Have you ever been on benefits?

[Freamon]

Ah 1983, I remember it well....

Sums up what I remember about 1983.

[EternalOptimist]

Fook me EO. Raymond Blanc must be bricking it in case you ever put yourself forward for Masterchef!!

dont staaart.

I never worked out what went well with chappie

thyme probbly

[wim121]

Tried to claim JSA when I was 19 or so for a week or two, they never ended up paying me despite saying they would.

Tried to claim incapacity six/seven years back when I injured my leg. They said there was no proof, despite hospital discharge forms and a massive brace around my leg. Couldnt continue with normal work because a suit wouldnt fit, so I had to wait tables for crap money by hopping between them. They wouldnt give me JSA either as they took a snapshot of my contributions from when I was a student and refused income based because the OH worked.

I think it is moral to claim for what you genuinely need to claim for, so claim for JSA if you are actually looking for a job. Not people who sit home on DLA when there is nothing wrong with them. However in my experience, they waste hours of your time, mess you around for weeks and then never pay you. In that time, I could use that for finding a job, so why bother with the Job-centre? Biggest waste of time ever.

[AtW]

Did not have to pay council tax in my time of being a student when I was renting room in a private house.

That's about it.

[kingcook]

Not people who sit home on DLA when there is nothing wrong with them.

An ex-neighbour of mine was on DLA. She claimed that her legs were always playing up and couldn't hardly work, in pain, blah blah blah. I'd see her walk to the shops and/or town on a daily basis. Now that's taking the piss

I grassed her up and when the benefits came round to investigate, she just put on her "ooh my legs are playing up" routine. She's still on DLA.

Her daughter is on DLA aswell. **** knows what's wrong with her, see looks able too.

I think at least some kind of job could be found for them. e.g. if you're not good on your legs, get an office bound job. Or if you're not quite right in the head, you can shovel tulip for all i care!

This family have probably been on benefits all their lives.

Where's my shotgun?

[The Spartan]

See you grassed her up and she still got out of it, there's no such thing as justice

[d000hg]

Stalk her with a video camera.

[The Spartan]

Stalk her with a video camera.

She'd probably then be able to sue him for invasion of privacy and some obscure humans rights law, such is the state of this country

[Gonzo]

When I finished University there was a recession on and graduate jobs were hard to get.

I moved back to my parents' house and the Unemployment Benefit kept me in beer money.

That was a good summer - the Australian cricket team were touring England that summer so I spent it sat on the sofa watching the cricket, I probably won't be able to do that again until I have retired.

After six months on the UB they used to make you start going to a 'Job Club' which was the last straw so I just took any work that I could get. It took a few years to catch up with where I could have expected to have been if I had walked into a graduate trainee job but it was 'character building'.

[Sysman]

Ah, back in the day you got Earnings Related on top of the Unemployment benefit.

It doubled the amount you got.

Maggie did away with it in 1980.

My father got earnings related when he started with early retirement. With managing to pay of the mortgage and the savings he made from not going to work he reckoned he was only about a tenner a month worse off.

He used to take great delight in driving his Volvo down to the dole office to sign on.