Please can anyone help/advise. I have no idea what to do next.

My daughter left college in August 2013.

She refused to claim Benefits due to the stigma created around benefits claimants by very clever Government psychology. She said she would be looked upon as a scrounger.

Since August 2013 she has been to numerous job interviews all to no avail. On some occasions she has worked for nothing (Trial) only to be used as free labour. She is devastated and depressed.

I am on the minimum wage and I struggle to get by. I have supported my daughter financially since she left college but things have gotten so bad I had to force my daughter to make a claim. She very reluctantly agreed and made an appointment at the benefit office. My Daughter is a slight, very timid and nervous 18yr old.

At the benefits office my daughter met her so called advisor. Her ‘advisor’ was a horrible and nasty sort of womany type thing. This nasty person spoke to my daughter like she was a piece of excrement reducing my daughter to tears in a very short period of time.

My daughter then fled the building in floods of tears without fulfilling her claim, vowing never ever to go back. She felt frightened, intimidated and humiliated. This advisor seemed to enjoy what she had done and shouted after her ‘well if you don’t want to claim then goodbye’.

My daughter has now said she’d rather starve than claim and is now threatening to leave home so she doesn’t cost me anything. This is quickly turning into a nightmare.

Is there any way around this? Can my daughter get her rightful entitlement without having to agree to the attached terms and conditions? My daughter is always seeking work but does not feel the need to prove this. She also feels that she does not need an advisor.

My thoughts are that she cannot claim anything at all unless she agrees to the attached terms and conditions. This must be wrong. I have a very large extended family, 95% of whom are working and between us we pay a massive amount of tax. I find it sad that in order for my daughter to claim a tiny, tiny minute fraction of what her own family pays into the system, she has to agree to draconian conditions and if she does not agree she will have to go begging to a food bank.

This system stinks....................

Thank you.

A very worried Mother.

I'm sorry for your troubles, I know the system stinks. But unfortunately, it's not possible to claim a benefit without agreeing to and fulfilling the terms and conditions of that benefit. I'm sure your daughter genuinely looks for work, but the Jobcentre is not simply going to take her word for that. Recent governments have added more and more new conditions for claimants, and that's not a trend that seems likely to reverse in the foreseeable future.

Now, that isn't an excuse for Jobcentre staff insulting her or making her cry, and you should rest assured that not all, nor even most, Jobcentre staff are nasty people. She could consider making a complaint to manager of the Jobcentre because of her treatment that day, but that's a separate matter and won't exempt her from complying with the rules should she wish to make another claim.

She's entitled to be accompanied to these interviews, whether the companion be a professional welfare rights adviser or simply a concerned friend or family member there to provide moral support. That might help her if she's shy and timid.

:lauren22:

And here's an official version of :antone:'s advice;

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/199828/response/490264/attach/3/Reply%20955.pdf

Most Jobcentres have some sort of reception area. Tell whoever you speak to first that you will be staying with your daughter throughout her appointment. Shouldn't be an argument, but if there is, calm persistence and a copy of their own guidance usually 'reminds' advisers that claimants are allowed moral support.

Best wishes, Margaret.

I totally get where you are coming from and would suggest taking any advice Margaret gives you, she knows what she is on about.

I can identify with some of what you are experiencing, my daughter had the same treatment, she suffered months of it to hang on to the benefit as she has a young child, none of the promises of decent training or any job actually materialised.....she had veiled threats of sanctions and was becoming stressed and anxious and on the way to being ill over it all, she signed off and managed to get some cleaning work, putting her own leaflets through doors and charging as little as possible to make ends meet without jsa........she struggles daily, some weeks she earns very little or nothing.....some have said well at least the governments getting single mums off benefits......if it wasn't for family helping her with food and bills I dread how this would end. she cant get a job, there isn't any, and it angers me that the b/s spouted by IDS and his sidekicks, is seemingly believed by the taxpayer.

I hope things pan out better for you and your daughter....use Margarets advice and I wish you both good luck.