Ingeus

[jasta11]

Hope you get it sorted out - make much fuss as you can. I have a saying 'Man who complains in whisper never gets heard'

 

Always remember that the Work Providers, Jobcentres and DWP have FAR more rules to follow than we, the unemployed, do. They're hoping we don't know these rules - and quite a lot of us don't - which is how they get away with a lot of their own ignorance and incompetence. It's up to us to educate ourselves; all the info is out there (and on here) if we look for it.

 

Well worth spending a little time reading every document on the DWP site, especially those relating to benefits and work providers. Knowledge is power !!! (I've got all the .PDF docs stored on my E-Book, so I can have a quick check anytime)

[Nimitz]

Very interesting thread, I just signed up with the sole intention of bumping it and getting the discussion going again.

 

Today was my first appointment with this mob and I've to go back in for a cold calling session on Thursday where I will be working with a group of folk on the same boat as myself where we phone up and apply for jobs, who would have thought it could be so easy ? These guys are worth every penny they are getting.

 

My new best mate (well for the next 4 weeks apparently) will find me a job and if by some unforeseen circumstance this doesn't happen then I'll be passed on to some other lovely caring person who wants to help me. Things are looking up.

 

He also booked me in for a "mandatory" work group session in a fortnight called Job Search Methods which I was told will last for two hours.

 

Still, least I got my bus fare back...

 

Anyway, I've had reservations since I was told I was going on this programme a few weeks back and just found this place while doing a search on google, be interested to hear how everyone has been coping with this outfit since the previous posts.

 

You will have an easier time if you withdraw your data consent

 

Nimitz

[signmaker]

Just an update of my sanction,

 

I have made a bit of a fuss with the JC+ and have had the situation explained further, firstly my advisor raised a doubt against me for failing to apply for a job that I considered unsuitable.

She did give me the necessary paperwork for this sanction.

 

This was on the 7th feb so the previous 2 weeks were on this signing, so my JSA was suspended for two weeks prevoius, as well as this week, I have put in an appeal for the second 2 weeks, apparently there is only 1 sanction against me.

Wich is this from the 7th Feb.

Obviously I don't agree with the advisor raising a doubt against me for not applying for a job that meant I would have to travel to for 2hr 10 mins each way (agreed traveling time 90mns) on public transport, the job was also for a temporary contract, to which my appeal is based.

 

My wife did have her JSA stopped along with mine wich I also questioned and have been told and it has been confirmed that she will now be paid today as a single rate claimant, as she should still be paid.

I'm not too sure yet how we stand with H/B and C/tax.

 

So the outcome of all of this is that it looks like I have been accused, tried, and sentenced without any way of defending myself for the first 2 weeks and am having to appeal for the second 2 weeks.

 

Of course I have been told that I can apply for a hardship payment.

 

Jeez is it not bad enough having to put up with all of this crap without having to beg for a few extra pounds? in a way I feel that I should claim, and then again, I hate giving these people the satisfaction of seeing me having to beg.

 

again thanks for all of your invaluable help.

[Vincent Buenisides]

Just an update of my sanction,

 

I have made a bit of a fuss with the JC+ and have had the situation explained further, firstly my advisor raised a doubt against me for failing to apply for a job that I considered unsuitable.

She did give me the necessary paperwork for this sanction.

 

This was on the 7th feb so the previous 2 weeks were on this signing, so my JSA was suspended for two weeks prevoius, as well as this week, I have put in an appeal for the second 2 weeks, apparently there is only 1 sanction against me.

Wich is this from the 7th Feb.

Obviously I don't agree with the advisor raising a doubt against me for not applying for a job that meant I would have to travel to for 2hr 10 mins each way (agreed traveling time 90mns) on public transport, the job was also for a temporary contract, to which my appeal is based.

 

My wife did have her JSA stopped along with mine wich I also questioned and have been told and it has been confirmed that she will now be paid today as a single rate claimant, as she should still be paid.

I'm not too sure yet how we stand with H/B and C/tax.

 

So the outcome of all of this is that it looks like I have been accused, tried, and sentenced without any way of defending myself for the first 2 weeks and am having to appeal for the second 2 weeks.

