week is enough even if agreement states apply for at least 5 jobs per week. Agreement has to comply with the law [Jobseeker's Act 1995] and not vice versa and the Act specifies taking more than two steps per week unless taking less than two is reasonable in the claimant's circumstances. Homelessness, illness, family emergencies etc will have an influence on the steps you can reasonably take and the decision maker looks at the evidence provided to see whether actively seeking employment [ASE]. Provide print outs of evidence of ASE for the relevant fortnight and the print out of the case law to make them back off. Seen it on the net that the JCP adviser allegedly "edited" the claimant's job search evidence so the DM did not see the full list of jobs the claimant provided to the adviser. Hence the need to post to the DM the print out of your evidence, eg job interview feed back and invitation. The sanction letter says you can ask them to reconsider their decision within 30 days of the date of the letter. It also says you can ask for a written reason for the decision. Do so because the sanction letter does not say anything about the specific reason. Only "not ASE" will be stated. By recorded delivery, write to them listing the evidence you attach and head the letter saying: "Posted by recorded delivery". In your case taking less than two steps in the relevant week may be reasonable / accepted provided you provide evidence that you were suffering from stress and anxiety due to a recent cancer diagnosis which is 99% accurate according to your consultant. Phone calls are no good as you have no written evidence so start writing to the local JCP manager using recorded delivery. Head the letter "Complaint" and your NINO has to be included in each letter as a reference number. Attach your job search evidence & the case law about steps to take / ASE and ask them to reply to your letter in writing within 5 working days. Advisers think Jobseeker's Agreement is the Bible or the Ten Commandments and will want to sanction you if you do not do everything listed. In the attached case law the Commissioner held that it is not so. All claimants read it now and save the file to be able to stand up for yourself later on. In one year 800,000 claimants got sanctioned so if you serious about needing your JSA, read it. Now OP could go on the sick because unable to work due to stress and anxiety caused by his JCP adviser by the treat of sanction. Write a complaint and provide evidence of ASE anyway as it is unacceptable that the adviser even pronounced the word cancer in public for anyone to hear. They should know that three adequate steps per week is enough but they get bonuses for meeting sanction targets so it is for you to provide hard evidence of ASE if a benefit entitlement doubt is raised or even before, to prevent the stress they cause. JCP has to provide a printer and computer for you to use if you have no money to print. It is for you to decide if you have the money to print or you need it for your living expenses. Get your adviser's email address and prior to your signing on day, email her your corroborated evidence, eg confirmation emails you got for your job applications, screen shots of applications / cover letters, employers' response. [ATTACH=CONFIG]49969[/ATTACH]

The few words which make tens of thousands of EU migrant jobseekers ineligible for HB: "Amendment of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 2. (1) In regulation 10(3B) of the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006(1)— (a) omit the “or” following sub-paragraph (i); (b) in sub-paragraph (k) omit “, an income-based jobseeker’s allowance”; © after sub-paragraph (k) add— “;or (l) in receipt of an income-based jobseeker’s allowance and has a right to reside other than a right to reside falling within paragraph (3A).”. Saving 3. (1) The amendment in regulation 2 does not apply to a person who, on 31st March 2014, is entitled to— (a) housing benefit; and (b) an income-based jobseeker’s allowance, until the first of the events in paragraph (2) occurs. (2) The events are— (a) the person ceases to be entitled to that income-based jobseeker’s allowance; or (b) the person makes a new claim for housing benefit." The whole thing has to be read in view of Treaty Rights. To get HB for a new claim from 1st April HB Regulations wants you to be on CB-JSA, working earning over £150pw or having a permanent right to reside. Or on ESA retaining Worker status. OP is entitled to IB-JSA as of today 31st March 2014 because been resident in the UK during the past three months. The only thing is: no JSA claim has been made yet so no entitlement for 31/03/2014 to be covered by the saving clause to have HB on IB-JSA. First 3 days of a claim is a waiting period for which no JSA is awarded. Got 30 mins before midnight to make a claim today as backdating is usually not allowed. First need to sign off the sick to be able to claim JSA so quite a task. Government is winning, it seems.

