JSA I've had enough where do I complain

lavidaloca

My husband put in a claim for contributions based JSA from 02.03.09. As he then obtained temporary work he received a letter saying they couldn't pay him after the 20th. Far enough but he hasn't been paid from the 2nd to the 20th March at all.

He received a letter saying he hadn't paid enough NI in the years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. Telephoned and told them he had and they advised us to take the relevant P60s to the local Job Centre where they would photocopy them and send them on to the next office. This we did at the end of March.

20th April still received nothing so called them to be told it was under investigation. They couldn't tell us anything else. So I wrote to the Manager and explained that we had taken the relevant P60s to their office. No reply to that letter so telephoned JC again. They couldn't find the claim and said they would get someone to ring me back.

A couple of days later a really helpful lady rang and said she had finally tracked the claim down but there were no copy P60s would I like to post the original ones to them she could send me an envelope. Err no, you have already had photocopies and lost them. She said she would look further into this and ring me back.

That was 10 days ago and haven't heard a thing. I have tried to ring 3 times this morning but after going through all the options I am told they are busy and can't take the call please try later. It is not local rate for me to call them either.

Does anyone know where I go from here please?

Widelats

lavidaloca wrote: »

My husband put in a claim for contributions based JSA from 02.03.09. As he then obtained temporary work he received a letter saying they couldn't pay him after the 20th. Far enough but he hasn't been paid from the 2nd to the 20th March at all.

He received a letter saying he hadn't paid enough NI in the years 2006-2007 and 2007-2008. Telephoned and told them he had and they advised us to take the relevant P60s to the local Job Centre where they would photocopy them and send them on to the next office. This we did at the end of March.

20th April still received nothing so called them to be told it was under investigation. They couldn't tell us anything else. So I wrote to the Manager and explained that we had taken the relevant P60s to their office. No reply to that letter so telephoned JC again. They couldn't find the claim and said they would get someone to ring me back.

A couple of days later a really helpful lady rang and said she had finally tracked the claim down but there were no copy P60s would I like to post the original ones to them she could send me an envelope. Err no, you have already had photocopies and lost them. She said she would look further into this and ring me back.

That was 10 days ago and haven't heard a thing. I have tried to ring 3 times this morning but after going through all the options I am told they are busy and can't take the call please try later. It is not local rate for me to call them either.

Does anyone know where I go from here please?

If i was you i would send them more copies of the P60's or they will do nothing about the claim, they will send you a envelope too. If you think they will be lost in the post then go to the JC with your P60's and ask them to send the copies by fax then it cant get lost, i always ask for faxes i had a lot of things from the JC lost or in error.

AsknAnswer

As PP said, the local JCP may fax them through (through they aren't obliged to), or at the very least photocopy them and give the copies a verification stamp.

Regarding your complaint, it would depend on the time you have waited for a response. If you have waited a reasonable amount of time with no response whatsoever to your complaint, then I'd go a step further and ask your MP to make representations on your behalf to push the claim ahead.

However as you have had a response and been advised that they require the P60's to proceed, then you are aware of what you need to do for the claim to be assessed. If you are not willing to do it, I'm afraid as PP said your husband will not get anything, as the P60's are clearly something they have to look at to calculate any entitlement. An MP cannot force a decision where the information is not all present - and yes I agree it's not acceptable that they lost your information, and it's no wonder you are frustrated, you should not have to chase it up, but unfortunately if you don't provide what they need (again, I know) then hubbie will not get anything, as they will not have the information they require. It may not be that particular processing centre that "lost" them, they may have been lost in the postal service or at a mail opening unit. How they got lost will most likely never be discovered. The bottom line is if they need them to process the claim nothing will happen without them.

That doesn't mean that you cannot complain about the fact that they were lost. After all, you provided them as requested, when requested and to do it again is an inconvenience. If they were posted via Royal Mail and the processing centre claims to never have received them, then it's Royal Mail a complaint should be made to. If they were sent to the processing centre by internal courier then it is up to the DWP that has erred. If they were sent along with other documents and the other documents arrived but the P60's didn't, regardless of whether it was sent Royal Mail or internal courier, then what has happened is they have been lost at the Mail opening unit, which is contracted by DWP therefore DWP will again be responsible.

A simple "they aren't here" is fair enough, but why aren't they there, when the local JCP posted them? You do have a right to have that question answered, as you trust your documents will be sent securely. Just as well you didn't send the originals! If I were you, the basis for my complaint would not only be that they have lost copies of documents which have delayed hubbies claim, but also that those documents have sensitive data on them and you had trusted them to ensure your security.

Perr

Whenever I have had need to send important d ocuments ANYWHERE I have always had them photo copied at my local P Office taken a envolope and covering letter with me and sent it Recordered Delivery and it has always worked for me.

lavidaloca

Thank you all for your replies. According to my notes they said they were going to fax the copies of the original P60s over to the office dealing with the claim. So they not only lost the photocopies but also the faxed copies if they ever were faxed.

It looks like my next course of action is to go back to the JC with the originals again. I am not going to take photocopies myself and post the originals as, if they lose those, they won't accept the copies taken by me.

AsknAnswer

I would never post originals as there are far too may things disappearing and being misplaced these days. Insist on it.

real1314

lavidaloca wrote: »

Thank you all for your replies. According to my notes they said they were going to fax the copies of the original P60s over to the office dealing with the claim. So they not only lost the photocopies but also the faxed copies if they ever were faxed.

It looks like my next course of action is to go back to the JC with the originals again. I am not going to take photocopies myself and post the originals as, if they lose those, they won't accept the copies taken by me.

The original photocopies were probably destroyed after faxing as they would have nowhere to store them. They would have been placed in a secure waste bin.
It's not good that things go missing, but it is inevitable in any large papaer based organisation whether public or private. It's in your interest to get new copies in as the first ones might never turn up - for all anyone knows they could have been put in the wrong file and will not come to light ever again.