[Tom White]

If you register as an alchy you get extra benefits top tip

Where do I sign up?

Just tell `um where you were born and you`ll be alright  .

Maizuru?   

[mikecam]

I blame the gov & DSS, you see loads of window cleaners, on the streets, most striaght hones businesses, but lots of dole boys, so why dont the just stop and check on the street. Its not rocket science is it, or get an external company doing the checks, with payment based on results, but as said thousand of years ago " man can not direct his own step"

idealrob

I can't work you out. How you think some sort of onus should be put on people going about their business i've no idea. I would literally flip if someone tried to stop and question me and ask my name and address, they'd be told where to go. If you wanna stop dodgy DSS claims then do it at point of claim not interupt the rest of us. And whilst we're at it and you're feeling in a community spirit i'd also stop the likes of you paying bonuses for people not to report accidents. It doesn;t make the problems go away, it just hides them. Like you often preach..."shattered lives" and you're encouraging it !!
 There ya go, i feel better now !!!  

[Johnny B]

I once got reported for working and 'signing on' by a vindictive neighbour. Having nothing to hide, I invited the bods around to check us out.

Exactly who did you invite round to check you out?

They clearly expected to find us guilty, and were initially quite aggressive with us.

Who did? Someone you invited to check you out was aggresive?

It was Medway Council, and yes they came in with the 'there's no smoke without fire attitude'. The flames were quickly put out, as it were, because the original allegation was patently untrue, and by the time the bods left, they knew this, and apologized. 

When it came to us showing them our books, however, they could not believe how well organized they were (every customer payment being itemised individually). They said they had never seen such well kept records before, especially by a window cleaner.

I then pointed out that these could be further cross referenced with the books I carry with me when on the glass.

They left completely satisfied, and actually apologized for having to check us out in the first place. 

Thats me flabbergasted. They apologised after you invited them round? Come on tell us who it was who came to check you and roughly what year was this?

As above. The year was around 1999-2000 approximately. When I say we invited them, I should have said that they wanted to see us (they left a card in our door) and we contacted them to say that we welcome their visit. Yes they apologized because they conceded that the allegation was false. Should this really be a surprise? We're not all on the fiddle.

John   

[Londoner]

We joke about it but its a real image problem. When I said I reported dodgy looking window cleaners some on here got very defensive. I wonder why?

Coz nobody likes a grass!!  

Don't give a F-F-F-Fig. Line them up, I'll stitch them all. I'm not paying their benefits out of my hard earned taxes.

[mikecam]

I once got reported for working and 'signing on' by a vindictive neighbour. Having nothing to hide, I invited the bods around to check us out.

Exactly who did you invite round to check you out?

They clearly expected to find us guilty, and were initially quite aggressive with us.

Who did? Someone you invited to check you out was aggresive?

It was Medway Council, and yes they came in with the 'there's no smoke without fire attitude'. The flames were quickly put out, as it were, because the original allegation was patently untrue, and by the time the bods left, they knew this, and apologized. 

When it came to us showing them our books, however, they could not believe how well organized they were (every customer payment being itemised individually). They said they had never seen such well kept records before, especially by a window cleaner.

I then pointed out that these could be further cross referenced with the books I carry with me when on the glass.

They left completely satisfied, and actually apologized for having to check us out in the first place. 

Thats me flabbergasted. They apologised after you invited them round? Come on tell us who it was who came to check you and roughly what year was this?

As above. The year was around 1999-2000 approximately. When I say we invited them, I should have said that they wanted to see us (they left a card in our door) and we contacted them to say that we welcome their visit. Yes they apologized because they conceded that the allegation was false. Should this really be a surprise? We're not all on the fiddle.

John   

I hope i'm reading this right. The council wanted to know if you where working and you showed them your books, the council, is that what you're saying?

[mikecam]

We joke about it but its a real image problem. When I said I reported dodgy looking window cleaners some on here got very defensive. I wonder why?

Coz nobody likes a grass!!  

