For all intense purposes i am single and at home with parents. Dont read too much into that as i have a girlfriend and pay for my 2 children by by ex.
Anyway im agency and atthe moment i may or may not get work.
What i want to know is will i qualify for anything and how does it work if i get no work one week but a couple of days in the next. Im 37 and never signed on in my life.
You will get about £65 a week i think something along those lines.
Ive not signed on in years but what you need to do is call the DSS and start a claim they send you out the forms to fill in and arrange an interview at local job centre. Its a 0800 number.
Info here :
jobcentreplus.gov.uk/jcp/Cus … index.html
Years ago when i started on agency and wasnt getting much work i signed on, mainly because it keeps your NI contributions going.
Your allowed to work (i think) 15 hours a week and still sign on. What will happen is when you go for your fortnightly interview tell them and you fill in a form saying where you worked and how many hours etc… They will take the money you earned off the £65 p/w. Main sound like a hassle but its easier than signing off to go do a shift then having to re-sign on again.
If you end up going over 15 hours in a week say you get a few shifts one week you need to sign off. Then if its quiet the next week you can apply again. Think in that case they have fast track to apply again, its not like signing on from scratch.
it can be a pain in the arse but as i say it keeps your NI contributions going rather than leaving big gaps, also £65 is better than nothing.
Thanks for the quick reply never thought id have to do this.
Another thing hopefully you won’t be on the dole this long, but if you do end up signing on for more than 6months then they will want to put you on a training scheme.
Being on a training scheme or job club you still are on benifits but for government figures you aint classed as being unemployed.
So they will push you onto any scheme they can get you on which could be some right crap like sitting in a room learning how to type up CV’s being bored silly or pulling shoping trolleys outta local rivers.
There is other decent courses about like prob could do ADR, HIAB, or training in something else completly different to get a job as i said they just want you off their books so they will chuck you on the first thing they can get on you.
So if it does get to that point start looking for decent training schemes to go on.
Well they have refusedme Dole money…
Why? Cos the wife works and I have some savings, these savings are to buy a new truck when this downturn ends…
Dole say i have to spend it, get into arrears on the house before they will help out…
To be fair i only really want to cover my job hunting costs, Im not asking for the world. Beggers believe that someone like me who has never before been on the dole, can get nothing, yet out foreign friend can come here and get full living support for doing nothing…
Cant work this country out… 
Coddy:
Well they have refusedme Dole money…Why? Cos the wife works and I have some savings, these savings are to buy a new truck when this downturn ends…
Dole say i have to spend it, get into arrears on the house before they will help out…
To be fair i only really want to cover my job hunting costs, Im not asking for the world. Beggers believe that someone like me who has never before been on the dole, can get nothing, yet out foreign friend can come here and get full living support for doing nothing…
Cant work this country out…
Re your savings Get shot of it get ur mum or family friend to hold it for you tell them you owed money and paid it back theres was around it
the dole are hopeless im never going back ont he dole unless ir eally have to.
i tried to get help for my hgv licence years ago but they wouldnt help me yet ive met folk who have been on the dole who got their class c paid for them.
why should i have to sit on the dole for 6 months to get something from them when the first thing i ask you is a possible way of getting me a flaming job, the dole needs to sort itself out if folk want to train instead of bein on the dole for 6 mionths then let them, youd save yourself loads of money
gogzy:
the dole are hopeless im never going back ont he dole unless ir eally have to.i tried to get help for my hgv licence years ago but they wouldnt help me yet ive met folk who have been on the dole who got their class c paid for them.
why should i have to sit on the dole for 6 months to get something from them when the first thing i ask you is a possible way of getting me a flaming job, the dole needs to sort itself out if folk want to train instead of bein on the dole for 6 mionths then let them, youd save yourself loads of money
I was in this position 12years ago very sad to see that no progress no common sense is still the way we do things.At that time there were vacancies for bus drivers but I could not afford training after paying for class c.training ,but no exp.=no job.
LASHHGV:
For all intense purposes i am single and at home with parents. Dont read too much into that as i have a girlfriend and pay for my 2 children by by ex.
Anyway im agency and at the moment i may or may not get work.
What i want to know is will i qualify for anything and how does it work if i get no work one week but a couple of days in the next. Im 37 and never signed on in my life.
I`m in a very similar situation as you, you can claim benefit of around £50 p/w, but very little else. so all you need to worry about is covering your basic bills (rent to rellies, fuel for car, food, and maybe a few beers) so discounting the ex + 2 kids, you overheads should be low enough to keep your head above water
AFAIK claims can only be back dated 3 days from the last day you worked. So make an appointment to sign on via the 0800 0 55 66 88 national telephone number, they will conduct a 20-30min interview over the phone and input your data into the system. Then they will make an appointment for you at the local jobcentre office to see an advisor, this may be 7-10 days in advance, leaving you with the delemma of wanting to sign on, but it can spoil the whole thing should you get some work from the agy, forcing you to ring up and cancel the appointment. Putting you back to square 1, which can get frustrating after a couple of times. 
