Sanctioned After Signing off and applying for esa

[angiep1964]

Hi, am new here. I was informed by my JCP advisor that I had failed to apply for a job back in may and asked me if i could prove that I had applied for it. I had my email hacked around that time and was advised by sky to reinstall windows so all my emails previous to that had gone. I informed them that I couldn't prove that I had but was unsure as it was 4 months previous.

 

I have recently been signed off as my depression is deepening and I have new problems that are being investigated by the doctor and the hospital. I signed off so that I could claim esa as was told u cant be in reciept of one and apply for the other. I checked my account on my usual payday and found that I hadn't been paid and when I phoned them to find out what had happened i was informed that they would pay me one weeks and if i was awarded esa they would decide when to pay me.

 

Saturday morning I get a brown envelope and in it was a letter informing me that i had been sanctioned for 13 weeks. I need to know if my being sanctioned after I applied for esa will affect my claim for it. If i dont get the esa what am i supposed to live on till january and how am i gonna be able to heat my home.

Edited October 17, 2012 by antone
Paragraphs

[antone]

Hello, and welcome to CAG. I've added a few paragraph breaks to your post, as this makes it easier to read.

 

A sanction applied to your JSA claim will not affect your entitlement to ESA. It is true that you can't receive ESA and JSA at the same time, and the delay in your payment is quite possibly caused by your switch from one benefit to another. But unless you need to reclaim JSA within the 13 week sanction period, you should still be paid. The point is that a JSA sanction applies only to JSA, and runs whether or not you are actually claiming JSA.

 

As an example of what I mean:

 

 

• If your JSA sanction applies for 13 weeks from (say) 01/10/2012 and you claimed ESA on (say) 08/10/2012
  
• Then your JSA sanction ends on 30/12/2012
  
• It ends on this date whether or not you were actually claiming JSA during the sanction period
  
• While you are claiming ESA, your JSA sanction does not apply
  
• But if your period of illness ended and you had to reclaim JSA, it might be relevant
  

Suppose you were ill for 10 weeks from 01/10/2012, and then had to reclaim JSA. You'd reclaim JSA on 09/12/2012. As such, you might have three weeks of your sanction still to deal with.

 

 

Key points are that while you are on ESA, JSA sanctions are not relevant; and also, you may ask for a reconsideration or appeal a JSA sanction if you wish. In most cases, you must do this within one month of the decision you wish to appeal.

[RebeccaPidgeon]

Hi, am new here. I was informed by my JCP advisor that I had failed to apply for a job back in may and asked me if i could prove that I had applied for it. I had my email hacked around that time and was advised by sky to reinstall windows so all my emails previous to that had gone. I informed them that I couldn't prove that I had but was unsure as it was 4 months previous.

 

I have recently been signed off as my depression is deepening and I have new problems that are being investigated by the doctor and the hospital. I signed off so that I could claim esa as was told u cant be in reciept of one and apply for the other. I checked my account on my usual payday and found that I hadn't been paid and when I phoned them to find out what had happened i was informed that they would pay me one weeks and if i was awarded esa they would decide when to pay me.

 

Saturday morning I get a brown envelope and in it was a letter informing me that i had been sanctioned for 13 weeks. I need to know if my being sanctioned after I applied for esa will affect my claim for it. If i dont get the esa what am i supposed to live on till january and how am i gonna be able to heat my home.

When JCP notify you of a sanction, they normally provide a copy of the specific job, including closing date, method of applying, contact details of employer. Hence, in appealing against the decision, you should approach the employer in order to

i) confirm the closing date of the application

ii) confirm the status of your application.

 

Information provided by Job Centre Plus is not always accurate - including advertising vacancies which do not exist, such as when the vacancy has been withdrawn or the closing date has been passed. In the case of agencies, Agency Clerks may have left the agency, and their records may not be accessible. And JCP Staff do not always even approach the employer- and throw in a false accusation of "failing to apply for a job without good reason".

 

On the basis of the information that you get from the employer, submitting another appeal would be advisable.

[abc123def]

If you want to apply for ESA you need to inform the DWP that you are closing your current claim for JSA if you haven't already done that.

 

I'm confused about your emails though, I have a new computer and all my sky emails are there from years back despite it being a new computer. It is sky who store them not the computer so you should still have them? I'm no longer with sky but still use their email address.

[angiep1964]

thanks for answering as to sky I have my email set up so that a copy is not left on the server when i download my emails to outlook. And the firm said I hadnt applied, but after 4 months how r u supposed to remember why or if

[RebeccaPidgeon]

thanks for answering as to sky I have my email set up so that a copy is not left on the server when i download my emails to outlook. And the firm said I hadnt applied, but after 4 months how r u supposed to remember why or if

In respect to the job, were you supposed to apply for the job based on the Job Description provided by Job Centre Plus (quite pitiful, frankly), or were you supposed to contact the employer for a copy of the job description and application form and then apply.

Ask the employer to check their records again. Also ask them to forward a copy of the job description and Person Specification. If there is anything in the Person Specification which is considered to be essential criteria and which you cant address, then that gives you justifiable reason as to why you couldn't apply.

 

In terms of emails... I would suggest that you use Googlemail as the main email server - if for no other reason than, if your computer fails, at least you have copies of emails.

Edited October 17, 2012 by RebeccaPidgeon
Additional Information Submitted

[Nystagmite]

If you want to apply for ESA you need to inform the DWP that you are closing your current claim for JSA if you haven't already done that.

 

The job centre have a form they fill in for you to stop your claim, which is then sent off.

[angiep1964]

had already signed off and put my claim in for esa before i got the letter about the sanction, my jcp adviser thought that they wouldnt do anything apart from a slap on the wrist to a 2 week sanction at worst

[flumps1976]

The sanction will remain on your claim until the exhaustion date. you can request a reconsideration of the decision but you will need to provide new additional information, do you still have access to the email account and if so did you clear out your sent items, if you didn't then great you should be able to confirm if you did send the application from your email address, unfortunately if you didn't then you will have to appeal against the decision instead.

Your claim for ESA will not be affected by the JSA sanction.

[angiep1964]

Hi all thanks for all your help have received my letter from esa today and have been awarded it now in the assessment phase. thanks again

Edited October 18, 2012 by angiep1964