I wasn’t involved in any new year celebrations. I didn’t have the money — and neither could I justify celebrating while people around me were suffering benefits sanctions.
I was walking past Ashton under Lyne jobcentre on New Year’s Eve and two people stopped me, both with the same story: “They stopped my money at Christmas and I had nothing. I’ve tried to get an explanation from them but they won’t tell me why I’m being sanctioned.”
This isn’t unusual — nearly every day someone tells me about their sanctioning stories. And when reasons for sanctioning are given, the most common one is that the claimant didn’t attend an appointment. Why? Because they never received the letter informing them of the appointment in the first place.
Imagine this. You have a full-time job. You lose you job because they no longer need you — not because you did anything wrong.
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sdbast 