Claiming Jobseekers

[Plonker 3]

Not had much work lately, had enough money coming in to get by but that seems to be drying up pretty quick right now. So was thinking would I get any Dole if I was to apply for it just to give me a little it of something to at least help make ends meet, being self employed I have never had to deal with this sort of thing before. How does it work or would I just get told tough lick get on with it?

 

[Octopus]

If you go and sign on, make sure you claim for income based JSA, as its far more lucrative from a tax credits point of view, especially if you have a partner working.

 

[StuSpiers]

you are allowed to work 16 hours a week before you loose your entitlement.

Its a ball ache though

 

[telectrix]

if you have a partner working, her earnings would be taken into account for income based and you'd probably get nowt.. if your NI stamps are up to date then you'll get JSA

 

[i=p/u]

clean windows if you have too. it is just a metter of going there sitting down waiting and waiting then you get money in your bank which youl spend that day

 

[Richard Burns]

The only caveat I might introduce is that they expect you to be seeking a job and I am not sure that they would accept: I put an ad in the local paper for my self employed business!

However if you do not have enough money then JSA is the way to go, unfortunately.

 

[sedgy34]

A self employed sparky on the dole??? dont go there!!!
if i were you go to kitchen and bathroom companys introduce yourself as a spark and the work will come in.

 

[kingeri]

What a depressing thread.

 

[StuSpiers]

I think more of us are in the same situation than meets the eye.

I keep having to check my phone - see if it still works.

It's like a ghost town in my area work wise at the moment.

Been in the trade 17 years it has NEVER been this bad.

 

[alarm man]

clean windows if you have too. it is just a metter of going there sitting down waiting and waiting then you get money in your bank which youl spend that day

a spark has to clean windows to put food on the table..ffs..

 

[Plonker 3]

I ain't afraid to take on other work, I have done all sorts recently from erecting bike sheds to jet washing patio ares, but the money only lasts so long and you can't justify a Sparks wage for them sort if jobs.

The biggest problem seems to be finding work, I have adverts in a few local magazines, flyers and business cards distributed by friends, family and myself but that isn't working. Only started at S/E at the beginning of the year. I didn't expect the work to come flooding in straight away .Had a reasonable amount of money to start up with. But that pot has seriously been hit hard lately.

 

[robsparky1975]

Dilb you are the same as me,i started ive been sole trader for 15 months,it takes time,i advertise but still dont get the calls,im yet to go for dole,id be on the news if i did,man walks in to local job centre and goes berserk and throttles 10 hooded shisters who are only there for the beer money.As awful as it sounds agency work maybe.keep at it

 

[Plonker 3]

Been hitting the agencies recently, but again because I am self employed I do not have a CSCS card as no point working for myself. More expense at a time when money is tight.

 

[Paul.M]

I went to the job center Jan last year, never again! I won't have a rant on your thread, I'd get banned for life if I did.


On a positive note. If you sign on they ask you what you need to gain employment? They will pay for the cscs card but be prepared to jump through hoops to get it, you'll see what I mean.

They also offer you funding for training up to a limit of £500 to get you back to work. This is NI good if your self employed because every qualification that you have costs more than that so there is nothing you can apply for that would be beneficial to you except the cscs. BTW they don't offer the ecs card for some reason?

Because I've been in the same boat, loan £35 from family/friends to get your cscs card, register with hmrc for a cis card and apply to agencies or sub contract to other firms. I wish you all the best mate

 

[i=p/u]

a spark has to clean windows to put food on the table..ffs..

we dont all get a laid out life of sparky work in front of us. and as for asking bathroom company's etc, you very likely have to put the money upfront first which aint easy if not much work happening and have a family.

i aint been paid off a builder in about 7 weeks. and by time i get payed and pay off my account at wholesalers and pay other things im back to square one not that much better off.

so if you clean windows, bit of power hosing cutting grass its all cash in hand.. which keeps you in lambert and butler anyway and petrol to keep motor running..