Once the interview is complete over the phone, they will also send out the nessesary forms for you to fill out (or these may be partly pre-filled out). check them and take them with you to the appointment. you should arrive for your appointment 20+ mins earlier than stated as they will get someone else to sit down with you and go through the paperwork/forms and check the info, and make sure you ain`t missed owt out. This save time for the advisor your due to see at your appointment. You will also need 2 forms of ID, 1 if which should be photographic
You have several option when it comes to filling out the forms.
- fill them out to the best of your knowledge
- play dumb and leave 99% un-completed, and let them who know fill it out. giving only minimal info, & not letting your mouth run away with you
nick2008:
Re your savings Get shot of it get ur mum or family friend to hold it for you tell them you owed money and paid it back theres was around it
Thats a difficult position, as its classed as fraud
Besides wanting to know about your savings, they will also want details of your bank account, so they can pay any benefits into it.
Personelly I never give them the bank info. (see 2. above)
However you can ask them to pay you for a short period (1-6 weeks) via the post office with a Girocheque, they wont like it, and will push you every time you visit them to supply them with a bank account to pay you. BUT if you explain that the only monies in your bank account (lets say £200+) :wink: is there to cover direct debits that are due at the end of the month and any subsiquent monies paid into that account (inc unemployment benefit) will be swallowed up by the bank to cover any other outstanding bills before you can get your hands on it, leaving you with nothing, hence why you really would like to be paid by Girocheque, so you get the benefit paid to you before the bank can get their greedy hands on it. Thats why I ask for the giro (see 2. above) Without details of your bank account big brother will have more trouble finding out what you do have in the bank. Also during the interview with the jobcentre advisor. explain to them that your an agy driver and you may or may not get the odd 1-2 days work at short notice, and ask them to give you a part time working form, any work you get you will have to declare on this form. IF the agy income that week exceeds the benefit, youll get no benefit. BUT it will keep you claim open.
BUT IMO if you get 1-2 days work each week for 2+ weeks Id sign off as its less hassle. But once youve signed on, your entitled to make a rapid re-claim within 12 weeks. This cuts down the waiting time for starting a claim for benefit. You could in theory walk into the jobcentre, ask to make a rapid re-claim. and either see an advisor there and then, or within a day or 2.
Being in the same position as you, Ive signed on, the monday, got a phone call from the agy while in the dole office, worked tuesday/wednesday. and signed off thursday, knowing Im in the system and can make a rapid re-claim at any point within 12 weeks. Also because Ive only signed on for very short periods, (sign on wk1, work wk2+3, sign on wk4 etc) they are more tolerant to allowing you to be paid by giro. :wink: So if your able to stand the revolving door syndrome, of working occasionally for the agy, and reclaiming on/off within 12 weeks, go for it you may get away with it for a while without being hounded, as in their eyes, youll be a sucessful stat, of a body back in work that week
check out entitledto.co.uk/
gogzy:
why should i have to sit on the dole for 6 months to get something from them
There are several free courses available immediately atm to pass the time
forklift inc
same goes - by rights I should be on the dole to keep ni up etc.
I’ve signed on before and can honestly say I’d rather beg for money! They seem to think anyone who signs on wants money for nothing and isn’t interested in working - everyone’s scum, you can see it in the way they look at you.
Why? because you’re unfortunate enough to be out of work! idiots.
I also hate the “push 'em into any job” attitude, What good will that do!? You go work in some factory or picking sprouts for a fortnight then have to go back - and they refuse to pay you anything now because you quit a “perfectly good” job!!
duck fat! I’ll pay my dues when I’m working again.
What a sorry state this country’s in.
What a sorry state this country’s in.
Going to get worse.
Small point but i believe that work on a Sunday doesnt count. So you can be on benefit and work Sundays for the agency.
Missing a few years of NI doesnt matter so much now -
“From 2010 all men and women reaching pension age on or after 6/4/2010 will just need 30 [years] of NI contributions to qualify for a full state pension.”
Santa:
Small point but i believe that work on a Sunday doesnt count. So you can be on benefit and work Sundays for the agency.
YES it does count and earnings, if more than £55.50 will reduce dole to £5 - so any work done loses the first £50.50p 
Santa:
Missing a few years of NI doesnt matter so much now -“From 2010 all men and women reaching pension age on or after 6/4/2010 will just need 30 [years] of NI contributions to qualify for a full state pension.”
will make no odds as means testing will make up any shortfall to the minimum needed allowance - the only people who it might affect is those not on means tested benfits - ie those with savings or big private pensions
Can you not claim Job Seekers allowance? But again if you work over 16 hours then you have to inform them and then re-claim!
cookie1981:
Can you not claim Job Seekers allowance? But again if you work over 16 hours then you have to inform them and then re-claim!
Tha same goes if you earn in one week more than £91.68p which is 16 hours X minimum wage (£5.73p)