Back to work... back to work... back to work....what bl**dy work?!

[PriorityOne]

And I never understood why people are so obsessed with owning their own home. Ok it's cool when you retire & dont have rent or mortgage to pay anymore, but you cant take it with you when you go! And what about when the bolier packs up etc?

 

Security.

 

I paid my mortgage off after 2 family bereavements, my salary is now my own and my daughter will inherit everything at the end.

 

Yes, there are huge upkeep costs at times but many rental properties are in an appalling condition; damp, drafty, etc. I lived in some dreadful places when I was younger and I know times may have moved on but it's still hard to get a nice place to live. Most places don't allow you to keep pets and if you're not working, then HB gets slashed down once your children have grown and left, which means you have to move to afford to live because they say the property is too big for your needs.

[jadeybags]

Security.

 

I paid my mortgage off after 2 family bereavements, my salary is now my own and my daughter will inherit everything at the end.

 

Yes, there are huge upkeep costs at times but many rental properties are in an appalling condition; damp, drafty, etc. I lived in some dreadful places when I was younger and I know times may have moved on but it's still hard to get a nice place to live. Most places don't allow you to keep pets and if you're not working, then HB gets slashed down once your children have grown and left, which means you have to move to afford to live because they say the property is too big for your needs.

 

I see what you're saying, but unless people do own homes outright, i'm not sure if security on a mortgage is possible now? As someone said on here the other week, if people are renting on benefits, they can qualify for full housing benefit.

[PriorityOne]

I see what you're saying, but unless people do own homes outright, i'm not sure if security on a mortgage is possible now? As someone said on here the other week, if people are renting on benefits, they can qualify for full housing benefit.

 

I think they're putting a ceiling on this.... not sure. A friend of mine works and rents a 3-bed, house with 2 grown up children who cannot find any work at all. Her rent is topped up with HB and her son has his own HB claim as well; so they deduct from her and pay him... and then he pays her. Very complicated. When he's been lucky enough to find the odd temporary position, it mucks up the whole HB claim and it's a massive headache. I don't know how she keeps smiling but she does..... while working 2 jobs and juggling a 55 hour week!! Her daughter does voluntary work for the PDSA to keep busy.

 

I know what you say about security and having a mortgage. When I was on Income Support with mine, they paid the interest and I kept the endowment going myself.... but this was some years ago and things have probably tightened up even more now.

 

Whatever the situation, it seems a no-win situation for people at times. I work in a school and am sad that the kids I teach have such a bleak future....

[Nystagmite]

I see what you're saying, but unless people do own homes outright, i'm not sure if security on a mortgage is possible now? As someone said on here the other week, if people are renting on benefits, they can qualify for full housing benefit.

 

It's full housing benefit for however big it's deemed a place they need. So, if I move into a one bed flat, I'll only get the shared room rate and will have to pay the rest myself.

[PriorityOne]

It's full housing benefit for however big it's deemed a place they need. So, if I move into a one bed flat, I'll only get the shared room rate and will have to pay the rest myself.

 

Yes.... this is what my friend was told as well. She works but has a 3 bed. house and 2 kids. If one of them leaves, her HB will be slashed.... This has already happened to another friend of mine who had to move because she couldn't afford the rent.

 

It's making life as difficult as possible for people.... unless they pop out more children to stay in the system, which really, really does irritate me...... because it's been going on for years and we now have a rapidly growing, unemployable feral underclass as a result.

[Nystagmite]

It's also unfair on those of us who need an extra room for disability equipment. Yet, no such rule exists for those who are lucky enough to have a mortgage.

[sj01]

I dont get my mortgage interest paid any more because I have a working child at home.

I have to pay ALL of over £400 a month plus all the insurances etc.

My son isnt responsible for me and cant be expected to pay the mortgage plus keep.

A lot of people are about to lose their houses now. We are not lucky to have a mortgage.

When we lose the house we will have all of our rent paid by DWP, makes no sense.

Edited April 5, 2011 by sj01

[Nystagmite]

But why should the tax payers pay your mortgage interest when you have a working son?

[PriorityOne]

But why should the tax payers pay your mortgage interest when you have a working son?

 

I can see your point.... but it's not the son's mortgage.

 

There is a snobbery attached to home ownership and unfortunately, while the DWP may be unhappy to pay your mortgage interest for whatever reason, they're quite willing to pay someone else's mortgage (i.e., your landlord) in the form of your rent instead. Bizarre when you think about it...