 

[Spazz]

If your partner is working more than 24hrs you wont get anything!

If your partner is working less than 16 hours get them to sign on (as the lead claimant) that way you can work upto 24 hours


As a guide:
Claimant can work upto 16 hours per week
Partner of claimant can work upto 24 hours per week

Claim income based JSA and you get full Housing Benefit and full council tax benefit

If you and your partner starts working less than 24 hours you will lose your working tax credit (if you have children) but you will get a higher rate of child tax credit.


Im signed on at the moment (Well my partner is on ESA - same as JSA - just a not able to work benefit) this allows me to work upto 24hrs and get £111 per week.

 

[lfcsparkycus]

ive been signing on since february this year, and its s**t, got no help with anything at all. if you were a junky with no ambitions they will help you no end. being self employed you will have to prove everything you"ve earnt before you start to get your £67.50 a week. luckily for me ive just got a job with local council, its pat testing but gonna have a wage every month. hope things pick up for you mate, people like yourself dont deserve to end up in dole office

 

[Octopus]

Claim income based JSA and you get full Housing Benefit and full council tax benefit.

Claim contribution based JSA and get nothing at all after 6 months.

The benefits system needs a major over haul.

 

[alarm man]

Claim contribution based JSA and get nothing at all after 6 months.

The benefits system needs a major over haul.

its not the benefits system thats needs a overhaul,its society that needs to change,we have the best welfare system in the world,just some choose to play it to its max and take take take,i dont know dillb but he seems a canny lad who wants to work,if he cant find work its the welfare system that helps the likes of him,because you know when he gets a job he's going to be earning and paying his taxes,the ones he's paid before to allow him to benefit from the welfare system,just he isnt getting the help because too many people are taking out what they have never have and never will put in. if people had the morals of yesteryear we wouldnt be in this situation,society is to blame

 

[Dave 85]

Having 'the best welfare system in the world' has contributed a great deal to making modern society workshy if you ask me.
I understand some people literally cant get work no matter how hard they try and these people need to be looked after but it has become far to easy to make a career out of being 'on the sick' these days.

 

[brucelee]

My partner was left disabled in 2005 after private operation we both had to give up work since then i have repeatedly contacted Jokecentre by telephone email and by apointment to get help with training, funding, advice
etc i have contacted every agency i could for help and advice to go self employed
I had a apprenticeship in 86 never completed but worked on and off al my working life with electrical installation and some maintainance etc tried all these yrs to get back on apprenticeship type course done loads of other different jobs and some very low paid to have any kind of future except the dole

I ended up being told a repeatedly there is NO TRAINING NO FUNDING NO NOTHING not even any useful advice and that basicaly as a non professional carer that i am not classed as unemployed and there is no help
If i signed on then they may be able to help me in 6 months
WHAT THE ???????
so in 2009 i paid £4020 for a private course got some basic quals
in 2010 after agin seeking help paid for 2391 and passed £540 i studied about 4 months solid 12 hrs a day
contacted a organisation that helped you to set up self employed and gain access to grants under north west regional development fund for upto £2k as i live in former coalfield area
THEN THE TORYS GOT IN AND SLASHJED AND CUT IT ALL AGINA JUST LIKE THE MAGGIE DAYS soon as i heard they were in I knew it was only going to get worse for people such as myself
in 2010 tried to gain employment further college courses for 2330 or self employment again
missed out at one of local colleges after initial being told a place for lv3 contacted every college within 100 mile radius
and 31st march 2011 last day of registration got offered a place of i could get there in 30 mins to enrol did so through rush hour and got the place nitially told £800 then becauxse of certain benefits only had to pay the exam fees
WHY DIDNT THE DOLE TEL ME THIS IN FIRST PLACE save us laods of cash we had saved and since
Only to find out day after they had extended after all

