Interrogated by DWP UK

I have recently returned from a interview with the DWP (Department of work and pensions) after receiving a letter asking me to attend my local joke shop (job centre) to tell them about any changes in my circumstances since i first claimed for benefit!

On arrival i was shown into a side room were a middle aged smartly dressed woman sat behind an empty desk sorting through some paperwork. She began by quoting something like the police would read you when being arrested and telling me if i give false info that i would be prosecuted! It started off pretty straight forward with questions like what was i doing to find work etc etc but then it started to go down hill! These are some of the questions i was asked:

What do i do in my spare time at home?what type of foods do i eat? where do i go shopping and how much do spend on a weekly shop? What do my friends and family think of me for being unemployed? Which room do i sleep in at home and how much do i sleep? do i have the internet and do i use social networking such as facebook? Would i be prepared to support my girlfriend and her children if my girlfriends benefits were stopped?
The woman also asked me a lot of other questions about what i had been doing over the past few years etc etc and when i questioned her about the questions she was asking me she couldn't answer me and told me this is now standard procedure!

All this properly sound unbelievable to whoever reads it but i assure you it just happened! I feel mentally raped and cannot understand what most of these questions has got to do with claiming benefit!
I do not really believe in all this NWO business but after this has happened now i'm not so sure!
I have posted this thread because i would like to know if anybody else has had similar experiences even if your from a different part of the world from me i would still like to hear them.
Im so angry

[edit on 21/5/09 by parrallel]

And ?

Sounds like a regular interview. With Social Security benefits comes the responsibility to advise them about any changes which affect your entitlements. Many folk don't bother to notify them of changes, hence the requirement to attend an interview every couple of years.

New World Order ? The Department for Work & Pensions ?

You're having a laugh, surely ?

Originally posted by New Lanark Boy
And ?

Sounds like a regular interview. With Social Security benefits comes the responsibility to advise them about any changes which affect your entitlements. Many folk don't bother to notify them of changes, hence the requirement to attend an interview every couple of years.

New World Order ? The Department for Work & Pensions ?

You're having a laugh, surely ?

Laptop went crazy sorry and posted before i finished

They're there to get you back into work.

By asking about your social life they get a better picture of you the person and can better focus your job efforts or direct you into training that will eventually get you work. If you have the internet you obviously have some IT skills ... and can search online for employment too ... that's why she asked. It means she can rule out sending you on an IT course or asking you to attend the Job Centre more regularly to use their Jobpoints.

She asked about your expenditure in order that she can contrast the limited possibilities you currently have on benefits with the financially advantageous position of being in employment. I don't think it's unreasonable either for them to inquire about you supporting your girlfriend & her children.

I have no idea why you're getting so upset. If they didn't require anything of you they'd be damned by taxpayers for not encouraging those on benefits to find work.

Good luck in your job hunting.

I know they are there to try and get me back into work but its just the way i was treated that has upset me! I felt like i was being treated like a criminal and i have already give lots of information to them as i have only been claiming benefit for a month. I have an old school friend that works in a different jobcentre so i am going to contact him and try and make a complaint. I went through 6 years in the forces and they asked all sorts of questions at interviews etc but nothing as in depth as they were asking!

Just because i was laid off and jobs a scarce and i am having trouble finding one doesn't mean i should be made to feel bad about being unemployed!
I could any all day about this but i think im gona stop now because theres a lot more serious stuff going on in the world! Just needed to get it off my chest

I think you are pulling our legs! I don't know what Job centre Lanarkboys been to but it don't sound like a regular interview to me(well maybe in bizzaro world!!!)when I experienced a period of unemployment and got interviewed at the JC I got asked no questions like this and I have never heard of anyone else getting quizzed about their personal life in this way! why do they need to know which room you sleep in?why do they need to know what people think of you coz your unemployed? you gotta be kiddin!!?(I think you are taking the mick)If I ever got asked questions like this firstly I would tell her it's none of her damn business then I would ask for a copy of the questions asked and get straight to my local newspaper!Why do they wanna know what you eat?How is that gonna help your in your job search?You should try and get some proof of this if you are serious!

Originally posted by defcon 2
I think you are pulling our legs!

I don't know what Job centre Lanarkboys been to but it don't sound like a regular interview to me(well maybe in bizzaro world!!!)when I experienced a period of unemployment and got interviewed at the JC I got asked no questions like this and I have never heard of anyone else getting quizzed about their personal life in this way! why do they need to know which room you sleep in?why do they need to know what people think of you coz your unemployed? you gotta be kidding!!?(I think you are taking the mick)If I ever got asked questions like this firstly I would tell her it's none of her damn business then I would ask for a copy of the questions asked and get straight to my local newspaper!Why do they wanna know what you eat?How is that gonna help your in your job search?You should try and get some proof of this if you are serious!

Not pulling anybody's legs......i have been unemployed before and never went through anything like this so why the change? I spoke with a friend a few mins ago and she said they only ask questions like that if they suspect you of making a fraudulent claim! Ive nothing to hide and it is a legit claim but by the looks of it is not the only 1 unhappy with the DWP!

www.dwpcorruption.co.uk...

If you are serious that you got asked questions like this I would consider seeking advicee from the Citizens Advice Bureau or a Lawyer!They only need to know things like if you got any savings,shares,any other income etc,etc and that you are eligible and actively seeking work...what they want to know your eating and sleeping habits for is beyond me!!

I'm on Job Seekers, have been for sometime now. I can honestly say that the Advisors I have seen have been great. Although on a few occasions I have been left waiting for more than 3 hours.

