Help needed! single parent dad-jsa sanction for taking my daughter to hospital!

[Schrib]

Hi, basically I came across this site as I decided to do an extensive search of the internet for answers.

 

this is my sitution- basically im a single dad, with no support from my daughters mother. i'm 23 and live in the middle of nowhere very small town.the mother lives in a huge city miles away..

 

I was working for the NHS for 3 years and in March lost my job..so I had to sign on for jsa..basically when i first signed on the woman gave me around 30 sheets of paper with appointments in advance..a bit overwhelming..but anyway..to cut the story short..

 

i lost one of those pieces of paper..and it was for an appointment on june 26th..now i had another appointment on june 17th (which they changed)..now what happened was for some reason on june 26th i was meant to sign on then also later in the day go to an appointment at 1pm..i signed on on the 26th in the morning but no one made me aware of the 1pm appointment later in the date..and when i went home my daughter, who has a illness had some severe medical problems so i had to take her to hospital.

 

I tried ringing my local jsa centre to inform them but the line was constantly busy and i only have a mobile (they are 0845) so the costs are unbearable. Anyway when i next showed up at the jsa centre, they had a massive go at me saying i was taking the ****, and so what if my daughter had a medical problem that wasn't their problem.

 

I explaiend to them that i did try and contact them and i had got mixed up about the 1pm appointment but it was a genuine medical condition, and from day 1 of my original claim for jsa i clearly let them know i had a child. Anyway i was told after a phonecall to jsa i wouldn't be sanctioned for 2 weeks, as i had a payment due..no surprise i got sanctioned from that payment..so the last 3 weeks (as weve had a bank holiday and no signing on) ive had no money and had to budget my last jsa for myself and my daughter..

 

am set to sign on next week..but i never even got notification in letter form of how long my sanction is or why..or there reasons..i decided to ask jsa to appeal it and got a letter from the hospital, where they outlined that my daughter has a severe medical condition and if i hadn't bought her in it could have had severe reprecussions.

 

As of yet i sent that off 3 weeks ago and i've had no reply I read on here i could go for a hardship loan..should i bother? or should i have acted earlier? the thing is im meant to sign on next week..and should get paid friday..but im moving back to my mothers yet ahve an appointment tuesday/wednesday..am i better to tell them im moving after i sign on or before?

Edited June 15, 2012 by citizenB
formatted for easier reading

[flumps1976]

your post is slightly confusing as it is all in one paragraph sorry.

You have a current claim for JSA, had an appintment for 17/06/12 which was rearranged for your siging day (presumption sorry) which is one attendance on the same day and signing would be conducted within that appiontment so only one attendance for that day at 1pm.

On the same day you had to take your daughter for a medical reason to the hospital was this a pre booked appintment or an emergency. if it was prebooked you only need to show the appointment letter if it was an emergency you can obtain proof from admissions/reception that you daughter was taken for treatment on that day.

 

all appointments for JSA are mandatory and you can be subject to a sanction even if you attend on the correct day but at the wrong time if you have been warned on a previous occasion about attendance times.

 

I can only recommend that you obtain proof of the visit to hosptal and request a rconsideration along with an application for hardship allowance.

 

With regards to your daughter, are you actually in receipt of child benefit and child tax credit for her in your own name? How old is she? If you have the relevant child benefit and tax credit then yes her circumstances will/should be applied to your claim but if not then she cannot be taken into account on your claim as technically you don't hold the parental responsibility for her via benefits.

 

If you have all the relevant benefits for her then your application for hardship should be paid from day 1 of the sanction as you are classed as being in a vunerable group but if not then you would not receive any help for the first 14 days of the sanction. If the reconsideration is unsuccesful then you need to appeal (ask fr form GL24DWP when you next attend the JCP).

With regards to to your change of address you should notify the benefit centre when you move and all records will be updated folloing that telephone call.

 

If I've missed anything please post again.

[Schrib]

sorry apologies no what happened was..when i started claiming jsa this year which was on the 31st march 2012..basically they gave me around 10 letters all which had appointments on for the future..and they had one on the 17th, but they said the advisor wouldnt be there that day so on the 26th that i'd have a sign on at 9am..

