'Jobcentre staff made me feel worthless after redundancy'

THE BIGGEST fear anyone of working age has during a recession is losing their job.

How do you pay the rent or mortgage without the security of a monthly pay cheque and how can you afford to eat?

These are questions Sundridge resident Carly Trask was confronted with after being made redundant from her sales position two weeks before Christmas.

The 26-year-old from Church Road has now spoken of how the process for claiming benefits left her demoralised.

"The feeling I had being made redundant two weeks before Christmas was just devastating," she said.

"The process took too long and I don't know how they expect you to live with no money."

Miss Trask said she phoned Jobcentre Plus in Tonbridge as soon as she learned she was out of a job and registered for Jobseeker's Allowance.

The following week, with money running low, she made her way to the centre clutching a redundancy letter and her P45, but was left baffled at the reception she received.

"I kept having to say I had been made redundant and wasn't somebody who didn't want to work," she said.

"I didn't have any money. They said there was a backlog and I had to wait.

"They made me feel like I was nothing. I felt low anyway and they didn't make me feel any better, in fact they made me feel worse."

To add insult to injury, she had to chase up Jobcentre Plus several times because they failed to pay her benefit into her account.

"They told me to come back in with all my wage slips from last year, but how was I supposed to get to Tonbridge? They were very unhelpful.

"When you've paid tax all your life and you ask for a bit of help you don't receive it.

"They told me I hadn't paid enough National Insurance. It was very upsetting."

Although she provided details of all the jobs she had applied for, she claimed the advice she received was basic.

"They need to put themselves in other people's shoes to understand how it would feel and not treat people as if they're worthless," she said.

Miss Trask finally received a payment of £60.50 last week from which she has to pay bills, food and other expenses.

Although she has now found a new job, she is also entitled to housing benefit and council tax relief from Sevenoaks District Council for the period she was out of work.

She made a claim two weeks ago, but has not yet received any money.

Sevenoaks District Council spokesman Daniel Whitmarsh said claims were taking on average 20 days to process, compared with the national average of 31.

Department of Work and Pensions spokeswoman Sandra Roach apologised for the treatment Miss Trask had received.

She said: "We're not in the business of delaying payments to people. Our business is to get people through the door and get their claims sorted."

But that provided cold comfort to Miss Trask and she warned anyone else unfortunate enough to lose their job to expect a rough ride.

"I would say you've got to be prepared to be disappointed and not expect too much," she said.