Crisis loans line number is unbelievable!!

Widelats

The last 5 days i have tried to phone them i get the following message for at least 2 hours at a time:

"Thank you, all our call centre employees are busy right now, please hold the line and your call will be answered shortly or if you want to call back later we are open blah blah blah! then 1 second after telling me to hold the line another recorded message comes on saying "We are sorry, your call can not be answered right now, please call back later" then it cuts you off and you got to redial and start the whole process again, i counted 45 times i re dialed before giving up, it took over 2 hours of the same crap.

What a bad service, its borders on ridiculouse i think. I know some of you will say "get a job" or "your lazy" etc etc and this thread is not meant for this reason.

elkay115

When you think it has cut you off, it hasn't really, I think they do this to try and get rid off people on the phone, it took me almost a week of trying to get a hold of them a few months back to discover this. It will actually keep you on hold, even though you hear the click as if you have been cut off.

zappster1966

They're overworked & understaffed, simple as.

Pick your moment ... some centres are open from 08.30 hrs ... the earlier you ring the better.

You'll get through eventually.

Paparika

Are able to get to a BA or who ever deals with CL's nowadays?

richard9991

Paparika wrote: »

Are able to get to a BA or who ever deals with CL's nowadays?

you cant call crisis loans from jcp anymore it has to be from a mobile or private phone.this is because if you are refused help you may kick off at the staff in the jsp office therefore putting them at risk of abuse or violence

Widelats

elkay115 wrote: »

When you think it has cut you off, it hasn't really, I think they do this to try and get rid off people on the phone, it took me almost a week of trying to get a hold of them a few months back to discover this. It will actually keep you on hold, even though you hear the click as if you have been cut off.

Yes it has, the dial tone comes up and the screen says "insert minimum 40p" it gets clicked off

Widelats

Think i best pick my moments then, cheers everyone.

AsknAnswer

As a PP said, overworked and understaffed!!

A large majority of callers are not in a Crisis, however there is no way of determining this until the claim is made, i.e that can't be forseen whilst calls are queing. This is what jams up the phone lines. Crisis Loans are for help in an emergency or disaster. You would not believe the amount of people either who call the number up with benefit queries, which is not what the Crisis Loan number is there for!

Unfortunately they cannot second guess how many calls are going to come through in any one day. Too many calls and not enough staff to take the volume of calls that come through.

It also depends on the reason you are calling. Some offices (in fact most these days) only take Crisis Loans over the telephone to meet immediate living expenses such as food or fuel. Anything else, such as if you are claiming for a household item ect then it is a postal service, claimed via a claim form and sent to the processing centre for consideration. This was put in place to free up the phone lines for immediate emergencies, but people still call regardless.

If you receive support from the Social Work Department they can on occasion help you financially to meet your immediate needs.

I'm a bit perplexed about the 40p you mentioned for calling. Crisis Loan phone lines are all supposed to be freephone 0800 numbers, so that people who are in a Crisis and have no funds available do not have to spend what they do have (if anything) on the cost of a call.

If it is a case that you have not received benefit money, you can ask the benefits office that deals with your claim for an interim payment.

No-one should say "get a job" - you don't need to be receiving benefit to claim a Crisis Loan, anyone can claim one if they have no funds and there is a serious risk to their health and safety or that of their family owing to an emergency or a disaster.

Widelats

AsknAnswer wrote: »

I'm a bit perplexed about the 40p you mentioned for calling. Crisis Loan phone lines are all supposed to be freephone 0800 numbers, so that people who are in a Crisis and have no funds available do not have to spend what they do have (if anything) on the cost of a call.

If it is a case that you have not received benefit money, you can ask the benefits office that deals with your claim for an interim payment.

No-one should say "get a job" - you don't need to be receiving benefit to claim a Crisis Loan, anyone can claim one if they have no funds and there is a serious risk to their health and safety or that of their family owing to an emergency or a disaster.

Well, to put you at rest on your question when you phone the crisis line from the the BT phonebox, the screen says "this is a free call" and when the call is ended the screen says "Insert minimum of 40p" just the guy there saying it was a trick they do but it isnt, the calls are genuinely cut off and you have to re-dial the freephone number.

Thaks for the info, it was a genuine emergency and i still could not get through to them. :beer:

AsknAnswer

Thanks for that!!

I picked it up wrong and thought you were being charged for the call. I wasn't suggesting you weren't in an emergency, just generally ranting that people who aren't in an emergency often jam up the phone lines meaning people in genuine need can't get through.

I hope you get something sorted out.

ovenreadywombat

The busy time for applications is Mondays and Fridays. If you can call more or less as soon as the lines open then you have more chance of getting thru. The process is now what's called end to end..this means you will make your application to the Decision Maker who will process your claim and tell you if your application has been successful.
Do not call to ask for anything other than a crisis loan, if you require anything like say a budgeting loan or a community care grant, contact your jcp office.
Remember if you are calling from your mobile you can ask to be called back. This applies to all telephone applications.