wording in benefit letters

babyboo42

ah you have the joys of Liberata too :eek: they aren't very good are they?i think i have a similar amount of paper too from them and yup mine was wrong as well
I applaud any attempt to make things easier to understand having been a not so civil servant in a former life but I think most confusion comes from the benefit systems rather than the forms and letters.
Information on entitlements needs to be more readily available and presented in a clearer format.
Sadly alot of people don't know what they are entitled to and the fact that many claimants have to deal with as many as 4 different agencies only further serves to cause confusion.

Morglin

I agree - and I think Liberata are probably the worst organisation I have ever had to deal with.:mad:

It takes (on average), in this area, 7 months+ to get a correct assessment - and meantime, because the only social housing provider is a HA, letters of eviction fly around like confetti (they won't liaise with each other).:rolleyes:

Some elderly and vulnerable live in a state of worry and stress because they think they will be thrown out of their homes.

The BEL is very good for finding out what DWP benefits may be payable, but the telephone line isn't advertised much, and people have to rely on the CAB and forums like this.

But, perhaps ignorance of entitlements is what the government wants....??

As if.:rolleyes:

Lin

Ancalime

Hi there Anthillmob
I've only just spotted your post before I go into rant mode I just want to say I appreciate you giving people the chance to say what they find complicated about DWP letters, there should definatly be more ground level consultation with the Clients.

Firstly when I left University and had to start paying Council Tax I have to admit I didn't have a clue that I had to go into the office to set up payments and get a card for paying council tax I had presumed that I would be sent information about what I had to do- this seems very silly now I know and i feel abit stupid the firts contact I had from the Council was a demad notice which was a bit scary. I would have appreciated if I had beeen sent a kindly informative letter telling me what was expected.

In regards to the actual wording of the letters it would be nice if they were -a bit more personalised
- less Jargon,
- clearer when it comes to calculations as in actually state the amount you are meant to pay and when (this gripe relates to my initial Housing benefit letter which didn't make clear I was meant to pay the amount over what the council were unwilling to pay for the flat should have been simple but but it was my first time dealing with HB)
- gave a number that you could contact for help not just a number that you can contact to get forms sent out.

Hope this is of some use to you, thank you for trying to make the system easier to understand- I wish there were more people like you!