Quote:
Originally Posted by harwood red
What I don't get with this story (and yes I have read the link) is that they weren't claiming everything they could have. This is more down to someone somewhere advising them incorrectly and nothing to do with a couple having to live on £57.00 per week as that is even below a single person's JSA entitlement of £67.50 unless they were paying something else direct from benefit.
If it's a couple where one is claiming JSA (not the other) then the rate is £105.95.
As there seems to be an issue regarding the ladies literacy and mental health issues it wouldn't surprise me to find out she was on benefits (as it seems to imply at bottom of the news story) but it was being paid into an account she wasn't aware of.
So really it's about someone looking out for them I agree, but if they don't accept help then they are the hardest to help as I know only to well in my job.
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They wouldn't have been eligable to a joint claim to JSA as she would have to have been actively seeking work herself, and due to her health problems she probably wasn't looking for work. Why she wasn't claiming ESA (no1 can claim Incapacity Benefit anymore) is anyone's guess, again why wasn't she getting DLA, her husband could have then got Income support & carers allowance. The report speaks rubbish in saying she had to be diagnosed with a disorder to claim benefits. It seems more likely that they were frightened to approach her GP for the help needed (i.e to get a medical certificate) to claim the correct benefits as they feared she would have been put into care. All round its a sorry state of affairs, but as I said in earlier post, there's always two sides to every story.