I am due to be sanctioned can anyone tell me the procedure for claiming hardship allowance?

Can I claim it over the phone as the advisor did not want to give me the form as she kept telling me you cannot apply for the first two weeks and as the sanction is not official yet I cannot apply untill it is.

As I am a single parent I have been told that I can apply straight away as I am in the vulnerable group catagory.

Does anyone know how long this takes to process?

Thanks for any replies in advanced

Hardship allowance is not normally claimable for the first 2weeks of sanctioning. However if your a single parent (and the sanction was not because you fraudulently claimed as a single person) then you can make the claim immediately.

You have to go to the job centre to do this. It is then passed to a decision maker who will advise you of the outcome

thnakyou mrstwofoot do you know how long they take to process?

sorry I read your name wrong mrsfoot not mrstwofoot

sorry I read your name wrong mrsfoot not mrstwofoot

Rofl..no worries.

It takes approx 5-10 workin days, depending on backlogs etc

ok thankyou mrsfoot atleast I know now how long I will be roughly without any money

also I do not know if anyone knows about your job seekers book.

when the advisor told me I was getting my jsa suspended I left in a fluster and left my book behind on the advisors desk will they send it back to me or do I have to go ask for it?

when the advisor told me I was getting my jsa suspended

Why are you getting sanctioned?

tidon I am being sanctioned for not writing to employers or ringing them despite applying for jobs.

I am totally fed up with them in the 8 weeks I have been claiming they have tried to stop my money five times, I managed to get the others cancelled.

Every time time I go to sign on they scrutinise everything, however they do not take my circimstances into consideration, I suffer from mild depression and anxiety which they know about and I am due to go back to uni. I feel like they are purposely out to stop my money.

you should have appealed put all this down plus the anxiety and stress and the fact you are seeing the gp over this.its not as if you didn't have good reasons'.

they are expected to view job search positivity and do not appear to have here.the problem with jobseekers agreements is that they are often drawn up as the advisor dictates,they will always try to maximise the conditionality.not everyone is feeling up to this because of health/finance's and general ability.with more people being forced onto this benefit there are real risks of unfair sanctions.

the agreement must reflect means and health issues that do not involve the runaround,working ridiculous hours/impossible to get to locations and great expense. and you are a single parent under anxiety that could rapidly worsen,then what would you do?.

do not take this on the chin and except their version,vulnerable people cannot afford to go without and be discouraged from their rights to fair redress.

I understand what you are saying seen it before but I have not recieved a decision yet so I cannot appeal anything as yet. I have probably put myself at a disadvantage because I refused to fill the form out they gave me as I felt it was a waste of time. Like I have said in my other thread they state possible sactions are sent to the decision maker but before they are sent I have it recorded saying they look at them and decide whether or not its a straght sanction or not if its they decide the decision maker will sanction they do not send them. As far as I understand it they just go off your agreement and if ti says on there to write or ring you have nothing to argue.

you are spot on seen it before i made the mistake of accepting what the advisor put on the agreement thinking it would be reasonabler and fair, however I have found this not to be the case. I do not the energy to fight as I cannot find revelevant guidelines or legislation to argue my case.

the advisor did not want to give me the form as she kept telling me you cannot apply for the first two weeks and as the sanction is not official yet I cannot apply untill it is.

you need to appeal because of your anxiety and health grounds,they have to make allowances for these problems.

you need to go to the cab office that doesn't sound right either two weeks wait and you are a single parent.

You will not be given form GL24 (to appeal) or JSA10 (to claim hardship) until a decision is made and only then if then if it is an unfavourable decision resulting in a sanction. The only person who can actually sanction your claim is the DMA officer not your personal adviser. Your personal adviser has to follow the guidance for conditionality and if there is any doubt then a referal has to be made.

As as single parent then you are highly likely to qualify for the hardaship (if needed) from day 1 of the imposed sanction.

thankyou for your replies. I will ring on monday to see what the situation is. If a decision has not been made yet then I will to wait till one is before I put put an appeal in and then claim hardship.

I understand what you have said flumps, however I have proof that this is how they work. I was sent two forms and I handed them in the same day and late in the day after 3pm. The day after I went to sign on and one of the forms was cancelled and another still active and that is when I asked why is one still on the system and the other one is not and that is when I was told they look at them first before deciding to send them. I asked where the DM where based and was told in a different town so a DM could not have seen it so quick and then made a decsion so quick.

hello all an update I have been sactioned for 2 weeks....I put a claim in for hardship and that has been disallowed....I guess they do not care that I have a child to feed along with my housing benefit that has stopped and my daughters school meals how do they expect me to pay for those when I am not recieving JSA... because JSA is paid in arrears It has been 3 weeks since I recieved any payments and who knows if they decide I have not done enough next time I sign on it could be even longer... The way people are treated by DWP disgusts me. All I can do is appeal but what good is that when My daughter and I are having to suffer now.

hello all an update I have been sactioned for 2 weeks....I put a claim in for hardship and that has been disallowed....I guess they do not care that I have a child to feed along with my housing benefit that has stopped and my daughters school meals how do they expect me to pay for those when I am not recieving JSA... because JSA is paid in arrears It has been 3 weeks since I recieved any payments and who knows if they decide I have not done enough next time I sign on it could be even longer... The way people are treated by DWP disgusts me. All I can do is appeal but what good is that when My daughter and I are having to suffer now.

