A friend of mine has lost his job, and got a redundancy payment.
He should have claimed benefits from the first week, but was misinformed of his entitlements by a friend and started signed on / claiming after 5 weeks.
your friend should have applied to have his claim backdated when he applied for jsb... he got a redundancy payment...how much was this payment as he could have a disqualification period depending on the amount of redundancy paid and his age.
Bear in mind that he has no actual entitlement to have the claim backdated.
He can request it, and should outline (in writing) why he didn't make the claim on time. If the deciding officer is satisfied that he genuinely didn't know the correct process, then they may authorise the backpay.
It will help his application if he provides evidecen of his efforts to get work during the period that he is applying for. Normally, pleading ignorance of the fact that he needed to register his unemployment immediately is not accepted as a valid reason for not signing on but every case is treated on its own merits.
Yes, I think he can ask for a payback.
Personally, after the redundancy, I asked for the jobseeker allowance 2 weeks later on and they paid me back.
5 weeks looks a little long though so not sure he would get everything...