Pension Credit waiting time? How long for you?

midlandsgrandma

Hi there, i'm just interested to know how long claimants have waited for their claim for pension credit to be assessed/decided/awarded? We've been waiting 12 weeks now with no progress in sight despite 5 phone calls made by us at regular intervals and all the info requested having been supplied. We can never speak with the folk processing the claim, only a call centre which tells us that no progress has been logged on the computer!

thorsoak

Took almost 5 months before we heard about savings pension credit ...then about 10 weeks before we heard about an adjustment (when my private pension went down ).

gorgeousgeorge

Oooooooh dont get me started on Pension Credits, have had a lot of trouble with them as partner was getting JSA(cb) because he was wrongly advised by JC to claim it instead of Pension Credits as he is 62. Eventually we did get money off of pension credits to 'top up' his JSA, think it took about 10 weeks tho, and it was backdated. Now we have to contact Pension Credits to inform them that his JSA has stopped, and to expect that we will be getting all monies from them, lets hope that they can get it right this time, as that will be the only income we will be getting ( apart from very small army pension)

Whenever I ring Pension Credits, i just press a random number, and then say oh i dont know if i have got the right department or not..... and they usually put me through to the correct person to speak to which has proved to be a bit more helpful

Good Luck, it does take time to sort out, but monies will be backdated ( hopefully)

midlandsgrandma

oh gosh, i daresay its the same for everyone! its very frustrating. we are managing on one low wage, paying full council tax, a mortgage, ground rent and maintance. a nightmare really. i would be interested what sort of targets they set themselves and what officially is recognised as a reasonable amount of time to conclude a claim. regards.

Whiteknight

midlandsgrandma wrote: »

oh gosh, i daresay its the same for everyone! its very frustrating. we are managing on one low wage, paying full council tax, a mortgage, ground rent and maintance. a nightmare really. i would be interested what sort of targets they set themselves and what officially is recognised as a reasonable amount of time to conclude a claim. regards.

The time it takes to make a decision on a claim for Pension Credit depends on a how complex a case is and how long it takes to get all the relevant information in.

If it is a straightforward claim and nothing needs to be verified then it could be paid at the end of a 20 minute telephone call. However if there are things to be verified such as savings or private pensions or other things that need to be looked into such as a owning a second property (or shares in a second property) then district valuers may need to get involved which unfortunately takes time.

mrsyardbroom

We had a home visit 8 weeks ago and gave the visiting officer all the relevant information. He said we were extremely organised and had everything they needed to know. We're still waiting for decision on pension credits. If we try to make a phone call an irritated operator says that they can't handle it and they'll ring us back. I believe the process can take months. I'm just hoping our savings will last that long.

angiebhfx

My Dad waited nine weeks. He put in an official complaint in in week 7 as he was fed up of demeaning himself getting crisis loans

pulse90

My friend has been waiting since last July!!!!!! Visits, phone calls etc....... They have said that she cannot appeal until she gets "the letter"?? What the hell are they playing at? She has supplied all the info that they require. I just don't get it?
She gets the same response from the call centre and has NEVER been put through to the right department no matter how pushy she became. Can anyone suggest a solution and/or a correct address/department to contact or write to, as she is at her whits end!!
Thanks in advance :mad:

pulse90

My friend has been waiting since last July!!!!!! Visits, phone calls etc....... They have said that she cannot appeal until she gets "the letter"?? What the hell are they playing at? She has supplied all the info that they require. I just don't get it?
She gets the same response from the call centre and has NEVER been put through to the right department no matter how pushy she became. Can anyone suggest a solution and/or a correct address/department to contact or write to, as she is at her whits end!!
Thanks in advance

exprog

pulse90 wrote: »

Can anyone suggest a solution

Yes. Make an appointment and go tell the local Member of Parliament.

Whiteknight

pulse90 wrote: »

My friend has been waiting since last July!!!!!! Visits, phone calls etc....... They have said that she cannot appeal until she gets "the letter"?? What the hell are they playing at? She has supplied all the info that they require. I just don't get it?
She gets the same response from the call centre and has NEVER been put through to the right department no matter how pushy she became. Can anyone suggest a solution and/or a correct address/department to contact or write to, as she is at her whits end!!
Thanks in advance :mad:

Why have they had to send out visits to your friend, as I mentioned above it can take a little time if the cases are more complex - from the sounds of it the claim your friend has put in. She cannot appeal because they have not yet made a decision so there is nothing to appeal.

Your friend may have sent information in but again depending on how complex the case is it will take time. July is taking the proverbial. If I was to guess I would imagine that it is complex.

Oh and being pushy on the phone will not get your friend far.