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While I was waiting for my benefits to come through I was told there could be up to a 4 week delay in my first payment, due to the large amount of new claims swamping the system.
I asked how I was supposed to survive until then, I was told to apply for a crisis loan.
They now do this over the 'phone. One of the questions I was asked was, is there a family member or friend I could borrow money from to see me through?
My reply was no, they are all busy looking after themselves. She then said she would ring me back with the decision within 1/2 an hour.
True to her word she did ring back, she informed me I would not be getting a crisis loan because she had spoken to those nice people at the Job Centre and my first two weeks entitlement would magically appear in my bank account the following day, which it did.
I wonder how many people have put themselves into debt with friends or family because of this obviously flawed system?
Surely we shouldn't be recommended to try borrowing from others, (I might have tried using a loan shark), just because the Job Centre claim to have a 'Backlog'?