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

Arrears of JSA following potential successful MR/appeal if not signing on during disallowance period?

AMuller
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Joined: 22 November 2017

Hi

I have this debt client who had just about everything go wrong with his MR request against a JSA disallowance from 15 November 2017.  This still has not been resolved,  client still has not claimed UC and has received one additional JSA payment for 15 November to 5 December 2017.

Now I wonder whether, assuming the disallowance decision turns out to be wrong, could the client even get JSA arrears paid for the whole period between date of disallowance and now? He says he kept proof of his jobsearch activities, but he did not sign on and had no contact with a work coach.

I vaguely remember from years ago from HRT case that there was a problem with not signing on at some point, and that there was a decision later that you don’t need to sign on when the claim is disallowed, but I have no idea what the current position is.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.


See below for details of what happened so far if you want a long read. 

Client last signed 14 11 2017, then JSA was disallowed from 15 11 17 for ‘failing to sign declaration’. Client went to some appointments arranged for him during November, tried to sign on again on 28 11 17 and says staff did not let him sign as claim ‘closed’. 

He lodged MR in Dec 17 and then got MP involved in Jan 18 as DWP denied receiving MR request although client has online proof of deliveyr.

Client still has not received a MR notice or any other response to his MR request, but his original MR letter plus attachments were recently returned to him in a DWP envelope, without any covering note or explanation.

He recently received a letter dated 27 4 18 advising him that a payment for period from 15 11 17 to 5 12 17 was issued and DWP informed MP that his MR has now been accepted and a payment has been issued. 

The letter dated 27 4 18 does not give the client any appeal rights,just asks him to ring if he wants more details about this payment. When we rang them they still said there was no record of any MR, just a note that sanction had been reconsidered, a payment was issued and the claim was ‘closed’.

Martin Williams
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Welfare rights advisor - CPAG, London

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So I think you now have a new, not properly notified decision, ending his JSA from a later date. That now needs to be challenged - could do MR of that or alternatively argue as not properly notified then it is not effective and they just need to pay in any event.

Argument for why he did not need to sign on post having his award ended incorrectly relies on CJSA/1080/2002 and GM v SSWP (JSA) [2014] UKUT 57 (AAC)- requirement to attend as a condition of entitlement lapses once told not entitled to JSA.

What might be a problem is retrospectively proving he was jobseeking….

AMuller
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Joined: 22 November 2017

Thanks, Martin, this is very helpful.

LJF
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Benefits caseworker - Manchester Citizens Advice Bureau

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Joined: 12 July 2010

similar query
my client claimed JSA - refused due to RTR
appealed
in january accepted RTR and has permanent residency
been trying to get arrears since but they are signing needs to make a new claim (in a full UC area now though) and cant have backdates as not been signing on.