 

Of course I have been told that I can apply for a hardship payment.

 

Jeez is it not bad enough having to put up with all of this crap without having to beg for a few extra pounds? in a way I feel that I should claim, and then again, I hate giving these people the satisfaction of seeing me having to beg.

 

again thanks for all of your invaluable help.

Regarding your Housing and Council tax benefit, in my experience this is suspended once the Jobcentre notify them of the suspension of your JSA. I'd advise that you contact the benefits department of your local authority ASAP just to ascertain what the status is. Like the Jobcentre, local authorities are not very proactive when notifying claimants that their payments have been stopped. If they have been stopped, they can easily be restarted once you tell them what your income is.

 

Also, while you appeal is going through the system, don't be shy to phone up the DWP at every possible opportunity to check on it's progress. Sometimes you will get through to a right prat who will often be as obstructive as possible but often you will get through to someone will be as helpful as they can.

 

Good luck with your appeal.

Edited February 14, 2013 by Vincent Buenisides
Bit extra

[G4C389]

Female ingeus / jobcentre advisers are always the most cruel / bitchy, the authority goes straight to their heads, I've noticed

 

Your right for a majority of them, when I attended the JC I found the women advisors to be great and at least interested, my perception on women advisors soon changed at (cough cough) ingeus, I had the mick taken out of me by women advisors in there all the time, I over heard them call me ridiculous, pathetic, meth' (even though I wasn't) the list goes on, and your spot on they LOVE the authority.

Edited February 14, 2013 by G4C389

[Bakatcha]

Anyone who has been sanctioned for a Work Programme related "offence" may be able to get their money back. Of course if you don't want it back then don't bother reading this thread:

http://unemploymentmovement.com/forum/welfare-to-work/5076-been-sanctioned-by-wp-pimp-in-the-last-13-months

[Chester6]

Anyone who has been sanctioned for a Work Programme related "offence" may be able to get their money back. Of course if you don't want it back then don't bother reading this thread:

http://unemploymentmovement.com/forum/welfare-to-work/5076-been-sanctioned-by-wp-pimp-in-the-last-13-months

 

Thanks

on there there's a link to a memo that deals with the letter that removes consent - the DWP wants providers to still engage with people who remove consent

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/work-programme-memo-029.pdf

[G4C389]

Thanks

on there there's a link to a memo that deals with the letter that removes consent - the DWP wants providers to still engage with people who remove consent

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/work-programme-memo-029.pdf

 

The providers won't still engage with people, it's not wirth it to Thomas they're only interested in the money. And what's a 'performance and delivery manager' at ingeus?

Edited February 16, 2013 by G4C389

[Chester6]

The providers won't still engage with people, it's not wirth it to Thomas they're only interested in the money. And what's a 'performance and delivery manager' at ingeus?

 

probably just the pimp centre manager

you are probably right though

[RebeccaPidgeon]

The providers won't still engage with people, it's not wirth it to Thomas they're only interested in the money. And what's a 'performance and delivery manager' at ingeus?

Just another ego boosting name for a Welfare To Work Clerk

[vv89]

less than a couple of weeks ago they wanted me to have a telephone interview...in another Ingeus building further away from my residential location, which only took less than a few minutes to pass. Says it all that I spent more time in WHSmith and HMV afterward than I actually was in their building participating in this telephone interview that I could easily have done at home, rather than have my time completely wasted and trudging through the snow at the time just for a telephone interview that I was always going to pass (I've had many contact centre jobs before so telephone manner is never an issue for me) that only lasted a few minutes (max). Do these people actually delight in wasting our time? Before that, they had me go to this other Ingeus building just so one of the advisors there could tell a group of us about a particular job. No interviews, no group assessments, no direct contact from the employer themselves, just an adviser discussing this with a group of us. Many of the group who attended had never had a stint in call center Jobs in their lives but they still found themselves there. Do these people even take our skills into account? So many of them would never survive in a call center because they never had the telephone manner or necessary skill to do that particular job, so what the hell were they doing there?! :s It's almost like they seek as many ways as possible to fill their own time even if it's a waste of ours. Madness. Sorry for the rant, I just got an email claiming they want me in that same alternative Ingeus building, a lot further from the local one just so I have an 'Interview' with another one of their advisers. I'm sick to death of these people.