 

then the other appointment from the 17th at 1pm on the same day..i went to the 9am appointment but didnt go to the 1pm on the same day..I explaiend to them that i did try and contact them and i had got mixed up about the 1pm appointment but it was a genuine medical condition, and from day 1 of my original claim for jsa i clearly let them know i had a child.

 

Anyway i was told after a phonecall to jsa i wouldn't be sanctioned for 2 weeks, as i had a payment due..no surprise i got sanctioned from that payment..so the last 3 weeks (as weve had a bank holiday and no signing on) ive had no money and had to budget my last jsa for myself and my daughter..and no i dont get any benefits for her as im not on the birth certificate..

Edited June 15, 2012 by citizenB
formatted for easier reading

[flumps1976]

as you get no benefits for her that is why your reason hasn't been automatically accepted.

You need to make a claim for child benefit and child tax credits for her, it doesn't matter that you aren't naned as her father on the birth certificate, someone else is being paid for her but you have care for her now.

here is a link for child benefit http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/childbenefit/start/claiming/index.htm

with regards to the snction first sanction is 1 week and any subsequent sanctions are two weeks so it would appear that your advance payment was not triggered following the inital sanction although its not ideal you need to make enquiries about any payment that may have been delayed in being issued.

 

As you are not receiving any benefits for her she does not exist on your jsa claim or job seekers agreement either so your reasons for missing the appointment wouldn't be acceoted as a domestic emergancy and as such your availability for work on that day has been questioned hence a 1 week sanction for that benefit week (can only be sanctioned for full benefit weeks and not individual days).

 

How to explain it without sounding horrible...... if I called into work and said I wasn't going in as I was taking a child that I was not in parental responsibility for (in receipt of financial payment child benefit, guardian allowance or foster allowance) then I would be told not acceptabe and to attend work or face disiplinary action on my return, but if in receipt of the financial payment for a child it would be classed as a domestic emergency. Otherwise people would phone in whenever they wanted a day off but knew it couldn't be agreed due to staffing levels and would be abused.

the link for tax credits http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/TAXCREDITS/

Edited June 15, 2012 by flumps1976
forgpt tp add a link

[Slatted]

Can I just mention that some mobile phone providers allow 0845 calls to be included in minute allowance for a very small (in proportion to what you are probably paying now) payment. It may be worth finding out about this also....every little saving helps.

 

And good luck.

[citizenB]

Schrib, I have popped some spacing into your posts to make reading easier.. Can you please hit double return in order to get the spacing. Makes helping you a lot easier if we can read your posts properly

[Schrib]

yeah i get what your saying..i need to get the paperowrk together for her..and well my mobile network does, last time i rang jsa i got a hefty £90 bill for 20 minute call (waiting to get through can sometiems take ages)..also this is my first sanction..i just went into the jobcentre and she said i have to sanction you sorry because you missed an appointment and a child emergency isnt a good enough reason..but yeah i see what your all saying..also you said shes not on my 'jsa agreement' i actually put clearly and have seen in all yhe extra info in my jsa sheets which are printed in 'other' at the bottom it always says i have a child..like i said i've always bee 100% honest..would that not help the matter in anyway? as from the start of the claim i said this?

[flumps1976]

schrib you have a child in your care ohysically but for benefit purposes you don't, you are not receiving any benefits for her and that means that technically there is no proof that she is with you iygwim?

The fact that you have benefits for her means that your reason is not considered good cause and that is the reasdon you were referred for a sanction sorry.

 

The next thing for you to do is follow the links I posted earlier and make the claim for child benefit and tax credits, if your daughter is under 5 you can then make a claim for Income Suport on the grounds on being a lone parent so you can still look for work but you won't be bound by a Job Seeking Agreement.

If you choose not to pursue benefits for her then you cannot place restrictions on your agreement as I already posted she cannot be considered on your claim as you do not have the legal financial parental responsibility.