went on date i was told to start 21st april2011 to find out no course and all the other students had gone back to lv2 as they had been fast tracked so no lv3 course until sept
i ended up sitting in with them why they finished lv2 properly
I will be finished this week with colege having completed lv3 got distinctions so far as I studied solid again at home we had 8 tutors since sept so you can guess how it was to be fair to the 2 latest they are ok but we only had them a matter of weeks and up until them coming was only covering the units for 301 so the syllabus for 302 and 303 have gonbe out the window and basicaly teach yourself how to pass a exam.
put it this way the 6 week fast track course was better yes i have learned more about 3 phase theory etc but very limited practical apart from helping to teach the others in recent weeks how to I&T as they missed this out wehn fast tracked under lv2 so not there fault C&Gs and all the other muppets who had a helping hand in coming up with this shambles

i registered with elecsa £444 passed with a A after doing complete rewire and alarm system for free for the mother in law PLI £66 calibrated test equpiment and all related books for study and day to day use must be easy over £6k maybe £7k
who knows all i know is My partner and i have been spending evrything we can so i can gain us some kind of better finaincial future
done some voluntary work for a local firm doing council rewires and also some commercial
I am also doing my brothers as he wanted loads doing again for free

I seem to do electrics for free and basicaly it costs me lol

think i have deffo been doing it wrong all these yrs hehe

i must be the only free electrician in the whole country

dont give up mate keep plodding if you need to sign on to survive then do so NEEDS must and all that

Good luck hope the work picks up soon

 

[i=p/u]

your mad bruclee but i think id employ you.

it aint easy but by reading your post your civil servent staff need shot.

i got csr card for free got 2391 for 90 quid got level 2 and level 3 for about 300 quid including exam fees. couldnt get out with a spark for the first year but now with the forum and my self drive im getting somewhere . have two houses going on which really adrag out, just finished a doctors surgery new lights, dada trunking , extra sockets etc ,work for facilities managment company days here and there and other bits and bobs.

im talking the talk at minute bot probably under pricing and runnng round like nutter for just a wage which aint seen in ages..

 

[sbrown2]

Although I work in manufacturing, my experience of people who have started and maintained a company(or been self employed) is that they have understood the benefits system very well. Whether it is right or wrong is another matter. I will also say that until these people these people started out on there own they paid into the system.

 

[Geordie Spark]

Although I work in manufacturing, my experience of people who have started and maintained a company(or been self employed) is that they have understood the benefits system very well. Whether it is right or wrong is another matter. I will also say that until these people these people started out on there own they paid into the system.

I too worked in manufacturing first as a Precision Engineer, then Machine Shop Foreman and finally as a Training Instructor tasked with the selection, training & welfare of some 80 apprentices in a large engineering company. This last job lasted for 5 years until everything went belly-up & I spent the next 13 months relying one the Benefits System which I certainly did NOT understand !!! I found the whole thing to be shambolic, discriminatory and downright degrading and that was why I decided to start up on my own. I didn't have much idea about starting / running a business either, but at least I was to be master of my own destiny & not have my life ruled by some snotty-nosed clerk at the Job Centre who could bollox-up my day or not - depending on whether he / she had enjoyed his / her breakfast that morning or had a shag the night before !!

My 27 years of self-employment were probably the hardest of my life, but they were also the happiest.

One of my sons on the other hand DOES know the benefits system VERY well - so well in fact that the bone idle ******* has never had a job in his life & has spent 16 years (so far) sponging off the rest of us. He celebrated his birthday last week by being given the keys to a flat - all paid for by the "Benefits System".

I'm disgusted at the whole thing ...... and him !!!

 

[Octopus]

IOne of my sons on the other hand DOES know the benefits system VERY well - so well in fact that the bone idle ******* has never had a job in his life & has spent 16 years (so far) sponging off the rest of us. He celebrated his birthday last week by being given the keys to a flat - all paid for by the "Benefits System"
QUOTE]

Does he have a family?