[dyfed]

Interesting reading vv89.

I wonder though, if one of these individuals sent to work for a call centre got sacked because they couldnt do the job would they then be able to start claiming benefits again?

If I was to be sent for an interview and got a paid job but I didnt perform very well and got the sack, could I start reclaiming again or would dwp say it was my fault I was sacked and I get no benefit for a few months?

[dyfed]

Those people claiming ESA andmin the WRAG can now be sent on a work program or workfare type thing.

Considering those claiming ESA are not 100% fit for work. They may have an illness or a disability for example.

Well lets say that someone with a heart condition is told by their doctors that they cannot do manual work but the results from the work capability assesment, health care pro state that they will be fit in six months.

Will the dwp and WP follow the HCP advice, who might be a nurse, or the advice given by a cardiologist?

Another words will ill and disabled people be forced into doing work that could make their condition worse, cause pain or distress or even death?

[fxmaster]

less than a couple of weeks ago they wanted me to have a telephone interview...in another Ingeus building further away from my residential location, which only took less than a few minutes to pass. Says it all that I spent more time in WHSmith and HMV afterward than I actually was in their building participating in this telephone interview that I could easily have done at home, rather than have my time completely wasted and trudging through the snow at the time just for a telephone interview that I was always going to pass (I've had many contact centre jobs before so telephone manner is never an issue for me) that only lasted a few minutes (max). Do these people actually delight in wasting our time? Before that, they had me go to this other Ingeus building just so one of the advisors there could tell a group of us about a particular job. No interviews, no group assessments, no direct contact from the employer themselves, just an adviser discussing this with a group of us. Many of the group who attended had never had a stint in call center Jobs in their lives but they still found themselves there. Do these people even take our skills into account? So many of them would never survive in a call center because they never had the telephone manner or necessary skill to do that particular job, so what the hell were they doing there?! :s It's almost like they seek as many ways as possible to fill their own time even if it's a waste of ours. Madness. Sorry for the rant, I just got an email claiming they want me in that same alternative Ingeus building, a lot further from the local one just so I have an 'Interview' with another one of their advisers. I'm sick to death of these people.

Yes, they have tried to get me call center jobs as well which i would never be able to do as i don't have the confidence for that type of work. Instead of the government wasting money on third party programs they really need to spend money elsewhere to try and get people jobs.

[john27]

less than a couple of weeks ago they wanted me to have a telephone interview...in another Ingeus building further away from my residential location, which only took less than a few minutes to pass. Says it all that I spent more time in WHSmith and HMV afterward than I actually was in their building participating in this telephone interview that I could easily have done at home, rather than have my time completely wasted and trudging through the snow at the time just for a telephone interview that I was always going to pass (I've had many contact centre jobs before so telephone manner is never an issue for me) that only lasted a few minutes (max). Do these people actually delight in wasting our time? Before that, they had me go to this other Ingeus building just so one of the advisors there could tell a group of us about a particular job. No interviews, no group assessments, no direct contact from the employer themselves, just an adviser discussing this with a group of us. Many of the group who attended had never had a stint in call center Jobs in their lives but they still found themselves there. Do these people even take our skills into account? So many of them would never survive in a call center because they never had the telephone manner or necessary skill to do that particular job, so what the hell were they doing there?! :s It's almost like they seek as many ways as possible to fill their own time even if it's a waste of ours. Madness. Sorry for the rant, I just got an email claiming they want me in that same alternative Ingeus building, a lot further from the local one just so I have an 'Interview' with another one of their advisers. I'm sick to death of these people.

 

vv89 i know how you feel - ingeus love wasting people's time by dragging them down to the office for rubbish like a "how to write a CV" course even if you already have a good CV - even if it's snowing a blizzard outside they still want you trudging down there for yet another pointless course - parasites - i've been stuck in a room from 9 to 4 for the past week doing "teambuilding" exercises - im not going to see these people again which makes it totally pointless

[G4C389]

My friend attends ingeus and he said his advisor is a likeable fella, but he said that his advisor is friends with the manager, does that make him untouchable to get sacked? And will an advisor find out about you withdrawing consent even if its 6 months or so in to a new job?