If this has happened to you OP, I would seriously recommend phoning up your JC and asking why you were made to feel like a terrorist. To be quite frank, I don't chase the jobs they give me information on. They are either A. always gone or B. not suitable for my criteria. Lately the JC has been over-run I understand this, but their JOB is to help... If they can't help.... they should go on Job Seekers

I know what you mean about the way she was with you as i lived with a girl who worked for them and her ( & her collegues ) opinion of claiments was very low.
Unbelievably her brother was unemployed and she was helping him fiddle the system - talk about hypocrits.
I do know however that these interviews are pretty standard and have been for a long time so i wouldnt worry too much & anyway i dare say in most cases its a tell what you want them to know & not what they really want to know situation.

as ex hm forces your an easy target for their quotas,
let me explain in the forces your programmed to be responcible and moral in your judments, the same old chavs have their speal of to a tee.
and know how to work the system, im not knocking you but your easy meat to them,
im ex forces my self served well and had an exemplary discharge record.
i went to all the agenties for advise and was spoken to like id just come out of prison, in fact a ex prisoner was entitiled to more social housing points than i was.
this is my own opinion. next arrange an interview and take a rep from SSAFA/BRIT LEGION. thats my advise.
good luck in civvie street and remember all govt jogs have to have a compulsery intake of ex forces.
as a last ditch effort hit them clean in the face with the solders covinate
a legal document entitling you to enhanced help on housing an benifits

Originally posted by RenDMC
I'm on Job Seekers, have been for sometime now. I can honestly say that the Advisors I have seen have been great. Although on a few occasions I have been left waiting for more than 3 hours.

If this has happened to you OP, I would seriously recommend phoning up your JC and asking why you were made to feel like a terrorist. To be quite frank, I don't chase the jobs they give me information on. They are either A. always gone or B. not suitable for my criteria. Lately the JC has been over-run I understand this, but their JOB is to help... If they can't help.... they should go on Job Seekers

I am gona put it down to the person who interviewed me! She wasnt a vey nice person and plus im not from this area and they dont realy like outsiders........im from a different part of wales and round these parts they dont like outsiders lol! Ok rant over

Did she mention in her initial speel that the interview was being recorded, possibly for training purposes?

The reason I ask is because they have introduced lie detector software to some (possibly all by now) of their telephone systems. Could they have extended this to interview rooms? That could explain the seemingly irrelevant or control questions.

Telephone lie detector technology catches benefit cheats by monitoring their voices

I used to work for a company called instant muscle which dealt with the new deal side of things for the job centre. We had countless complaints on how staff had been treating job seekers that had been claiming benefit for over 3 months.......
Basically there job is to get people back into work and if they cant do that within an allotted time then there seniors put them under pressure and they can get quite ruthless......
Best thing you can do parallel is take it on the chin and don't let it bother you. There are some very pushy staff at certain job centres and they can intimidate you I'm afraid

The intrusiveness of the questions does indicate suspicion and appear investigative. They may not be investigating you or your claim but rather your girlfriend.

They may also be gathering information (maybe at all JC, maybe just being 'trialed' at yours, or more likely a handful of branches) for inclusion in the national data base currently being constructed (under the guise of 'health records'). Police records, including DNA results and fingerprints gleened from anyone arrested (they used to have to be destroyed unless you were convicted) are also being gathered for inclusion on this data base.


Asking questions relating to your diet and lifestyle choices is what makes me think they may also be working 'in partnership' ie under contract to some form of market or social research company (including central government).

Probably hoping to tie up with the information kept by any of the companies you have a loyalty card with! See if your answers to the nice lady match your clubcard points!

Originally posted by cazzy2211
Did she mention in her initial speel that the interview was being recorded, possibly for training purposes?

The reason I ask is because they have introduced lie detector software to some (possibly all by now) of their telephone systems. Could they have extended this to interview rooms? That could explain the seemingly irrelevant or control questions.

Telephone lie detector technology catches benefit cheats by monitoring their voices

No she did not say it was being recorded and when i asked for a copy of the stuff she had wrote down she said no and that it is not policy. I have sent an email to the jobcentre concerned complaining on how i was treated. I have calmed down now but earlier today i was so angry

You do not know your born if you think that is bad. I live in uk, and am monitored 24/7 with mind control,a nd they know absolutely everything about my life.

So think yourself lucky they are not using this on you, or maybe they are. They never left my life alone since i left school 17 years ago.

i am recently unemployed my son is unemployed longer than i, an officer came out to the house to assess him, i heard the officer ask my son who owned the hyundai in the drive? (it's mine)

i was annoyed when i heard him ask this question! my son has a car also,

i find it very intimidating and intrusive, yes there are people out there screwing the system but there are more who are not, who wish they were working,

they'll be asking which hand do you use to wipe yer bum with next!

i use toilet paper by the way

Originally posted by andy1033
You do not know your born if you think that is bad. I live in uk, and am monitored 24/7 with mind control,a nd they know absolutely everything about my life.

So think yourself lucky they are not using this on you, or maybe they are. They never left my life alone since i left school 17 years ago.

um.....i do live in the uk.....

No she did not say it was being recorded and when i asked for a copy of the stuff she had wrote down she said no and that it is not policy. I have sent an email to the jobcentre concerned complaining on how i was treated. I have calmed down now but earlier today i was so angry

It'll cost you maximum £15 and take 28days but under Freedom of Information Act, they have no right to keep the information from you.

Check how much they charge and then put your request in writing. If they fail to provide the info within 28 days of receipt of the written request, you can make a formal complaint;