Flexible new deal stages and signing off to reclaim

A question about : Flexible new deal stages and signing off to reclaim

Can anyone please help clarify the stages for FND. As i understand it:
Stage 1 is from First Signing On to Week 13
Stage 2 is from Week 13 to Week 26
Stage 3 is from Week 26 to Week 52
Stage 4 is from Week 52 onwards with a provider lasting up to a further 52 weeks?

Is all of the above correct? I am coming up to week 52 in May. If i were to sign off now before i reach Stage 4 how long would i need to wait to make a rapid reclaim? I have asked someone i know and they told me its 13 weeks i have to wait. Whereas someone on here the other day mentioned 26 weeks. But i cant find that thread at the moment.

I dont want to do Stage 4 and be forced to visit a 'provider' because it will be pointless. I already do my own jobsearch and have access to all the facilities. I keep a jobsearch diary and have copies of my applications as evidence. thanks

Best answers:

• I'm sorry OP but I believe that no one on this board should answer this question (although I know someone will). I try not to express personal opinion on these boards but I always wonder when somone posts this question why, if you are able to support yourself for x amount of time to avoid DWP courses, you cannot support yourself all the time rather than claiming JSA at all?
• Hi, i cant actually support myself long term if i sign off. But im hoping if its just a few weeks i would cope by using my overdraft and borrowing some money from a friend. I would still be looking for work if i signed off. I would even go as far as to say i welcome the DWP to check my bank statements if they had any suspicions about my claim. I am an open and honest person and would not deceive them.
  The only reason to sign off is as a last resort to avoid Stage 4 and visiting the provider. If i could do this without signing off i would take that route. To be honest, i dont need to sit there like a dummy at the A4E offices pretending to learn something. Ive done a similar course before and it was absolutely rubbish.
• If you want the state to intervene in your life and pay you an income, you have to jump through the states hoops to get the money.
  You have been left to find a job for nearly a year. Its not working, so you need more help.
  If you are going to sign off to avoid new deal, then you don't need state intervention.
  Sorry, but it all sounds workshy. Is anyone keeping score on here anymore?
  Vader
• I agree with the others the answer is simple one but why shoild you get the benefit. JSA is for people who are looking for work and making attempts to find work.
  Tax payers are supporting you you should be prepared to repay what you have been handed.
• Just to add to donnajunkie post
  Read this before you decide what to do https://www.cvsfife.org/employability...s_progress.pdf
  It's for Scotland but I'd expect England to be the same - namely this bit
  Quote:
• OP, I didn't mean for you to think that I thought you were not looking for work; just that I wonder how people support themselves if they choose not to participate in the course. Is the course in your area so bad that you would rather use an overdraft that you will need to pay interest on and at the moment cannot repay (although this will obviously hopefully change in the near future) than participate in it? Will the provider in your area allow you to find your own work placement, so you get somewhere that would be beneficial to you? How often do you have to go the provider outside of the work placement? Perhaps talking through how you could turn this to your advantage with your advisor at JCP would help?