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ADVICE? Incopacity a mess
atrixblue.-MFR-.
Posts: 6,887 Forumite
hi all!
this maybe long winded so bare with me!
heres the just of it:
i was in reciept of income support from 25.05.09 (back dated entitlement under linking rule) i claimed on 7/6/09 when i was told i was too ill to work (those who have read my posts before will know vaguely) came mid FEB this year a payment wasnt paid to me that i was due called them up and was told that my income support had stopped because a TAX review highlighted i was on the wrong benefits! and that i had to contact incopacity benefit to find out more! so i did so and from what i gather i had infact paid enough contributions to be in receipt of incopacity benefit due to a review (this year) over my benefit entitlement.....bit confused.com as i completed all benefit forms includeing IB last year and was told i wasnt entitled to it at all because i hadnt paid enough contributions from 2000-2001 (i was till in school in 2000!) but anyway i was told all will be sorted as soon as possible, so going from just enough to tide me over with my bills and support 3 children and a partner to just living on tax credits and child ben was a kick in the teeth to say the least.
came end of march this year and i recieved my first payment MINUS any backdated money i had owing. this was £80.00, i knew this was wrong and after weeks of no payment by them i was kinda desparate for cash to put food back in the cupbourds and start paying arears on bill that i owed, so i called them up and queried the amount YES you guessed it SINGLE RATE i explained my situ 3 kids, bills, how on earth did you manage to leave out my partner when she is on my IS claim and has been from start and when i claimed IB last year in the claim pack etc i was told:
1. we do not "care" or cature for children on IB.(fair enough thats what tax credits are there for i suppose)
2. we do not have access to any partners on IS, and went on the information provided (by who'm and what i have no idea she would'nt disclose that info to me)
so as they do we have to send another form out to you etc?
filled in the form after reciving it about a week and a half after convo on the phone to them! 2 weeks later they sent i back to me with covering letter saying we need more infor please fill in parts XYZ hilighted in red so went to parts highlighted in red and they were filled in??????????? had ticks in boxes next to red marks!!!!!! so called them up wanting explanation as to why a completed form was sent back stateing it wasnt complete! was told i missed questions out on the form i told her no all is filled in there are ticks in boxes where red marks are all i got was thats strange just send it back! no sorry for the mistake and further delay in you case just thats strange!
so after a while i contacted them again (bare in mind i was told i was entitled to arears just for myself i hadnt recieved) querried where the arears were that was due to me IN POST i was told! and what was happening putting my partner on my claim, i was told that they had sent off for my claim pack that is in storage to find out how farr back the back dated money and payments were to go and i should give it about 2 weeks for the file to get to them (so thats about 3 weeks if you count the time they need to look at the file and make the decision). 2 days later had my back payment but couldnt cash it as i had no bank account only post office so it had to go back be verified that it had been sent back and another issued! 5 days later recieved my back payment again went to cash it at my local PO and i couldnt it wasnt for that PO she searched the system for the PO on the cheque and drew a blank so i had to contact them as to where the hell do i cash this giro? the PO i was to cash it at was 14 miles out of my local area but still in the county! it was 3PM and this spar/PO closes the PO position at 4PM 14miles in rush hour traffic great or i could hand it in again for the second time and wait five days as i cant have a counter payment as its not an emergency! well i made it with just mins to spare! lucky that my dad didnt go out with his car that day!
