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benefits sob stories
i have a benefits sob story/rant about incompetence to get off my chest
firstly: yes, i should get a job. wah wah wah, etc.
Basically, I've been signing on since 28th February, and failing to get any work
Just a week or two ago my temp agency started being a bit more helpful and managed to get me a 5 days of work. when i went to sign on again, i told them about the work and they told me to fill in a form declaring this, and said that my money should arrive as usual with deductions or whatever.
to which i said "oh i haven't received any money yet" (which is true, as i'd just assumed that it was taking extra long to process). the lady i was signing on with checked her system, and saw that my application for jobseekers allowance had been rejected at the end of march, because i hadn't handed in proof of the savings that I had declared on my original application.
but i had. i did give them my bank statements for all my accounts.
so the first i hear about them rejecting my claim is because i happened to ask someone at the job centre.
anyway, the woman i signed on with made an appointment for me to come in with my bank statements and set it all right. i went in, and, apparently, because i never received any benefits from the month + of signing on, i now have to make a completely new claim, and make a separate claim to backdate my claim, which i'm sure they'll refuse, saying it was my fault for not handing in bank statements (which i did do).
anyway, today, 3 days after i found out that my claim had been cancelled, and two weeks after it had actually been cancelled, i received a letter informing me thus:
Dear Mr Alcxxk,
YOUR CLAIM FOR JOBSEEKER'S ALLOWANCE
We cannot pay you an allowance from 28 February 2011. This is because:
the law says we cannot pay you.
OTHER HELP BE ENTITLED TO........... etc.
"the law says we cannot pay you"
how crap is that? really crap
anyway, boo hoo, TLDR etc but
1) advice?
2) sympathy?
3) feel free to share your experiences.
i do wonder if its anything at all similar to this http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/apr/01/jobcentres-tricking-people-benefit-sanctions
just deliberately shafting peoples applications so that it becomes so difficult to claim benefits that people don't bother