Pensions.

peter_the_piper

My Mother is on the normal state pension. In June she had a stroke and went into hospital. All went well and she is now permanently in a nursing home. She was recently informed that her pension book is being phased out and she will need to open a bank account or p/office account. Went to the local office and got a form to phone the pension service to get an invitation to open a p/o account. Phoned but they would not speak to me as I was not the claimant(data protection act). I told them she was in a nursing home and could not phone them to which they basically said 'hard luck'. I then got a different number from the p/o and called them. They nearly spoke to me but stopped(data protection act) but they gave me the number of someone who would help. phoned, yes will send her the letter. 3 weeks later phoned but the young lady had no record of the request for the letter but would deal with it straight away. Succcess!
I filled in the form but was not informed that blue ink was not acceptable only black. Try again. Sent form off and waited for a reply. Reply came, form returned address not same as on invitation. Missed off the part of the address which said 'nursing home', all other parts of address correct and the same as on their letter. I then added 'nursing home' in the boxes provided but there are not enough boxes for all of the address, **me outside of the boxes. Gave to p/o. Message came back that the whole of the address must be in the boxes which is not possible as the address is too long. I am still waiting for their answer to this. She has been waiting for 6 weeks for her pension and cannot see when it will be sorted.
And to think their first letter said it was simple to open the account.

bridiej

Crazy isnt it!!! >:(

What annoys me about pensions is that you can pay into them your whole life but there's no guarantee the company wont go bust and you'll lose everything.

Martinslovechild

What annoys me about pensions is that you can pay into them your whole life but there's no guarantee the company wont go bust and you'll lose everything.

Or that the government may change their mind about retirement age/amount/S2P at any time between now and when we're 65.

bridiej

Yes, and that... :-/

Poppy9

Get help. Your mother should have a social worker allocated to her. They are there to help your mother sort things like this out. You may also find that your Social Worker has access to a Welfare Rights officer working for the council. They can advise on what benefits your mother may be entitled. This may be important if your mother is not permanent at the Nursing Home.