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/minimum-earnings-threshold-for-eea-migrants-introduced Look at the chart about benefit entitlements on the link above. It says no ESA to EU migrant Jobseekers so your eligibility will depend on whether you have retained Worker status. Like I said, you retain Worker status if you sign on as Jobseeker immediately after losing your job [maybe a few days after is ok, but if there is a period of a month, the status is likely to be lost]. You also retain Worker status if you are unable to work due to illness and claim ESA / Statutory Sick Pay while in employment. Several months or years after losing your job you can not claim ESA, as far as I know. The UK will not keep EU migrant Jobseekers who are unable to work due to illness so no ESA to Jobseekers which you were right before claiming ESA. After the initial three months in the UK, to have a right a reside you have to be exercising one of your treaty rights (Worker, Jobseeker, Student, Self-sufficient person with evidence of enough funds). Sorry but it does not look good for the ESA claim. Nor for the HB if you claim JSA now. You should have stayed on JSA, it seems. I think what the CAB adviser meant is you will not be deemed habitually resident for ESA purposes [because EU Jobseekers are not eligible for ESA}. I done the Work Programme myself, was easy, they did not give me any trouble. On the Post Work Programme Support now it looks like they are after JSA claimants and the requirements are set to make them fail. Eg daily log in to Universal Jobmatch and sanction if you fail to log in daily. You say you were looking for part-time jobs during the past two months, which makes you a jobseeker. ESA criteria is limited capability to work aka unable to work due to illness or injury. I wanted to go on ESA myself but then found out that not eligible as a Jobseeker. Advisers sometimes talk rubbish. One said not British, no benefits. Google ESA eligibility until you find out. During the first three months of initial residence you do not have to fall into any category to have a right to reside in the UK as long as you have a valid EU ID / passport. Freedom of movement. The reasoning behind no ESA to EU migrant Jobseekers: unable to work due to illness then not a Jobseeker anymore and no right to reside in the UK unless it is during the initial 3 months. They won't deport anyone if they fail the right to reside test but simply state no right to reside for ESA or what they said to me in 2011: no right to reside for HB so no HB was given because DWP took 8 months to award me JSA and HB got suspended due to no evidence of income [JSA allowance letter is evidence of income]. The British will be very happy to see us realizing we get no HB. So instead of claiming JSA and HB, these migrants will take whatever jobs now and there will be more unemployment for the British as we have to work for less. Wages will be undercut even more. Benefit tourism is a term invented by the government to blame everything on migrants. Let's hope the next IT system designed for the Universal Credit will not fail because the first one did and £40 million was written off. That's more than migrants get in benefits, innit. Stay in the borough to keep your HB.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]49965[/ATTACH]I am an EU migrant on IB-JSA and HB. Been in the UK for nine years now. You will lose your right to get HB if you make a new HB claim as a Jobseeker. If you move, you have to move within the same borough as it will be treated as a change of circumstance [change of address] and not as a new claim. Moving to a new borough means making a new HB claim from the new borough and the law says from 1st April EU migrants on IB-JSA are not eligible for HB unless they already have a HB & JSA claim awarded on 31st March 2014. As a Jobseeker, you will keep your HB entitlement if on 31/03/2014 you are in receipt of JSA and HB. You can keep your HB as a Jobseeker until you make a new HB claim or until you lose your JSA, whichever is the soonest. It is a saving clause in the new legislation. Otherwise EU migrant Jobseekers are not eligible for HB from 1st April 2014 and you are only classified as a Worker if right before the date of the benefit claim you have been earning at least £150pw for at least three months. Otherwise [if earning less], you are classified as a Jobseeker even if working part-time and not seeking a job. EU migrant Workers are eligible for HB, even after 1st April. Mind you, you have to earn at least £150pw for three months to be classified as a Worker for benefit purposes. If you sign on and claim JSA right after losing your job, you retain your Worker status and eligible for HB as well as JSA. Please apply for benefit in advance at the Jobcentre saying you are experiencing financial hardship because the ESA decision is taking too long. State ESA claim date and amount of cash you have. They pay short-term benefit advance to claimants who are likely to be awarded the original benefit they claimed but the decision takes long and they need the money. Ask for a claim form at the JCP. Please tell all EU migrants you know [your friends] the above info to warn them