now 2 weeks ago i contacted them to find out whats going on and whether they have sorted it all out yet!! no they were still waiting on my file to come in (4weeks and my file stioll not recived yet??!!) i said that do you know where my files are she said in transit possibly they had sent another request to their archives, i said that 4 weeks and not recieiving my file i consider that they maybe lost and i want to know who the data protection officer is, the lady on the end of the phone said she did not know and went off to chat with her superior whe she came back told me that i wasnt entitled to know and that her superior also didnt know but knew i had no right in knowing that information i said that eventhough you may have lost sensetive data about me i have no right in knowing who the data protection officer is so i can speek directly with him/her to launch an investigation as to the whereabout of my file is? she sighed down the phone at me and got irrate saying if you want to lodge a complaint put it in wrighting, other than that theres nothing i can do for you is that all sir? well i told her not to sigh down the phone and put me intouch with a manager or supervisor and to get off her high horse (politly), wen i was called back 5 and a half hours later i was told they had recieved my file and i should hear in a week about the money and my partner being put on my claim! you guessed it two weeks down the line i called them monday to be told that they had infact LOST my file but found it last friday and that i someone will call me back tuesday to let me know what is happening and to let me know how much arears i was to pay IS back out of it i said so when i callled two weeks ago and was told you had it that was a lie she said that it wasnt a lie it had been recieved by their offices but went missing in the office but was found friday i asked where they were found and she told me that a colleague had found them i asked where they were found she didnt know!. i called them today and low and behold nothing has been done and i informed that because the person dealing with the claim is on holiday that she would contact me when she is back in the office! i said this is unacceptable but was still told i'd have to wait ive been waiting nearrly 4 months for this to be sortwed out i incurred financial hardship because of this where do i stand surely there are proceedure and time scales these departments have to work by in sorting these things out or have i got no choice but to be taken on this incompitnt joy ride the JCP have put me on! help advice simalar stories welcome. feel like this crap happens to me and only me as others i speak to have no problems like this with JCP, but i have had nothning but heart ache and trouble off them from the start its been nerly a year since i been on benefit and nothing has ever gone straight forward not even had a regular payment from them!
this maybe long winded so bare with me!
heres the just of it:
i was in reciept of income support from 25.05.09 (back dated entitlement under linking rule) i claimed on 7/6/09 when i was told i was too ill to work (those who have read my posts before will know vaguely) came mid FEB this year a payment wasnt paid to me that i was due called them up and was told that my income support had stopped because a TAX review highlighted i was on the wrong benefits! and that i had to contact incopacity benefit to find out more! so i did so and from what i gather i had infact paid enough contributions to be in receipt of incopacity benefit due to a review (this year) over my benefit entitlement.....bit confused.com as i completed all benefit forms includeing IB last year and was told i wasnt entitled to it at all because i hadnt paid enough contributions from 2000-2001 (i was till in school in 2000!) but anyway i was told all will be sorted as soon as possible, so going from just enough to tide me over with my bills and support 3 children and a partner to just living on tax credits and child ben was a kick in the teeth to say the least.
came end of march this year and i recieved my first payment MINUS any backdated money i had owing. this was £80.00, i knew this was wrong and after weeks of no payment by them i was kinda desparate for cash to put food back in the cupbourds and start paying arears on bill that i owed, so i called them up and queried the amount YES you guessed it SINGLE RATE i explained my situ 3 kids, bills, how on earth did you manage to leave out my partner when she is on my IS claim and has been from start and when i claimed IB last year in the claim pack etc i was told:
1. we do not "care" or cature for children on IB.(fair enough thats what tax credits are there for i suppose)
2. we do not have access to any partners on IS, and went on the information provided (by who'm and what i have no idea she would'nt disclose that info to me)
so as they do we have to send another form out to you etc?
filled in the form after reciving it about a week and a half after convo on the phone to them! 2 weeks later they sent i back to me with covering letter saying we need more infor please fill in parts XYZ hilighted in red so went to parts highlighted in red and they were filled in??????????? had ticks in boxes next to red marks!!!!!! so called them up wanting explanation as to why a completed form was sent back stateing it wasnt complete! was told i missed questions out on the form i told her no all is filled in there are ticks in boxes where red marks are all i got was thats strange just send it back! no sorry for the mistake and further delay in you case just thats strange!