 

[Geordie Spark]

IOne of my sons on the other hand DOES know the benefits system VERY well - so well in fact that the bone idle ******* has never had a job in his life & has spent 16 years (so far) sponging off the rest of us. He celebrated his birthday last week by being given the keys to a flat - all paid for by the "Benefits System"
QUOTE]

Does he have a family?

No he doesn't ...... he's too bloody lazy even for that !!

 

[Octopus]

No he doesn't ...... he's too bloody lazy even for that !!

So how on earth did he get the flat? Can't he live with you???????? lol

 

[Geordie Spark]

So how on earth did he get the flat? Can't he live with you???????? lol

The sod has been living with me & his mother. I threw him out & he was gone for 3 weeks - until his mother took him back in behind my back, and somewhere in the middle of that debacle, he applied for housing and it looks like he got it.

 

[Octopus]

The sod has been living with me & his mother. I threw him out & he was gone for 3 weeks - until his mother took him back in behind my back, and somewhere in the middle of that debacle, he applied for housing and it looks like he got it.

Makes you wonder why we work when things like this happen. No job, "could" live at home, now a complete drain on the state.

I'm guessing that he's ordered Sky TV too!

 

[Geordie Spark]

Makes you wonder why we work when things like this happen. No job, "could" live at home, now a complete drain on the state.

I'm guessing that he's ordered Sky TV too!

He probably has - I haven't asked. I couldn't give a flying one.

It was because of him & his brother that we divorced - after being together since 1968. Never mind, since then I've got together with a Pikey lass who's great fun to be with so every cloud etc. .......

 

[Geordie Spark]

Makes you wonder why we work when things like this happen. No job, "could" live at home, now a complete drain on the state.

I'm guessing that he's ordered Sky TV too!

Well I worked because I enjoyed working - and for me it was a matter of pride to work & support myself & family.

 

[alarm man]

I too worked in manufacturing first as a Precision Engineer, then Machine Shop Foreman and finally as a Training Instructor tasked with the selection, training & welfare of some 80 apprentices in a large engineering company. This last job lasted for 5 years until everything went belly-up & I spent the next 13 months relying one the Benefits System which I certainly did NOT understand !!! I found the whole thing to be shambolic, discriminatory and downright degrading and that was why I decided to start up on my own. I didn't have much idea about starting / running a business either, but at least I was to be master of my own destiny & not have my life ruled by some snotty-nosed clerk at the Job Centre who could bollox-up my day or not - depending on whether he / she had enjoyed his / her breakfast that morning or had a shag the night before !!

My 27 years of self-employment were probably the hardest of my life, but they were also the happiest.

One of my sons on the other hand DOES know the benefits system VERY well - so well in fact that the bone idle ******* has never had a job in his life & has spent 16 years (so far) sponging off the rest of us. He celebrated his birthday last week by being given the keys to a flat - all paid for by the "Benefits System".

I'm disgusted at the whole thing ...... and him !!!

i like your old school style gs,not enough of it around, parents mollycoddling their kids,who have it so easy they dont want to work,because they will need a 30k job to maintain the standards they have at home,too many lazy bassers around..

 

[Geordie Spark]

i like your old school style gs,not enough of it around, parents mollycoddling their kids,who have it so easy they dont want to work,because they will need a 30k job to maintain the standards they have at home,too many lazy bassers around..

Thank you

I inherited that from me Dad.

He served his apprenticeship as a fitter & turner - when it MEANT something - then as it was nearing the end of the war, he was called-up & joined REME (Army Engineers) & was assigned to Bomb Disposal looking after their gear etc.

After the war, he got a job at a paint factory as a Maintenance Fitter where he remained until he retired by which time he rose through the ranks to the giddy heights of Maintenance Manager. In all that time, we could count on both hands the number of days he was off sick.

