Hi there, Readers! I hope you are doing well despite the setbacks! Stay strong! Stay focused! We can do this! I woke up this morning and saw that a brown envelope was at the bottom of the stairs where I always stop... You know what a brown envelope means, right? Yes, a letter from a body to do with either Tax or Welfare! Could it be the response to my Mandatory Reconsideration Notice? Hell, no! Could it be a letter of apology to state that I was wrongly sanctioned? Hell to the no! I shan't keep you guessing any longer... I opened the brown envelope to discover that it was from the HardShi* Repayable Fund department and to tell me the amount they issued and how it will be paid back! Gosh! That was quick! So, decisions can be made quickly by these mysterious decisions makers working for the Universal Credit system! My goodness! Who would have thought? COLD HARD LOGIC Now let's see if I understand this... Hey, if you are a lawyer and you feel like helping me to take the DWP, JCP Enfield, and the Universal Credit decision makers to court over Human Rights breaches feel free to get in touch! Now, back to understanding this process... Twice in a row, November & December 2016 I was, unduly, sanctioned and for reasons that do not make any sense - at least not to me! In November, I got sanctioned because I accidentally missed an appointment with my former evil clown from Hell work coach, Tricky Vicky. The appointment was scheduled on the 28th of July 2016. However, once I realized I missed the appointment I called the Service Centre on 3rd August 2016; the female operative told me that because I had rebooked the appointment I wouldn't be sanctioned. Fast forward to remember, remember the appropriate 5th of November 2016 I get a notification through the letterbox to inform me that because I missed the appointment on the 28th of July 2016 I am going to be sanctioned for 7 days at £10 and some pennies for each of those 7 days. Huh? But because I called the Service Centre and "agreed to attend another appointment" I am going to have to do without a further 7 days at another rate of £10 and some pennies per day. Yes, I can't be bothered to find the papers and give you the correct amount. Suffice to say that taking 14 days off my personal Universal Credit allowance at a rate of £10 each day was pretty much bad news! A freaking disaster! Again, I tried to have that decision reversed to no avail. But I was told by another Service Centre operative that my welfare assistance, Universal Credit, would be restored to the usual amount the following month (December). Yes, I did ask for the HardShi* (repayable) Fund at the time and was told that because I was sanctioned for a total of 14 days I was not in hardship. Huh? Don't you think that I should be the judge of that? "Hello! I am a Universal Credit decision maker and I have decided that you don't need £140 for the month of November 2016. Good day!!" Huh? My next sanction came about through a "concern" from my evil clown from Hell former work coach, Tricky Vicky. Understand that this "concern" was issued by a nasty, self-important, egotistical, belligerently stupid work coach and not directly from the Universal Credit Service Centre. The Universal Credit Service Centre could not have come to the conclusion that my former work coach did. To make the story even shorter, I was sanctioned for 28 days at a rate of £10 and a few pennies for each day which meant that I was not left with much of a personal allowance. Now I was eligible for the Hardluck, mate, (repayable) Fund! Whoopie freaking do! "Hi! It's me again! It's your favorite Universal Credit Service Centre decision-making friend! How are you?" You tell me! "Because we have a concern I have decided to relieve you of 28 days of your Universal Credit personal allowance at a rate of £10-odd for each day! But don't worry if that leaves you with next to nothing to pay your bills, buy food, etc..." What could be "etc"? "You are now eligible for the Hardship Fund because we can all agree that 28 days at £10-odd each day has put you in hardship! Bravo! Well done!" Huh? Is the above making any sense to you? How many people are being paid a good wage to rip me off? Can anyone see what purpose it serves to deliberately put me in hardship so that I have to claim what is essentially a repayable loan that does not even cover the full amount that was robbed - oops - sanctioned from me? Huh? I know that I can be slow but this business to sanction me and countless others is pretty idiotic in the extreme. Is it making sense to you? So, a dodgy work coach can bring about a sanction. That's one person (of many) on the payroll. Next is the Service Centre operative, they get paid to misinform (you get a random person each time you call). Then next up is the mysterious decision makers who are paid to make these rather bizarre decisions. You can throw in a general manager and line manager at the Jobcentre Plus establishment when you try to comprehend what the hell is going on by asking them directly and usually their answers are just as stupid! You try to figure out how on God's green Earth did a "concern" amount to losing over £300 (28-day sanction)??? Remind me again, how many people on the payroll does it take to effectively steal just about over £300 from me? How much is that costing the State? Oh, factor in the Harsh!t Fund decision-making people into the cost of administering this sanction or, in my case, a series of nonsensical sanctions! Then there is the cost of the phone calls at their end and on my end. The cost of electricity to keep the computers on so that dodgy work coaches can falsify information to get people sanctioned. The cost of the paper! Honestly, if you see the length of the Hardship Fund form... And I had to fill it in TWICE in the space of 5 days! Are you serious??? Again, on the Hardshit Fund form you have to justify why you need toilet paper, toiletries and so on. It's like you are filling in a form designed for complete and utter morons to read and process. The above begs one question... And that one question is... IS IT REALLY FREAKING WORTH ALL THAT EFFORT??? Oh, factor in the cost of a tribunal and you have more costs involved in robbing people of their legal entitlements to welfare than it would have cost to simply let people receive their legal entitlements as per usual. THERE IS ABSOLUTELY NO POINT!!! Today I could be going to a job interview but now I have to make some calls to see if I can delay some bills. Great! NEW WORK COACH Yes, there is a bit of excitement still as tomorrow I am going to my first appointment for 2017 with my new work coach! If looks are anything to go by, I think she'll be reasonable. I have to state it again... I am not looking for a soft touch. Uh-uh! I am looking for someone who can understand my strengths and play to them. I am also looking for someone who can make cogent suggestions to enhance my job searches. I do not mind being challenged at all! In fact, I welcome challenge. A point of frustration for me with my former work coach was that she used to hijack my own initiatives and turn them to crap! By that I mean, she didn't and doesn't understand the full intent of my initiatives and then forces me to execute my very own initiatives in a substandard way. I wished I had never said anything. Not wishing to appear arrogant, but I know how to present myself and being forced to do things in a substandard way is a complete waste of time. This is just to satisfy the ego of the work coach. At that point, she may as well have asked me to jump and to that I would have said, in her dreams, "How freaking high?" I know what I am doing. It is because of my efforts prospective employers respond either through email or a call to my mobile that I am trying to keep on. And the one time I get an interview I don't have any money because of the organization that is said to be helping people get back into work thinking it's a good idea to relieve me of some of my legal entitlements! Oh, sweet irony! Oh, well... Bring on tomorrow! Bring on my new work coach! Oh, I am curious as to what the line manager will say about my official formal complaint against my former work coach! Bring it on! But this line manager had better tell me something that I want to hear! I am not playing! I want there to be consequences for work coaches who abuse their clients. Bring it on!