How on earth can they do that..? Is your human rights been affected here as it says in "Article 3: Prohibition of Torture" that the government should not withhold state support from asylum seekers because doing this would leave them destitute (penniless).

Now i'm no expert on the human rights act but if the government wont sanction asylum seekers benefits then why should they do that to you and especially you have a child? You are going to be 2 weeks in debt as well with the rent, plus you will have to borrow till you get your money sorted and you dont no when thats going to be..! i can't beleive they can do this type of thing. I would try alsorts, i would get in touch with my local MP, email downing street and i would go as far as getting in touch with the european courts, yes i no they cannot do anything but i would still do it and get as loads more people from this site to write or fax them with issues about the same thing because they just cannot treat people like this.. its all wrong and i'm fuming.!!

Two people last week as been thrown off ESA, one is as blind as a bat and suffers with angina and depression and the other is autistic and doesn't understand a word anyone says to him and cannot speak a word himself, and both need carers.! yes they are appealing but that's not the point.. this type of thing should not happen..!!

Get in touch with everyone you can think of oblivious cos you have nothing to lose cos you've lost it all anyway..!

European Court of Human Rights

Council of Europe

67075 Strasbourg Cedex

France

Tel : +33 (0)3 88 41 20 18

Fax : +33 (0)3 88 41 27 30

you need to get to apply for a crisis loan straight away,and see if you can access a food bank.also contact the cab and write to your mp.you cannot afford to take this lightly.appeal also stating your health problems too.follow the advice above which is good too.

the whole key to this is apply for anything and to keep to a reasonably set out jobseekers agreement,keeping a record of what you have done.to stay organised do what i did write out monday-friday the steps you perform each day spread over the week on a notepad then copy them over to your job log as you go.depending on the job visiting employers could mean just checking supermarket vacancy boards for example.

omg I have just found out the reason I have been refused hardship.... they said it was because I did not send the claim form in untill the 9th sept and the sanction was from 19th august till the 6th sept.....what planet do these people live on I was told when I went to sign on I could not claim untill a decsion had been made and that decision was made on the 9th sept....also how on earth could I have known before the 6th sept that I was going to be sanctioned as JSA is paid in arrears....The advisors at the job centre know nothing as I had to beg for hardship form in the first place as they told me I could not claim for the first two weeks....I cannot believe they cannot use common sense I infuriated

thankyou for your replies tidon and seen it before I am going to appeal and show them up for what they really are..... they are so incompetent that I have still not recieved a letter stating that I have been sactioned and not recieved a letter to say hardship has been refused...they cannot blame royal mail as they managed to get the letters sent out when a doubt has arisen within 2 days... I have applied for a crisis loan seen it before that is how I found out why they refused hardship and the guy on phone said that he would make a exception given the circumstances I been put in as usually he said they do not give them if in hardship because of a sanction and gave me a loan thankfully

thnakyou for the info tidon that will be very useful in the appeal it is much appraciated

omg I have just found out the reason I have been refused hardship.... they said it was because I did not send the claim form in untill the 9th sept and the sanction was from 19th august till the 6th sept.....what planet do these people live on I was told when I went to sign on I could not claim untill a decsion had been made and that decision was made on the 9th sept....also how on earth could I have known before the 6th sept that I was going to be sanctioned as JSA is paid in arrears....The advisors at the job centre know nothing as I had to beg for hardship form in the first place as they told me I could not claim for the first two weeks....I cannot believe they cannot use common sense I infuriated

This makes no sense at all. Your adviser recommends that because they feel you haven't done enough, you may get a sanction. This is then sent to a decision maker (DM) who makes the final decision. That can take a few days.

Was the 6th your signing on day?

sorry I have not been very clear ok...my signing on day was 1st sept....on this date I was told because I dod not write to or ring 3 employers each week my benefit would be suspended.... I then asked for a hardship form which she did not want ot give me but I refused to leave untill she gave me one....she gave me the form and told me I could not claim hardship untill a decision was made..... on the 6th sept which it the date I was supposed to be paid I did not receive any payment so I called the help line and they me I had been sanctioned from 19th August till the 1st sept.....the same day I sent off the hardship form which they have said they recieved on the 9th sept.....I was told that I should have claimed from the the first day of the sanction and that I had sent the form in too late!!! ...How could I have sent it in any sooner unless they think I am psychic and can see into the future.

I just cannot understand the law that they have the right to stop peoples benefits and leave them destitute and in debt and especially more so in your care with you having a child? I no its hard to bring your human rights into it and the law is the law but the more people who go down different routes and complain in stead of just excepting it then it could get highlighted to show how people are been bullied, intimidated and treated like a animal. I would advise everyone to complain to there MP, downing street, solicitors, CAB and even write or fax European Court of Human Rights. People have nothing else to lose so why not..!

Glad you have got something anyway..!

that I have still not recieved a letter stating that I have been sanctioned

they are supposed to tell you but they clam up at that point and trying to get information is difficult patchy and time consuming.the worrying thing here again someone with anxiety and depression and being sanctioned.as you have these illnesses under the gp then there is grounds to appeal.