 

I actually had this argument with an MP once years ago in relation to something I was fighting at the time and he couldn't answer me. It was William Hague.... lol!

[Nystagmite]

Not being picky; but it's the LA who pay housing benefit / local housing allowance and not DWP.

[PriorityOne]

Not being picky; but it's the LA who pay housing benefit / local housing allowance and not DWP.

 

Social policy is social policy..... whichever way you want to dress it up.

 

[sj01]

Nastymite,

Why should they pay your rent? Its no different.

We are not gaining anything more than people that rent, the house is not being paid for , only the interest.

My mortgage interest is probably a lot cheaper than most peoples rent.

My child didnt take out the mortgage and has high travelling costs and car loan etc and already pays me keep.

If he too were unemployed then our mortgage interest would be paid.

Maybe I should throw them out.

There is no easy solution but the system that is in place now discriminates against people with mortgages.

Edited April 5, 2011 by sj01

[Nystagmite]

If you were renting, you were on benefits and he was working, he'd still be expected to help out with the rent.

[jadeybags]

I can see your point.... but it's not the son's mortgage.

 

There is a snobbery attached to home ownership and unfortunately, while the DWP may be unhappy to pay your mortgage interest for whatever reason, they're quite willing to pay someone else's mortgage (i.e., your landlord) in the form of your rent instead. Bizarre when you think about it...

 

I actually had this argument with an MP once years ago in relation to something I was fighting at the time and he couldn't answer me. It was William Hague.... lol!

 

 

Good point that

Woman up the road wanted to swap housing association houses a month or so back, mine is a 2 bed, hers is a 3, I have a boy & girl & she only has an 8 year old with her now.

Til I decided to stop claiming housing benefit I was interested. Now I am staying put! My rent is cheaper, bills are cheaper, which matters now I am paying it myself. And will matter in the future.

Someone owned the house before the council bought it, then I was moved here, then the housing association bought it, so I still have the right to buy, but whoever owned it years ago put a proper wall down the middle of the biggest bedroom, the room is the length of the house, so big. So it's basically a 3 bed, but the rent is still for a 2 bed.

And my kids dont want to move, so it's win win to stay here now.

Having said that, the rent is rising quicker than the price of petrol!

[Sidewinder]

Interesting thread as it is, and it provokes some useful comment, this might be best continued in the Bear Garden.

[hennessy13]

It was William Hague.... lol!

 

Mr Hague just figured out who you are lol

[bmdef]

well i was told after my medical last year that i had failed. i didnt know which benefits to apply for as it was all quite confusing to me. i ended up applying first for JSA as a jobcentre worker wrongfully told was all i could do.this lead to a course for making our C.V. in which i was blatantly discriminated against by the course leader and even moved to a seperate room - just because of my anxiety. was quite a blow. anyway sacked that pronto. then i was told no its ESA i should be claiming. this was all while i was appealing the decision of the nurse examiner automaton. eventually after getting NO benefits from last july 'til november i found out i should have been claiming emergency income support all along. no one in the jobcentre / dss told me this. now im on 50 quid a week and totally struggling. tribunal friday - that should be a laugh. the jobcentres a useless joke and i have never had a job from them in my life. just schemes, YTS and new deal bunkum tenner a week crap. even though i am too ill to work i am now actively looking for a job. havent got a choice. all the jobcentre had for me other week was training to be a security guard. no jobs, one training scheme. whats the point?

nice way to treat army veterans with PTSD, depression and severe anxiety. i dont think.

 

do please forgive my ranting, getting a bit ****ed off with it all.

Edited April 6, 2011 by bmdef
apologies for ranting a bit.

[jadeybags]

I'm still baffled about why people are 'given' jobs to apply for by the Job centre. No one gave me jobs to apply for. Being on income support for 10 years, then go out & find your own job. They only helped with better off calculations & form filling AFTER you found a job.

I remember applying for everything under the sun, & remember putting on farcebook how dispondant I was getting. Some places didn't even reply with a no.

Talk about disgcriminate against parents, why do we get the rough end of the stick then?

Turned out ok in the end for me, but with no help from them.

Is it only people on JSA that they help find jobs for?