Don't give a F-F-F-Fig. Line them up, I'll stitch them all. I'm not paying their benefits out of my hard earned taxes.

You're wasting your own hard earned taxes by sending everyone checking anyone you see working!!! Still, good to see a public spirit. I know whe you're leg packs up you won;t claim incapacity benefit, you'll sit on a till in Tescos !! Good on ya !!! 

[Johnny B]

I once got reported for working and 'signing on' by a vindictive neighbour. Having nothing to hide, I invited the bods around to check us out.

Exactly who did you invite round to check you out?

They clearly expected to find us guilty, and were initially quite aggressive with us.

Who did? Someone you invited to check you out was aggresive?

It was Medway Council, and yes they came in with the 'there's no smoke without fire attitude'. The flames were quickly put out, as it were, because the original allegation was patently untrue, and by the time the bods left, they knew this, and apologized. 

When it came to us showing them our books, however, they could not believe how well organized they were (every customer payment being itemised individually). They said they had never seen such well kept records before, especially by a window cleaner.

I then pointed out that these could be further cross referenced with the books I carry with me when on the glass.

They left completely satisfied, and actually apologized for having to check us out in the first place. 

Thats me flabbergasted. They apologised after you invited them round? Come on tell us who it was who came to check you and roughly what year was this?

As above. The year was around 1999-2000 approximately. When I say we invited them, I should have said that they wanted to see us (they left a card in our door) and we contacted them to say that we welcome their visit. Yes they apologized because they conceded that the allegation was false. Should this really be a surprise? We're not all on the fiddle.

John   

I hope i'm reading this right. The council wanted to know if you where working and you showed them your books, the council, is that what you're saying?

Yes.

John

[careless.david@gmail.com]

The problem is that if you are signing on, then decide to go self employed window cleaning - all the £££stops.

It should be made easier to ease yourself into any business with a ramp down of benefits as you begin to earn & gradually be able to lose£££ as you earn£££.

I was lucky, I had a good redundancy payout to set me up & i couldnt have started without that money.

[Johnny B]

The thing is, I wasn't signing on then, and am not signing on now.

I rent my house, and at the time was earning very little, having just started up. I therefore was entitled to claim housing and council tax benefit, legitimately, based upon my earnings, which were scrupulously documented, and therefore provable.

There was and is nothing wrong with doing this, providing the rules are carefully followed, and any changes in circumstances, eg higher income, is always declared. Claims were reassessed every 6 months, and if it was found that too much in the way of HB or CT benefits had been paid, any overpayments had to be paid back.

There's no shame in doing this, as long as it is not done fraudulently. In my case it was all above board.

John.

[mikecam]

The thing is, I wasn't signing on then, and am not signing on now.

I rent my house, and at the time was earning very little, having just started up. I therefore was entitled to claim housing and council tax benefit, legitimately, based upon my earnings, which were scrupulously documented, and therefore provable.

There was and is nothing wrong with doing this, providing the rules are carefully followed, and any changes in circumstances, eg higher income, is always declared. Claims were reassessed every 6 months, and if it was found that too much in the way of HB or CT benefits had been paid, any overpayments had to be paid back.

There's no shame in doing this, as long as it is not done fraudulently. In my case it was all above board.

John.

I agree with you 100%. Not so sure i agree with anyone questioning me going about my business when i'm claiming nothing though. Nor do i agree with self appointed policemen informing on me or anyone else just incase.

[G Griffin]

If you register as an alchy you get extra benefits top tip

Where do I sign up?

Just tell `um where you were born and you`ll be alright  .

Maizuru?   

Is that South Shields? 
"Tarnish our image"? FFS, we are window cleaners! We are working class scum; deal with it. 

[bobby p]

If you register as an alchy you get extra benefits top tip

Where do I sign up?

Just tell `um where you were born and you`ll be alright  .