He had me working in our shed which had a home-made lathe in it which he rebuilt using nothing more than hand tools, He even made a four jaw chuck for it using an old lathe at work when on night shift, hacksaw, files & hammer & chisel. He won a prize in a competition for that effort. He also made a drilling machine & a vertical milling machine - both from scratch. He was one Hell of a craftsman. He would have something made using not much more than his hand tools while I was still looking for a machine to do the same job !!

By the time I was 13, I was building working models of steam locomotives & had my apprenticeship as a Precision Engineer in the bag. The trouble was ...... I REALLY wanted to be a spark !!!

 

[alarm man]

Thank you

I inherited that from me Dad.

He served his apprenticeship as a fitter & turner - when it MEANT something - then as it was nearing the end of the war, he was called-up & joined REME (Army Engineers) & was assigned to Bomb Disposal looking after their gear etc.

After the war, he got a job at a paint factory as a Maintenance Fitter where he remained until he retired by which time he rose through the ranks to the giddy heights of Maintenance Manager. In all that time, we could count on both hands the number of days he was off sick.

He had me working in our shed which had a home-made lathe in it which he rebuilt using nothing more than hand tools, He even made a four jaw chuck for it using an old lathe at work when on night shift, hacksaw, files & hammer & chisel. He won a prize in a competition for that effort. He also made a drilling machine & a vertical milling machine - both from scratch. He was one Hell of a craftsman. He would have something made using not much more than his hand tools while I was still looking for a machine to do the same job !!

By the time I was 13, I was building working models of steam locomotives & had my apprenticeship as a Precision Engineer in the bag. The trouble was ...... I REALLY wanted to be a spark !!!

craftsman..now there's a term not used much these days,everyones an engineer now..

 

[Geordie Spark]

craftsman..now there's a term not used much these days,everyones an engineer now..

Aye ... in their ain heids !!

 

[i=p/u]

lads your forgetting the one thing you know. you can go to work for someone and have a crap time for 200 a week. then ccosts to go to work the some house keep or rent then you have very little left to play with or you can claim the dole for70 a week and do nothing. plus crisis loans, cash in hand for odd jobs.. it doesnt pay for some people to work. everyone situation is different. but i believe its good for your sanity to get up in morning and go to work and come home at tea time.

i hated having to turn up and sign.

 

[sbrown2]

I agree, its good for your sanity to go to work. Its better for your sanity to get as much money as possible for the work you do or do not do. I've never been able to get around the benefits system as being PAYE. But if, and I say if, I worked for any builder friends outside of my normal work I would expect to maximise my earnings by certain means. As I've said the most successful people seem to know how to manipulate the system.

 

[robsparky1975]

lets not talk then about the woman who has 17 kids and claims £60k a year in hand outs,sick moo that one.My dad said to me 16 what do you think your doing siitng there on your backside,go get a job or your out,i did and always kept those values,jobseekers money should be earned not given for doing nothing,I look around my local area now and its all scummy mummys,18-25 year olds 3 kids hanging off them,and they get more money after never working a day in there life and never paying a penny in taxes,yet the average working bloke who has paid all his taxes and then gets made redundant gets less.The system is unfair in my view on the people that have put the most into .

 

[Geordie Spark]

lets not talk then about the woman who has 17 kids and claims £60k a year in hand outs,sick moo that one.My dad said to me 16 what do you think your doing siitng there on your backside,go get a job or your out,i did and always kept those values,jobseekers money should be earned not given for doing nothing,I look around my local area now and its all scummy mummys,18-25 year olds 3 kids hanging off them,and they get more money after never working a day in there life and never paying a penny in taxes,yet the average working bloke who has paid all his taxes and then gets made redundant gets less.The system is unfair in my view on the people that have put the most into .

Your damn' right it's unfair.

One time when I was out of work & claiming JSA, I used some of my savings to update my gas qualifications. The cours & assessment cost over £900 & when the Dept of Work & Pensions found out they stopped my JSA because I had deprived myself of capital.

And you wonder why I'm a bit of an anarchist !!!!

