Jobcentre plus made a mistake

[BFOS]

My daughter was made redundant on August 3rd. She had worked solidly for 10years. She signed on at the Jobcentre and was awarded JSA but I have just discovered that she has only been getting £43 not the £65 of Contribution based JSA. She knew nothing about these benefits and was guided by them. If they have paid Income based JSA instead of Contribution based JSA will she be able to get this backdated. Her last sign on day is tomorrow as the 26 weeks is up.

[ErikaPNP]

The DWP will always assess someone for contribution based before they'll consider income based, so it is unlikely that she has been awarded the wrong type of benefit - unless her NI record shows insufficient contributions. Her award letter should say what type she is on, and set out any reductions in the award. I think it's more likely that there has been a deduction somewhere along the line for something. For example, if she has previously had an overpayment, a loan or an alignment to benefit. If she no longer has her award letter, or if the amount shown on the award letter doesn't match what she's received and she has not been informed of the reason for the lesser amount, she should most definately query this. If there has been a miscalculation they would pay her any benefit monies owed.

[BFOS]

Thanks for the reply. She went today and asked them for an Anytime Revision on the basis that she thinks they have made a mistake. The person she saw agreed that it looks as if someone has made a mistake.

She can't find the original award letter but there should be no reductions for anything . She has paid NI for 10 years with no breaks and has never claimed any sort of benefit or loan.

They have made her an appointment for Friday afternoon to meet with another advisor as the one she saw today said she couldn't sort it out. Hopefully they will back date the balance of the award.

[ErikaPNP]

Given that she has paid full NI, has never had a loan or other benefit, something isn't right. The jobcentre will not be able to make a decision on her entitlement - they will need to refer it to the benefit delivery centre which deals with her JSA. They have probably already contacted them in anticipation of this appointment on Friday. The BDC will look at her claim again, and if there is an explanation for the calculation it will be provided (she should ask for this in writing if not offered). If there is no explanation they should pay the backdated amount without undue delay and apologise.

 

Getting a little ahead here, but if it is found that there is no reason for the reduction in her JSA, she may be able to claim a special payment for maladministration.

 

JSA calculations are set at the specified rate for the age and circumstances of the claimant. For it to be paid at a lower amount over that period of time, someone has to have entered something into the computerised system for a reduction to be applied.

 

Let us know how it goes.

[BFOS]

Thanks for that. I will let you know what happens.

[ErikaPNP]

Thanks. Hope all goes well at her appointment on Friday.

[BFOS]

My daughter went along to the appointment this afternoon and they have agreed that a mistake was made. They have not detailed what went wrong just said that sometimes this happens. They also said that if we had not realised ourselves about the error the £572 would just have been lost to her. Not a very good attitude when they are there to help people at difficult times in their lives. Bad enough to be made redundant without then being ripped off by officials unable to do their own job. Maybe there is an opening there!!!!!!!!!!

She had paid NI for 10years in well paid jobs and the only time she needs some help they get it wrong. Diabolical!!!!!!!!

They will repay the money but have said it may take a few weeks.

Thanks for your help Erika.

[MONX]

I am glad you and your daughter got the result you wanted and yes its a bit alarming that had you not questioned it, yyour daughter may have lost out, but what I would say is that there are quite a few reasons why contribution based jsa was not payable to begin with.

 

Errors can be made by the computer at the inland revenue not downloading the information of your daughters contrubutions in time for the beginning of the claim or it could have been that her previous employer didnt post her contributions at the time of her redundancy.

 

People working in jobcentres and processing centres do a difficult job and can only go on what information is provided. I would just say that most are dilligent and helpful, Erika for example has been an absolute star in helping people on here with problems.

[BFOS]

Thanks for your reply Monx but as she was paid at a reduced rate from the beginning they must have known her NI contributions or they wouldn't have paid her anything at all.

Human error in inputting information I would accept but we put our trust in these people to get things right. I worry about all the people who lose out because they haven't realised a mistake has been made. We only realised because I was looking to reclaim some Income Tax for her and included the £65 rate in the calculations of income. It was only then that my daughter said that wasn't what she was receiving.

I am very grateful to Erika for her help with this as I am sure are others who have used this site and I would agree that she is a star. But, whoever processed my daughter's claim now has a tarnished halo.

[ErikaPNP]

A common misconception - I don't work for the department. Never processed such a claim in my life

[MONX]

BFOS, I agree that people have certain expectations when making a claim to any benefit. I am not saying that all members of the department are diligent and do not make mistakes, they are human. I think there is a misunderstaning of how the claim works.

