Still haven't heard anything about this, but I know these things take time. (I just hope my letter didn't sound awful and juvenile. I was in a bit of a rush to get it done and sent...) Anyway, I got a response to my latest payslip which was just "you are now entitled to £x.xx per week" or whatever. I actually signed off last week because I definitely - no ambiguity about it - worked over 16 hours, and I just said I think it's likely to happen again (it will, as I'm covering a shop in another city two days this week), but I...don't think she gave me the right number. I'm still only contracted for my usual 5 hours, and now Coatbridge have written to me...saying I'm entitled to a job grant? Absolutely no desire to add that to whatever the overpayment is likely to be. Should I call Coatbridge? I also didn't go to my Work Programme induction because by that time I'd already worked those hours and knew I'd be signing off, but they still tried to (or did, I haven't checked and at this point it was probably less than £3) give me a final payment and I was like IDK IF I'M ENTITLED TO THAT... I know (now) that the benefits system can be a bit of an administrative and technical nightmare and I've clearly just made it worse (I don't envy your job at all, CAG members who work in benefits). I just want it all sorted out because of aforementioned nightmares, and the fact I'm moving across the UK in two months....

My letter got to them yesterday. Is anyone else going to weigh in? I've been having quite a lot of nightmares about this. Maybe I need to stop reading PDFs put out by the DWP/horror stories on here.

Got a letter completely unrelated to this mess (I think) about an overpayment of £158. Will pay that back tomorrow, and wait for more grim letters. Feel like I made it worse by writing to them and telling them everything about my mistake. Been sick with worry that they will think I've been up to no good and it will prevent me from going to university in September. So close to moving away for uni, and I find out I've made this sort of mistake. Ugh.

My adviser just told me to get it all in writing and send it to the folk who deal with this sort of thing. It's really quite the mess--I've been confused from so many different angles, but I'm getting it all in writing now and hopefully sent off tomorrow. :\ Just worried they'll think I've been trying to get money I'm not entitled to.

Yeah, I've been confused over when I'm being paid and when I'm not being paid (entirely my fault for not checking the book, etc and it being my first job) and how many hours I'd been given (sometimes it's 3 hours, sometimes it's 1 hour). It's happened before - I told the JC I'd worked 19 hours one week and so I signed off but I'd actually only worked 9 hours that week. That's worrying. I wasn't aware of that at all. They know I volunteer there and I filled in a form with my set volunteer days, and I did say that they can vary depending on the needs of the shop. I was originally on a work experience placement there, if that makes a difference?

The extra hours have not been declared yet as I only found out about them recently. I was told to declare them when I next sign. All my B7s are correctly completed a part from 2, where on those I would have been over the 16 hours (19 and 17) had I been aware of the extra hours when I filled them out. That's what my problem is - I should have signed off the first week I worked over 16 hours, but I didn't realise how many hours I'd be getting paid for at the time.

What do you mean? I know that my benefit is adjusted depending on how much I make that week, yes. I've been filling in B7s/handing in my payslips. Also, if your pause is about whether or not they know I have a volunteering/work arrangement then yes they do.

Just wondering if anyone can help me with this, as I've been in a bit of a...state of panic since I found out about it. I work part-time (5 hours/week, but I get bits of overtime. I started in April; my first job) for the same shop I volunteer in and this has led to some confusion/misunderstanding on my part on what I've been paid for and what was voluntary, and I've just recently found out that there are 2 benefit weeks where I've just gone over the 16 hours (recently - so 2 out of the last 4. Or 6, because there was the holiday). When I went into my JC I was told by the guy on the door to declare it when I next sign (Tuesday) and they'll "take whatever action" then. What sort of action? Should I get the dates/hours in order (trying to sort them out into benefit weeks has just confused me even more - one of the benefit weeks in question isn't even on my most recent payslip - I found out about this mess when I was looking through the attendance book - but the other one is. So I'm assuming I'm owed this overtime by my employer). It's just my fault for not keeping a detailed diary of my hours/communicating with management. I've been calling every number I have, but only got through to the 0845 number; however, the guy gave me a number to call that's no longer in use.