 

[i=p/u]

the system doesnt work for some and its perfect for some. 16 kids is a joke but her choice or she like the buckfast and forgets her female condom..

 

[flyingsausage]

the system doesnt work for some and its perfect for some. 16 kids is a joke but her choice or she like the buckfast and forgets her female condom..

You have to feel sorry for her kids,they will not have had a very good start to life - all they will know is getting money from the system and will grow up thinking that is how they have to live as well.

 

[Dave 85]

Its all the Labour governments fault. All of it. Every person they could get on the handouts was another labour voter in the bag. Not only did they F over the taxpayer but they F'd over the people they have turned into workshy wasters and their descendants for generations to come. If labour get voted in again I will seriously consider moving to australia.

 

[alarm man]

Its all the Labour governments fault. All of it. Every person they could get on the handouts was another labour voter in the bag. Not only did they F over the taxpayer but they F'd over the people they have turned into workshy wasters and their descendants for generations to come. If labour get voted in again I will seriously consider moving to australia.

you really do read the sun too much,how is it labours fault,its not even the tories fault,its peoples fault its societys fault,its the fault of greedy selfish people be it the ones that have spawned from generations of work shyness or the freeloaders who risk life and limb to get here to take take take,how to fix it,fnose how it will be done,you cant just stop it overnight and kick everyone out their homes and stop benefits as you will have thousands homeless with no money,more crime etc,its needs to be weeded out but that will take years..

 

[flyingsausage]

you really do read the sun too much,how is it labours fault,its not even the tories fault,its peoples fault its societys fault,its the fault of greedy selfish people be it the ones that have spawned from generations of work shyness or the freeloaders who risk life and limb to get here to take take take,how to fix it,fnose how it will be done,you cant just stop it overnight and kick everyone out their homes and stop benefits as you will have thousands homeless with no money,more crime etc,its needs to be weeded out but that will take years..

The system is what the system is,and it is far to late to try to change it now.

 

[alarm man]

The system is what the system is,and it is far to late to try to change it now.

the system doesnt really need changed that much,peoples attitudes to not working do,tho we have to produce real jobs with real wages first

 

[sbrown2]

I heard the phrase "decent jobs with decent wages". Employers know that if they offer jobs at reduced wages that the benefits system can pick up the slack. Especially if people have children. Working and Child Tax Credits can be paid up to £900 per month I believe. Certain employers are well aware of this. So also are a great many self employed people. Pay yourself a minimum wage and utilise the benefits system. Its wrong and I despise it but its the system.

 

[Dave 85]

you really do read the sun too much,how is it labours fault,its not even the tories fault,its peoples fault its societys fault,its the fault of greedy selfish people be it the ones that have spawned from generations of work shyness or the freeloaders who risk life and limb to get here to take take take,how to fix it,fnose how it will be done,you cant just stop it overnight and kick everyone out their homes and stop benefits as you will have thousands homeless with no money,more crime etc,its needs to be weeded out but that will take years..

So labour has made absolutely no contribution to the benefit culture in the uk? That seems to be what you are implying.....
What newspapers have you been reading?

 

[lfcsparkycus]

get the foreigners off the benefits, they dont deserve it seeing as they havent contributed anything, come here to work or p*** off home.to many in job centre claiming yet you see them dishing out kebabs or delivering chinese in evenings cash in hand

 

[StuSpiers]

get the foreigners off the benefits, they dont deserve it seeing as they havent contributed anything, come here to work or p*** off home.to many in job centre claiming yet you see them dishing out kebabs or delivering chinese in evenings cash in hand

Thats the EU for ya.

 

[flyingsausage]

I heard the phrase "decent jobs with decent wages". Employers know that if they offer jobs at reduced wages that the benefits system can pick up the slack. Especially if people have children. Working and Child Tax Credits can be paid up to £900 per month I believe. Certain employers are well aware of this. So also are a great many self employed people. Pay yourself a minimum wage and utilise the benefits system. Its wrong and I despise it but its the system.

This is very true