about losing their HB if they move out of the borough [if they fall into the Jobseeker category]. Rapid reclaim is not that quick: took me 3 weeks to get the money. When they award you ESA, they pay a lump sum in arrears going back to the date of the claim. EU migrant Jobseekers are not eligible for ESA. You can only get ESA if you are a Worker and unable to work due to illness or injury. The new law about HB is complex but not that difficult to understand if you read through it. Two weeks ago the DWP published and sent out a circular to the local councils about EU migrants' HB entitlements from 1st April. And about the criteria who is to be deemed a Worker / Self-Employed / Jobseeker. Au-pairs are Workers if you have a [written] long-term agreement, even if you get less than £150pw [value of board and lodging is over £100pw]. Short-term employment agreements mean you have to keep looking for a job and will be classed as a Jobseeker [while doing the temp job] so get a 6-12 months written contract to avoid being denied benefits later on. If you voluntarily give up your employment or get dismissed for gross misconduct: no JSA for 6 months so never give up a job if you want to claim JSA. You acquire a permanent right to reside in the UK after living here for 5 years according to EU rules which means for the five years you have to fall into the categories below: - Worker [paying taxes & NI aka legally employed] - Jobseeker [registered with the JCP immediately after losing job and signing on] - Student [with full sickness insurance you took out] and enough money to support yourself [bank statement as evidence] After five years residing in the UK as above, you can apply for British Citizenship. For up to 6 months in each year, you can be out of the UK during the 5 years: it does not affect your permanent right to reside, which is important, because if you acquire this right or citizenship, you are exempt from the restrictions imposed by the new law called The Housing Benefit (Habitual Residence) Amendment Regulations 2014. It says no HB if your only right to reside in the UK is a Jobseeker [iB-JSA]. From 1st April no HB if claiming IB-JSA unless the saving clause saves you [thank you, Government]. If you are on ESA, it means you retain your Worker status for at least 6 months after becoming unable to work and not working because of illness. If you worked for at least 12 months right before claiming ESA / JSA, you retain your Worker status indefinitely. It is difficult to get contribution-based JSA as they look at the two relevant tax years to see if you paid enough or been credited with enough Class 1 NI contributions. CB-JSA is for 6 months only. My fear is that you may lose your HB if you claim JSA now because EU migrant Jobseekers are only eligible for HB if they are in receipt of both JSA and HB on 31/03/2014. There is such a thing as a linking period btwn claims when two claims for the same benefit are treated as one claim. Definitely if no more than 7 days break in a JSA claim. About the 12 or 13 week linking period you need to ask Citizens Advice if for HB purposes you would be ok to claim JSA now. What CAB told you is not the full picture. They said no HB for first three months during JSA? That's incorrect. No benefits at all after coming to the UK during the first three months is correct. And no HB to new JSA claimants from 1st April at all, not just during the first 3 months of IB-JSA. Make sure the job you get pays at least £150pw otherwise you are classed as a Jobseeker and no HB if you make a new claim in the future. Each year the amount goes up a few pounds so nail a job paying minimum £160pw to cover the increase next year. A word of warning about JSA: JCP sanctions claimants for next to nothing and for unfair reasons, like for not attending a JCP appointment when they do not even send a letter about it. Sanction means loss of benefit for weeks on end, even for the British it is hard to evade the JCP sanctioning 800,000 claimants in a year so you better off working if you can. You will keep getting HB as a Worker if you stay in the same borough. Report the council the change of circumstances [change of income] immediately when applicable. They adjust the amount of HB payable. You will pass the habitual residence test if you have provided enough evidence that right before the benefit claim date you were resident in the UK for 3 months: bank statements, letters to your address, tenancy agreement, bills, P45, pay slips, statement from your landlord if no tenancy agreement. Just the three months they want so provide hard evidence for the continuous three months residence. I am not an experienced nor a qualified adviser so you better off reading the info below before you ask Citizens Advice again. You were a Jobseeker before claiming ESA and as far as I know, EU migrant Jobseekers are not eligible for ESA. If so, the council will ask you to repay the HB you were getting while claiming ESA. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/539/contents/made https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/299052/a6-2014.pdf https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/283507 /m-1-14.pdf [ATTACH=CONFIG]49966[/ATTACH]