 

When claiming Jobseekers Allowance there are two types Contribution based and Income based, typically most people apply for both, the contact centres taking the claims are not qualified nor equiped with the relevant information to advise on what benefit to claim so usually suggest both.

 

Contribution based JSA is based on your NI contributions and is always considered first. If you dont have enough contributions then you are not entitled to a payment at all, the only time Contribution based jsa is reduced is if there is an occupational pension in payment, they calculate a weekly amount, disregard the first £50 and if there is anything left over the contribution based jsa is reduced pound for pound. The only other reduction is as Erika said for any loans or sanctions applied by the jobcentre. If your daughter doesnt have an occupational pension, repaying any overpayments or loans and has no sanctions then your daughter wouldnt have been in payment of contribution based jsa.

 

Income based jsa is means tested, any capital, property and income over £6000 affects the amount of jsa payable, it is reduced by £1 jsa for every £250 (or part thereof), this is the same if you have an income from say part time earnings etc, there is a disregard dependant on your circumstances the most being £20 and then any earnings are taken into consideration pound for pound.

 

It sounds to me as though she was in reciept of income based jsa because the contributions she made while working had not been downloaded onto the processing system fom the inland revenue at the time of her claim, or her employer was late in posting her contributions. It would only come to light when the claim was re-evaluated when your daughter asked for someone to look at it again.

 

I can understand your frustration, i really do, i have been in a similar situation however my sister works in a jobcentre, prior to that she was a jsa processor so through her i have found out what my rights are and how the system works (or doesnt).

 

The thing is, as the system becomes more and more computerised and people are making claims online, the people working in the processing centres have less and less to do with what goes in a claim as it is all downloaded electronically.

 

I am not saying the the system is great...it definately isnt and is only going to get worse as the government is hoping to get 80% of claims made online by 2014, but the majority of people working for the department are at the sharp end, dealing with customers expectations on one side and being given unacheivable targets by management with reduced staff and antiquated or unfit computer systems. I dont think anyone is "ripping people off", I emagine most are too busy trying to keep their own job!

 

Erika, I was sure you worked for the department as you were so clued up, however you are still a star lol

[BFOS]

Monx. My daughter did not claim Income based JSA as she had a redundancy payment and a working husband so was not elibible for it. If she had been getting this she would have continued to receive it after 26 weeks and the mistake made by the processor would have been huge. She would have eventually been chased for an overpayment She did not claim on line and so the mistake was not hers or her computers. If as you say records had not been downloaded on to the departments computer they would not have paid her anything and they did, so somewhere along the line a deduction has been put on for some reason. However it happened it did and it shouldn't have.

I understand as your sister works for The Department you want to defend it but for us, and probably for anyone else who is the victim of a mistake that is not their fault, it is indefensible no matter what the workload. The main thing now is that the missing money is going to be refunded.

[jabba jones]

it is indefensible no matter what the workload. The main thing now is that the missing money is going to be refunded.

 

 

The problem was probably caused by your daughters national insurance record on the NIRS computer system being wrong rather than human error. It used to happen a lot when NIRS was launched thankfully it's not too bad now but it still happens occasionally. There are several reasons for it & if the person claiming doesn't question their award it wouldn't be spotted.

[leemack]

It wouldn't be a problem with the contribution record. There isn't a sliding scale of payments according to conts paid. You either get paid or you don't there is no middle ground. Having processed JSA, the only way a lower amount gets paid by mistake is if there is an error in processing the claim, either computer or human - and usually human. Processors are expected to be 100% perfect, but its impossible and mistakes happen, as they do in any job. Unfortunately this is one of those cases where there was a mistake. I would advise your daughter to make a complaint and request a compensatory amount - this will usually be small, but it is important that errors get highlighted, so that the source of the error is found and corrected.

[BFOS]

Thanks leemack. I think we will settle for the money being refunded and leave it at that. We are wiser from the experience and should one of the family need to claim in the future we now know to watch out for mistakes.

[leemack]

It is wise to be your own best advocate where benefits are concerned. I'm always astonished how anyone not benefits trained manages to navigate the system and end up with the right benefits. It almost seems designed to ensure that the claimant gets as little information as possible. Problems like your daughter's could be fixed much quicker if a breakdown of benefit rates was included with the award letter - your daughter would have checked it and known her award was wrong.