Will you be sanctioned if you self isolate on JSA sighing on day?

Will you be sanctioned if you self isolate due to coronavirus symptoms and fail to sign on on JSA sighing on day?

I don't have any symptoms, I'm just curious.

Also, if you did need to self isolate, what paperwork would you need to get from the jobcentre to do so - forms to sign etc?

I think (hope?) that they will have to relax and ensure benefit payments continue uninterupted.

This page is supposed to be updated with any new info:-

If you can’t attend a jobcentre appointment because you need to self-isolate, don’t worry.

Tell us as soon as possible to avoid a sanction.

Contact your work coach via your online journal or by phone to explain your situation.

https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/

Your not the only one who is confused about the current situation over Covid-19 @Archangel, here's a FOI about it. Still awaiting a reply thou?  

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/coronavirus_covid_19_customers#incoming-1541310

Retired Dosser wrote:I think (hope?) that they will have to relax and ensure benefit payments continue uninterupted.

This page is supposed to be updated with any new info:-

If you can’t attend a jobcentre appointment because you need to self-isolate, don’t worry.

Tell us as soon as possible to avoid a sanction.

Contact your work coach via your online journal or by phone to explain your situation.

https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/

The only problem with this is that they could deny that you phoned them. It would be better if there was some sort of paper trail left behind, like a form or something, to prove that you contacted them.

are you able to email them?

This bit from Birmingham mail should help;
From The Birmingham Mail Ref Budget Changes;

Jobcentre visits scrapped

The Budget documents say: "People will be able to claim Universal Credit and access advance payments where they are directly affected by COVID-19 (or self-isolating), without the current requirement to attend a jobcentre."

So this means Universal Credit claimants will no longer be required to call in to discuss their circumstances with a work coach.

They can instead do this via the phone or their online journal, in a bid to lower the risk of infections spreading.

It is aimed particularly at those who are advised to self-isolate for two weeks, or who have become infected with COVID-19. According to the WHO, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

Claimants now won't face being sanctioned if unable to attend appointments during that period.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/universal-credit-changes-budget-2020-17911337

Same link has all Budget Benefit changes as well.

Caker wrote:are you able to email them?

I’m on JSA and see a different roach each time I sign on. I have no regular work coach. And so don’t have any email addresses for any of them. And I don’t know their names.

Paul61 wrote:This bit from Birmingham mail should help;
From The Birmingham Mail Ref Budget Changes;

Jobcentre visits scrapped

The Budget documents say: "People will be able to claim Universal Credit and access advance payments where they are directly affected by COVID-19 (or self-isolating), without the current requirement to attend a jobcentre."

So this means Universal Credit claimants will no longer be required to call in to discuss their circumstances with a work coach.

They can instead do this via the phone or their online journal, in a bid to lower the risk of infections spreading.

It is aimed particularly at those who are advised to self-isolate for two weeks, or who have become infected with COVID-19. According to the WHO, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.

Claimants now won't face being sanctioned if unable to attend appointments during that period.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/universal-credit-changes-budget-2020-17911337

Same link has all Budget Benefit changes as well.

Thanks, Paul61, but I don’t trust that method without a follow up letter sent in the post confirming that they gave you permission to not sign on.

I can just see this being used down the line to find an excuse to sanction loads of people—which is really what the jobcentre is there for.

They've just rung me to change my sign-on to a telephone appointment. A bit taken aback, specially as I'm on JSA...

I found this about the DWP maybe changing the goal-post with appointments, with the 'Boris-Bug'(Covid-19)?

Well I signed on/met the Roach  as usual today. However, you could see things changing. But it would be best unless some written document from the JCP to still attend any appointments. I did hear at the front desk at the dole: "Are they still meeting people (the work roaches) today? 'Yes' was the colleague's reply...

https://thepoorsideof.life/2020/03/16/all-dwp-face-to-face-interviews-cancelled-as-of-this-morning/

https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/

Thanks Pintel.

I wouldn’t risk a phone appointment, apart from the lack of paper evidence, they could say that they phoned you but you didn’t answer. I know a guy on UC who was sanctioned a few years ago because he missed a phone call from his roach.

If you are not on death’s door then I would sign on in person despite the coronavirus. This coronavirus thing is, in my view, being overplayed, and causing needless panic. The deaths from the imminent food shortages will be greater than the deaths from the actual virus.