[JrnyFan4Life]

They don't help you find jobs, or at least my Jobcentre doesn't. They do a quick search based on the criteria you put down in your JSA agreement, then print off a few that look good and tell you to apply for them. Not saying that's how it's done elsewhere, but where I sign on that's what they do. I signed on yesterday and was instantly made to feel like a criminal. I was practically interrogated on why I hadn't signed on the last 2 times, even though on the computer and in my notes it clearly said I was exempt.

[babybear39]

I was hearbroken when I heard about downsizing because I often need two careers during the night and my home is modified to help me with my disabilities.

 

The stress of worrying about this is driving me nuts! I feel like a startled rabbit in the glare of car lights.

Edited April 6, 2011 by babybear39
spelling

[SOD'EM]

The result, nine pages of jobs came up!

Most are paid at the NMW but surely that is far far better than what you are getting on benefits isn't it?

 

 

Not if the Child Support Agency has got there claws into you.

[PriorityOne]

Mr Hague just figured out who you are lol

 

I very much doubt he'd remember me.... lol! It was more of a fob off reply that I got; standard politician fodder anyway.

 

I'm still baffled about why people are 'given' jobs to apply for by the Job centre. No one gave me jobs to apply for. Being on income support for 10 years, then go out & find your own job. They only helped with better off calculations & form filling AFTER you found a job.

I remember applying for everything under the sun, & remember putting on farcebook how dispondant I was getting. Some places didn't even reply with a no.

Talk about disgcriminate against parents, why do we get the rough end of the stick then?

Turned out ok in the end for me, but with no help from them.

Is it only people on JSA that they help find jobs for?

 

I think it depends upon which targets they have to reach. Lone parents are/were targetted during a time when the Gov. was trying to lure them back to work with a variety of incentives which, when they were stripped down, didn't really add up to much at all. Hence why so many lone parents are still on Benefits and the qualifying age for the youngest child has recently been dropped.

 

I can remember being sent a few really cack jobs years ago because my time on IS was drawing to a close (daughter growing up) and the next step would have been JSA, which would have been a nightmare in terms of harrassment.... so I found my own job before that happened and qualified for all kinds of help because my daughter was still under the age of 16... but only just...

 

As I was also juggling my elderly step-father and mum; one with emphysema and the other with Altzheimer's for years as well.... I was fortunate that the law protected me from going back to work before I was ready to. I could have claimed Carer's, yes... but it would have caused too much aggravation for family reasons .... so didn't bother.

[flower2]

Job Centre/DWP whatever they call themselves, what are they paid for? My daughter was out of work for 5 months & fortunate enough to get another job, no thanks to the job centre.

 

She was out of work from beginning of Nov and recieved a job offer in January to start March, really good I thought. The problem started when she needed security references for the past 5 years, no problem from the people she had worked for but getting a letter from the job centre to say she had been claimimg JSA was like trying to get blood out of a stone. This is something they say they can not do.

 

Anyway to cut a long story short she was told she had 2 days to obtain this information or she would loose her job. Her employee had written to the job centre but had not had a reply not even to say they could not supply the info. So in comes good old Mum who went into the job centre a played holy hell & saying I would not budge until a letter was produced, anyway it worked, I did get that letter for her within about 30mins, I don't suppose they wanted someone causing a upset for long.

 

Oh and she started her job on the 14th March & recieved a letter from the job centre dated 5th April saying they had a request from her employee's and that they could not reveal this information as she had not authorised them to.

 

I think they should be nominated for the JOBS WORTH AWARD of the year, aren't they suppose to find you jobs not make it difficult.

[Elliebes]

I have to say my last PA was very good at finding at least 4 jobs for me to apply for every signing and I applied for them all. Still without a job and Im applying for at least 8 jobs a month. Im phoning 8 employers a month and Im on the dwp website every single day looking for work. Im looking for customer service jobs, retail jobs, administration jobs, travel advisor jobs you name it Im looking for it without success I might add.

[Nystagmite]

I'm still baffled about why people are 'given' jobs to apply for by the Job centre. No one gave me jobs to apply for. Being on income support for 10 years, then go out & find your own job. They only helped with better off calculations & form filling AFTER you found a job.

I remember applying for everything under the sun, & remember putting on farcebook how dispondant I was getting. Some places didn't even reply with a no.

Talk about disgcriminate against parents, why do we get the rough end of the stick then?

Turned out ok in the end for me, but with no help from them.

Is it only people on JSA that they help find jobs for?

 

People on IS aren't required to look for work. Those on JSA are - hence being given jobs to apply for.