[Bakatcha]

vv89 i know how you feel - ingeus love wasting people's time by dragging them down to the office for rubbish like a "how to write a CV" course even if you already have a good CV - even if it's snowing a blizzard outside they still want you trudging down there for yet another pointless course - parasites - i've been stuck in a room from 9 to 4 for the past week doing "teambuilding" exercises - im not going to see these people again which makes it totally pointless

Go on give us all a laugh - tell us what these so called "team building" exercises consist of!

[antone]

Go on give us all a laugh - tell us what these so called "team building" exercises consist of!

 

Seconded.

[john27]

^ one of the first things we did was make a dice out of paper and then roll numbers until each team had numbers 1 to 6 - next was to go around the room talking about a person we each thought was confident (like a celebrity or whatever) and explain why we think so - then we talked about the importance of positivity in doing well in an interview - how is this getting me a job?!?!??

[Bakatcha]

^ one of the first things we did was make a dice out of paper and then roll numbers until each team had numbers 1 to 6 - next was to go around the room talking about a person we each thought was confident (like a celebrity or whatever) and explain why we think so - then we talked about the importance of positivity in doing well in an interview - how is this getting me a job?!?!??

..and how long did this crap go on for???

[john27]

thats the stuff we've been doing for the past week - the rest of the time is usually spent filling in workbooks or the course tutor talking about stuff - 3 more weeks of this

[RebeccaPidgeon]

^ one of the first things we did was make a dice out of paper and then roll numbers until each team had numbers 1 to 6 - next was to go around the room talking about a person we each thought was confident (like a celebrity or whatever) and explain why we think so - then we talked about the importance of positivity in doing well in an interview - how is this getting me a job?!?!??

Quite surreal.... it almost sounds as if the unqualified pleb of a "Tutor" wanted to teach kindergarten youngsters.

[jasta11]

That's exactly the impression you get a lot of the time with these WP idiots; that you're back in infant school.

 

I throw big words into the convo with my advisor at every opportunity and watch them squirm when they don't understand. 'You're looking very moribund today!' I said once, smiling and just got a 'Yeah' back, as he didn't know exactly what it meant. Little victories mean a lot

 

A4e *spits* have my vote for best pointless non-job related activity though...making big models of giraffes from newspapers, plastic cups and sellotape. Nice to see funding used wisely, isn't it?.

[osdset]

^ one of the first things we did was make a dice out of paper and then roll numbers until each team had numbers 1 to 6 - next was to go around the room talking about a person we each thought was confident (like a celebrity or whatever) and explain why we think so - then we talked about the importance of positivity in doing well in an interview - how is this getting me a job?!?!??

 

Well it beggars belief doesn't it ? The pimps have nothing positive to offer whatsoever, so it's a merry-go-round of pointless imported American character building cobblers.

[vv89]

And people actually think the unemployed want to stay unemployed with this garbage? Laughable. If they're not dragging our backsides to these meaningless patronising classrooms where nothing is being done but playing games, they're offering us jobs which we don't have the necessary skills or confidence to do the job efficiently. Just last week my adviser tried to offer me retail jobs. Which there's nothing wrong with except I've never once said to them that I wanted retail work.

 

I've never had any experience in retail work. I've always said to them that call center work is where I'd thrive in the most. If not, then admin jobs would be a great alternative. But no, once you've been on their books for a while and there's no success in the job field that you're seeking to get into, they want rid of you ASAP, even if it's a job you don't want. The entire thing's a mess. Between having us come in to look through jobs on the computer (even if we already do that online anyway) and having us perform like circus animals for them by playing stupid, time wasting games with a group of strangers, and throwing jobs at us we don't want or can't do.

 

Or forcing us to work for employers without being paid a penny by them while we're being used as free labor. Or shifting us into temporary work, where we'll be back to square one again when the temporary contract is up. People will say I'm being picky, but why should I be forced into applying for a job that I have no experience or desire or confidence to be in? Why should a forklift driver for example, be forced into applying for call center work when he hasn't done it once in his life? It's an utter disgrace.

Edited June 30, 2013 by citizenB