I doubt the Jobcentre said the claim would go to an appeal panel. What happens when someone leaves employment voluntarily (known as LV) is the claimant is asked to give their reasons. Those details are then passed to a Labour Market Decision Maker who decides if there is a good reason for the LV. If there isn't and it's the first time, the JSA will be sanctioned (stopped) for thirteen weeks. With regard to using taxis, it may be there is some long distance involved and public transport is not available for the start and/or finishing times so taxis may be reasonable. What the Decision Maker will look at is what prompted the decision to leave, did she not know what the travel costs would be when she acceptedvthe job? What efforts did she she make to look for other employment BEFORE leaving the current job and why could she not have stayed in her current job until she found other work. If she is entitled to JSA, it will be paid while the Decision Maker considers the facts. If a sanction decision is given, the benefit will be stopped from the day after JSA was paid last. If she thinks the decision is wrong, she can ask for it to be looked at again and if she appeals and another Decision Maker thinks the decision should not be changed, THEN it goes to an Appeal Tribunal for them to consider.