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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Income support, JSA and tax credits  →  Thread

Should JSA be stopped if a new sick note is issued whilst client is seeking a mandatory reconsideration?

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nevip
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Welfare rights adviser - Sefton Council, Liverpool

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My reading of reg 55 is that it allows a person who is unable to work and does not satisfy the labour market conditions to be treated as satisfying them for a period of 2 weeks.  Or, read another way, it simply waives the requirement of satisfying them.

Mr Finch
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Benefits adviser - Isle of Wight CAB

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nevip - 27 March 2014 11:09 AM

My reading of reg 55 is that it allows a person who is unable to work and does not satisfy the labour market conditions to be treated as satisfying them for a period of 2 weeks.  Or, read another way, it simply waives the requirement of satisfying them.

Agreed.

Having a sick note is not sufficient to show that a person has actual LCW after a medical assessment. If it were, a lot of the problems for claimants would be ameliorated! The DWP can’t have it both ways.

Bryan R
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So in those 2 weeks use a JSA28? But a client can only use these twice in any one year. Or am I missing the point?

nevip
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Hi Brian

I wasn’t going to go as far as saying your missing the point but if a person satisfies the labour market conditions (as well as the others) then reg 55 simply does not apply.  As Mr Finch says, the sick note has no relevance for the JSA.  It is a red herring.  The purpose of the sick note is for the ESA MR only, and any subsequent appeal.

Bryan R
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Understand now, so why do they give away free red herrings? Or is that standard practice

nevip
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Welfare rights adviser - Sefton Council, Liverpool

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Sorry Tony.  That was a slip.  For MR substitute the word appeal.

nevip
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However, if a person satisfies the labour market conditions (as well as the others) then reg 55 of the JSA regs simply does not apply.  The point I was trying to make is that the sick note should not have been used to stop his JSA.

benefitsadviser
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The problem being that poorly trained frontline JSA staff are so desperate to meet their (non existent) targets that they will try anything to close a claim, legal or otherwise.

One of my clients on JSA while doing ESA MR went to sign on and asked what she was to do with her sicknote. The adviser thought all his xmases had come at once and said “Dont worry, simply sign here, sign off and your sick money will be paid in 2 weeks” , which it wasnt obviously.

This morning a 59 year old JSA claimant told me that when he turns 60 next month he can sign off and claim pension Credit. I told him that info was a few years out of date and asked him who told him that. Any guesses guys and gals? The “advice ” these people give isnt just wrong, its downright dangerous. The guy is eligible for pension credit in 2020.

unhindered by talent
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Welfare Rights Team, Aberdeenshire Council

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Sorry to drag this thread up again but what happens if the sick note you are NOT sending in is more than 6 weeks late as the reconsideration is taking so long? Would the ESA claim under reconsideration stop and another have to be made?

My client FTA an assessment during assessment phase and is claiming ‘good cause’. She has claimed JSA but her sick note was due on May 3rd. If it’s not in by June 9th, my concern is that it ends her ESA claim. On the other hand, if she sends it in, her JSA may stop.