so after a while i contacted them again (bare in mind i was told i was entitled to arears just for myself i hadnt recieved) querried where the arears were that was due to me IN POST i was told! and what was happening putting my partner on my claim, i was told that they had sent off for my claim pack that is in storage to find out how farr back the back dated money and payments were to go and i should give it about 2 weeks for the file to get to them (so thats about 3 weeks if you count the time they need to look at the file and make the decision). 2 days later had my back payment but couldnt cash it as i had no bank account only post office so it had to go back be verified that it had been sent back and another issued! 5 days later recieved my back payment again went to cash it at my local PO and i couldnt it wasnt for that PO she searched the system for the PO on the cheque and drew a blank so i had to contact them as to where the hell do i cash this giro? the PO i was to cash it at was 14 miles out of my local area but still in the county! it was 3PM and this spar/PO closes the PO position at 4PM 14miles in rush hour traffic great or i could hand it in again for the second time and wait five days as i cant have a counter payment as its not an emergency! well i made it with just mins to spare! lucky that my dad didnt go out with his car that day!
now 2 weeks ago i contacted them to find out whats going on and whether they have sorted it all out yet!! no they were still waiting on my file to come in (4weeks and my file stioll not recived yet??!!) i said that do you know where my files are she said in transit possibly they had sent another request to their archives, i said that 4 weeks and not recieiving my file i consider that they maybe lost and i want to know who the data protection officer is, the lady on the end of the phone said she did not know and went off to chat with her superior whe she came back told me that i wasnt entitled to know and that her superior also didnt know but knew i had no right in knowing that information i said that eventhough you may have lost sensetive data about me i have no right in knowing who the data protection officer is so i can speek directly with him/her to launch an investigation as to the whereabout of my file is? she sighed down the phone at me and got irrate saying if you want to lodge a complaint put it in wrighting, other than that theres nothing i can do for you is that all sir? well i told her not to sigh down the phone and put me intouch with a manager or supervisor and to get off her high horse (politly), wen i was called back 5 and a half hours later i was told they had recieved my file and i should hear in a week about the money and my partner being put on my claim! you guessed it two weeks down the line i called them monday to be told that they had infact LOST my file but found it last friday and that i someone will call me back tuesday to let me know what is happening and to let me know how much arears i was to pay IS back out of it i said so when i callled two weeks ago and was told you had it that was a lie she said that it wasnt a lie it had been recieved by their offices but went missing in the office but was found friday i asked where they were found and she told me that a colleague had found them i asked where they were found she didnt know!. i called them today and low and behold nothing has been done and i informed that because the person dealing with the claim is on holiday that she would contact me when she is back in the office! i said this is unacceptable but was still told i'd have to wait ive been waiting nearrly 4 months for this to be sortwed out i incurred financial hardship because of this where do i stand surely there are proceedure and time scales these departments have to work by in sorting these things out or have i got no choice but to be taken on this incompitnt joy ride the JCP have put me on! help advice simalar stories welcome. feel like this crap happens to me and only me as others i speak to have no problems like this with JCP, but i have had nothning but heart ache and trouble off them from the start its been nerly a year since i been on benefit and nothing has ever gone straight forward not even had a regular payment from them!
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Comments
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Can you clarify what information you need to know?Gone ... or have I?0
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1 have they broken data protection 2 is there a set guidline for how long these things take 4 should i persue for compensation for the stress (suffer with anxiety possibly paranoid schitsophrenia bi-polar, under CPN for diagnosis wich they know about as i update them is i'm updated) financial hardship because they have taken the pi$$ from the start with my claim. also would just like to be comforted that i am not alone and there are others out there isnt there?0
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Sorry - you've lost me.0
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Oldernotwiser wrote: »Sorry - you've lost me.
lol i lost myself. needed a vent i suppose cant remember even writing it!
dont mock or make fun i am ill ATM, depression anxiety possible other mental health issues (psst i hear voices, do you?)
what i think i meant is that:
IB has caused me stress to the point i'm like this,
lied to me.
and its been so long dont they have set times to complete forms and decisions.
never been paid straight and properly since i claimed last year, now the whole wasnt supposed to be on IS but IB and now i may end up paying x amount back to IS because my IB is going to be considerably lower than i was getting with IS.
