DWP, JSA and a right load of crap
Not normally one for swearing in a blog post so please accept my apologies for that, but needs must. And if I don't blog this and get it off my chest and out of my head, I just might, well go mad with the rolling pin. Here's what's gone on. In summer 2011 I was jobhunting and claimed Job Seekers Allowance (JSA). When I got a temporary job with an agency I signed off. I sent the form to the Jobcentre to tell them I was starting work. Fast foward to December 2011 and I get a letter from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) Debt Management Centre saying I owe almost £500 as I was overpaid JSA because I hadn't told the Jobcentre I was starting work. I called the number on the DWP letter but each time I called them, it rang and rang and rang. So I wrote to them instead, asking for clarification of how they thought I had been overpaid and explaining that I had told the Jobcentre I was starting work. They replied to say they were the Debt Management Centre onl...