[Slatted]

yeah i get what your saying..i need to get the paperowrk together for her..and well my mobile network does, last time i rang jsa i got a hefty £90 bill for 20 minute call (waiting to get through can sometiems take ages)..QUOTE]

 

Have you asked your mobile providers if they have a bundle or deal for 0845 (and normally 0800 and 0870) numbers? They charge awfully high amounts if you do not specifically ask for this.

 

I pay £3 extra a month to have my 300 minutes included in the deal so I only pay this no matter how many of the minutes are used to DWP etc

[Schrib]

Yeah I did and they want additional money slatted..what am i meant to pay that with? well i havent recieved any payment and i got told it's a 2 week sanction :s but ive never been sanctioned before in my life..so whys it 2weeks..also how long do they normally ake to get back to you..does anyone have a direct number for jsa?

[Slatted]

They have no direct numbers. Stopped that a long time ago....probably to make sure we pay in all ways....

 

and I do not think they have a timescale for responding to appeals.....and yes they expect you to live on nothing......

 

I thought the mobile providers would add the cost of 0845 bundle to your next bill thus give you time to get money reinstated..mine did..sorry they were not helpful....and I did realise they would want more money but in proportion means you would not be so out of pocket going forward.

[flumps1976]

they no longer have the dierect numbers as Slatted said, you have to go via the contact centre and request a call back, however as your JSA has been sanctioned it won't be the processing team that you nned to speak to and unfortunately you cannot speak to the DMA team directly.

Until you have spoken to JSA you have no way of knowing if it is 1 or 2 weeks that have been sanctioned and due the sanction being imposed ot automatically removes the bank holiday advance which explains why you haven't been paid since either although this should have been picked up on the Work Availble Reports generated for the closure team at the JCP or the processing team at the BC.

[Schrib]

yeah..so i have to sign on tuesday..then meant to have another appoint ment friday right..but im meant to move out of here on wednesday..what am i best doing to approach the situation and not lose any money as i wont be in the area friday? but dont want to lose my benefit?and i really need the next payment

[flumps1976]

Sign on as normal and advise that you are due to move the following day, you will then need to contact the new office that you will be be able to attend and request a live transfer appointment, ask the signing team to note your records that you are going to do that, they are not allowed to cancel the appointment in case you don't move on the date you are meant to so that appointment will stand until you contact the new office iygwim?

This will action will not affect your next payment.

[assisted blonde]

Just a bit confused here, you say you had lost the paper with the 1pm appointment on, but you then said that you tried to ring them. When did you remember the appointment was it that day or later?

i dont think that the job centre had any duty to remind you of your 1pm appointment though.

[Schrib]

No what happened what I lost the original appointment date change letter. But I knew i had the appointment later on just couldn't get through to them. And okay I'll do that but it's 100% definete i'm moving so don't know what i'll do as if i dont attend friday won't they cut off my benefit? just i could attend in nottingham just not where i live (notts is where am moving)

[assisted blonde]

Ok got it now

[flumps1976]

Did you go and sign as normal yesterday?

Is there any reason that you can't put in a claim for your daughter via child benefit and tax credits?

[Guest amianne]

I have a friend who is in a similar situation.

He has 'a child' a girl aged 5 who lives with him who he believes is his but the mother denies it and his name isn't on the birth certificate. The mother lives in a totally different part of the country and has basically 'dumped' the child on him when she was 2.

 

The mother claims all of the payments, Child Tax Credit & Child Allowance for this child - she has 5 others two of which live with her and three live with the 'father'.

 

He was told that he could not claim for any of these payments the mother is receiving as he does not have control and custody nor is he named as the child's father.

[flumps1976]

Your friend should contact Social Services to start the correct procedures, there is a legal requirement to notify the local authority if a child is living with you and they can then help to set the wheels in motion to get the claim put in correctly. The person who is currently claiming the benefits has a legal right to receive the payments for 8 weeks after the child in question has left their care but after that the person that the child currently resides with can make the claim in their own right.

 

Schrib you should also do the same, there is money there for to claim in respect of your daughter so you should take the necessary steps to ensure that you can support your daughter