The financial hardship they have caused me is going to get worse with lower payments than i was recieving.
i sent all relavant forms includeing no relavant forms as well as p60. p45. and the like how did they not conclude last year that i wasnt entitled to it now they say i am?? is this a complete benefits !!!! up theyre trying to cover theyre a$$es now!?
they admittedly lost my file (where was it in those two weeks) i'm concerned it was taken into the public eye. but when i asked if they lost it they told me no before i found out this week they had lost it.
was i in the right to ask for the data protection officers name number and was i wrongly refused ? and told the dont have to tell me! and when asked to speak to manager i was refused also?0 -
Do you have a CPN? Perhaps you could ask them for help with this?Gone ... or have I?0
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I appreciate totally that your situation is a very hard and involved one. Yes on occasions JPS can be unbelievably prone to make mistakes (don't ever ever live in Hackney and be reliant on benefits., they managed to keep sending out my giro's to the wrong address in spite of me going into the Jobcentre 3 times in 6 weeks to give them the correct address and their attitude was totally unbelievable).
I'd advise u to get your MP involved.
Your situation is quite complicated so if u can, write out a chronological list of what happened when. One line for each event, with names if u have them of the people u talked to at JCP. Then go to your local MP's surgery and give him/her the list. Take someone with u if u need to or see if someone u know can help u work out the list. Obviously and not surprisingly, u have a lot of emotions about this, so it can make listing clearly what has happened difficult (been there myself) - having someone not emotionally involved helping to make the chronological list could help. Ask the MP to call the JCP office and see if he/she can find out what went wrong, and see if he/she can hurry up the processing of the claim properly.
That will hopefully help with your first priority., getting your money sorted and u will almost certainly find a little more care is taken with your papers once they know an MP is watching the case (seriously).
The MP or his/her staff may also be able to find out what u do to complain about how this situation has been handled and what time period is considered acceptable for the handling of any claim.., and what can be done about such unsatisfactory handling of a claim. However, unless u have paperwork proof of their mistakes (like copies of the application for your partner, copies of the form that was completed correctly that they said wasn't etc) u may have to accept that this part of the problem will not be resolvable to your satisfaction, however in the right u are.
Unfortunately I really do doubt u will get any compensation, however inadequate the services of the JCP have been, altho I can quite understand the stress caused by such incompetence could well have made your mental health deteriorate. Please be prepared for this.
I don't know what your mental conditions are ., but see if u can find some support to help u deal with this, and to make claims for the appropriate benefits. As a first point of call, I'd call MIND, they may be able to advise on what local organisations there are that will help u. If you are not properly diagnosed .., go back to your GP and ask to be referred to adult psychiatric services. Hearing voices is indicative of more than anxiety and depression. A proper diagnosis will give u more access to further support and help.0 -
Do you have a CPN? Perhaps you could ask them for help with this?
yes i have a CPN but have only seen her once since april (that being first appt) been trying to get hold of her because my condition is worsening by the day. i have a benefits expert to hand provided by shelter cymru through my housing association (long story) but he is on annual leave till monday, this expert also helps and reprasents individuals in court whether it be taken to court by DWP or the individual taking the DWP to court, he knows his stuff and benefit law. but sods law he has to be on holiday.
my local benefits office seem to treat everyone else bar me with respect and process everything so quick for others except me.0 -
atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »yes i have a CPN but have only seen her once since april (that being first appt) been trying to get hold of her because my condition is worsening by the day. i have a benefits expert to hand provided by shelter cymru through my housing association (long story) but he is on annual leave till monday, this expert also helps and reprasents individuals in court whether it be taken to court by DWP or the individual taking the DWP to court, he knows his stuff and benefit law. but sods law he has to be on holiday.
my local benefits office seem to treat everyone else bar me with respect and process everything so quick for others except me.
Surely you can wait until Monday?Gone ... or have I?0 -
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