Maizuru?   

were you really born in Japan? whats the story behind you ?

 i really like that old war film "too late the hero " ,i forget the main characters name but he was a soldier who  could speak Japanese and only got gunned down at the end of the film. Michael Caine was in it too . 

[bobby p]

We joke about it but its a real image problem. When I said I reported dodgy looking window cleaners some on here got very defensive. I wonder why?

Coz nobody likes a grass!!  

Don't give a F-F-F-Fig. Line them up, I'll stitch them all. I'm not paying their benefits out of my hard earned taxes.

seems to be a deep seated bitterness here Vince.

[Paul Coleman]

The thing is, I wasn't signing on then, and am not signing on now.

I rent my house, and at the time was earning very little, having just started up. I therefore was entitled to claim housing and council tax benefit, legitimately, based upon my earnings, which were scrupulously documented, and therefore provable.

There was and is nothing wrong with doing this, providing the rules are carefully followed, and any changes in circumstances, eg higher income, is always declared. Claims were reassessed every 6 months, and if it was found that too much in the way of HB or CT benefits had been paid, any overpayments had to be paid back.

There's no shame in doing this, as long as it is not done fraudulently. In my case it was all above board.

John.

Precisely.  I was on benefits too for a brief period when I first started.  I was getting unemployment benefit (since renamed to JSA) because (a) I had been paying the corerect type of NI contribution as I had been an employee previously (b) my earnings were insufficient to disqualify me from UB and (c) I earned the money on one day each week so was only disqualified from claiming one sixth of that benefit.  The only slightly dodgy thing I did was to make sure that I concentrated all the work into that one single day.  Not actually dodgy I suppose but manipulating the system a bit and certainly legal.  It was only for a few weeks until I picked up some more work.  That put me over the threshhold where I was earning too much to claim.

[Paul Coleman]

We joke about it but its a real image problem. When I said I reported dodgy looking window cleaners some on here got very defensive. I wonder why?

Coz nobody likes a grass!!  

Don't give a F-F-F-Fig. Line them up, I'll stitch them all. I'm not paying their benefits out of my hard earned taxes.

What I don't get is how you assumed they were "dodgy".
If there was something clear about it such as you know then to be claiming then I understand it.  Even then though it's possible to legally claim while working until the income goes over a certain level - variable depending on individual circumstances.
I'm not saying that there aren't quite a few window cleaners working illegally.  It happens.  The bit I would usually find difficult is determining which ones they are.

[Londoner]

We joke about it but its a real image problem. When I said I reported dodgy looking window cleaners some on here got very defensive. I wonder why?

Coz nobody likes a grass!!  

Don't give a F-F-F-Fig. Line them up, I'll stitch them all. I'm not paying their benefits out of my hard earned taxes.

seems to be a deep seated bitterness here Vince.

You bet, I hate the scum, too many doleys working on the side and too many people employing them.

[cat9921]

The Reason I am claiming benefit and window cleaning is to help keep those ministers in their 2 houses 

[andyjm1]

The problem is that if you are signing on, then decide to go self employed window cleaning - all the £££stops.

It should be made easier to ease yourself into any business with a ramp down of benefits as you begin to earn & gradually be able to lose£££ as you earn£££.

Not true. You can currently work up to 16 hours per week and still claim JSA.

[Paul Coleman]

The problem is that if you are signing on, then decide to go self employed window cleaning - all the £££stops.

It should be made easier to ease yourself into any business with a ramp down of benefits as you begin to earn & gradually be able to lose£££ as you earn£££.

I was lucky, I had a good redundancy payout to set me up & i couldnt have started without that money.

I found that a problem too.  That's why I had to manipulate the system a bit to ensure that I could get 5 out of 6 days unemployment benefit.  It sounds paltry now but that something like £35 a week made a big difference until I built my work up a bit.  When you consider that my petrol bill was about £10-£12 a week back then it's easy to see why I did it.  There have been various business startup assistance schemes over the years but it seems that you have to be on benefits for ages in order to qualify.  I wasn't prepared to do that.