There has been a lot of press about sanctions recently, and at Recovery Essentials we regularly see people who have been sanctioned. However, a lot of our clients don’t realise that not only can sanctions be challenged, but there are also steps that can be taken to avoid them in the first place such as requesting a restricted claimant commitment – see ‘How to avoid being sanctioned – A Recovery Essentials Guide’. We have produced this guide to help advisers or clients themselves – some of the points were drawn from guidance produced by Benefits and Work. Below are two case studies outlining help given to clients who had been sanctioned.
A client on JSA was sanctioned, and his application for a Crisis Grant had also been turned down because of this.
He therefore had no money and came to us for help. The sanction was applied because his jobcentre advisor felt he should have had more recorded on Universal Job Match – however he had recorded all job applications in the application history section of UJM and filled in his job match book. He was sanctioned because some of the applications had not been pulled through from the ‘apply’ section.
The client was not able to contest this as he would not be provided with the official decision for up to two weeks. In the meantime, we were able to help him contest the fact that he had been turned down for a Crisis Grant because of the sanction and apply for a hardship payment.
The decision letter regarding the sanction took 1 month to arrive. We were able to explain that he can request a mandatory reconsideration of the decision – the client decided to do this himself but will return for help to appeal if necessary.
He found being able to seek advice and guidance from someone who understood the system enabled him to take effective action himself.
Of course the process does not always work so smoothly and not all clients who come to see us are able to use a leaflet to self-help in this way – see Case Study 2 (below) which highlights how difficult and confusing people can find the experience of claiming benefits. Having help to negotiate the process can prove invaluable.
Client had issues with short-term memory resulting from alcohol addiction as well as symptoms of PTS syndrome.
Client approached us having failed a work capability assessment during which he was assessed as able to work causing his ESA payments to be stopped leaving him with no money. A couple of months had passed before client presented with this issue as the client was embarrassed and ashamed by his situation.
When client had been telephoned regarding the decision to stop his ESA he had been confused and had not understood what was meant by ‘mandatory reconsideration’. He had not realised that he could contest the decision. We helped him write a letter requesting mandatory reconsideration emphasising his difficulties and linking these directly to the eligibility criteria for ESA. We also assisted him to claim JSA to get some money coming in meantime.
The client had found the process of claiming JSA and his experience at the jobcentre extremely stressful and had become angry when presented with the list of expectations he would need to fulfil to receive JSA.
He returned for help as he thought he may have been sanctioned however he said the experience was confusing and he was not sure of this. His claimant commitment included a requirement to provide an updated CV but the client had no working knowledge of computers and could not do this on his own. Nevertheless he had agreed in the claimant commitment to attend libraries and jobcentres to look for work on the computers – he told us that he had done this because he was stressed, angry and anxious to leave the jobcentre. He also told us that he had tried to request a restricted claimant commitment but did not feel that he had been listened to.
We offered to attend his next meeting at the jobcentre with him to advocate on his behalf. He was most anxious not to be sanctioned. At this next appointment a much restricted agreement was finally achieved with the aim of ‘tiding the client over’ until the Mandatory Reconsideration decision had been made.
The client has since received a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice upholding the DWP decision that the client is not eligible for ESA. The Notice made no reference to any of the points made in the Mandatory Reconsideration request. We have submitted an SSCS1 to the Courts and Tribunal Service and will represent the client at Appeal if necessary.
We will also now assist him to reclaim ESA during the appeals process meaning that he will not have the stress of maintaining a claimant commitment.
For further information, Citizens Advice Scotland have published a report on how Sanctions are operating from the experience of Scottish Citizens Advice Bureau. You can view the report HERE.
Recovery Essentials is a Big Lottery Funded Financial Inclusion Project working in drug and alcohol agencies in Edinburgh.
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