DLA mobility payment late - 4 weeks late and counting!

oldboy64

lld01 wrote: »

To answer that, no its not particularly acceptable. But complaining on here will not change anything.

If this is a genuine query and you havent made this whole scenario up, then your case will probably be towards the bottom of a pile of 1000s others also waiting for a 2-minute job to be done.

And I'm sure you'll be back in a few weeks to let us know once you've recieved the payments :wave:

I agree but complaining anywhere doesn't really get you anywhere with anybody. I have had years and years of experience of the DWP not doing their job properly. I have telephoned and complained and have written backing up the many complaints many times in the past over different things - but nothing ever happens. It's as though you will get what is yours when we are ready to sort it out however long that takes.

Nope not made up at all and neither are my other problems that I mentioned elsewhere. Just as I suspected - bottom of the pile. Hence why there is no point in getting in touch with their help desk as no one ever seems to know what is happening.

Of course I will, but I wouldn't hold your breath on getting any type of update until I get the excuses in mid October.
It's a damn good job that I'm not in desperate need of the cash even though I am paying the finance on the car I bought as a replacement out of our other income at the rate of £300 a month. That reminds me I have another question that may get answered or just an opinion would do - I'll post it.

SandraScarlett

I took DH along to another Dementia Centre today, who have a place for him for one day a week. Unfortunately there are so many people with Alzheimers in our area, that places are few and far between. Because we're not on Pension Credit, I have to pay £60 for this, and that's at a reduced rate because he doesn't need transport!

I can't tell you how warm and altruistic it makes me feel to know that the taxes, that DH still pays on his private pension, are helping to fund designer Mulberry handbags for the poor souls who have to manage on their pension credit.

But of course, this is yet another example of trolling, a la Andy, so I hope the mythical Flo enjoys her mythical handbag.

xx

oldboy64

SandraScarlett wrote: »

I took DH along to another Dementia Centre today, who have a place for him for one day a week. Unfortunately there are so many people with Alzheimers in our area, that places are few and far between. Because we're not on Pension Credit, I have to pay £60 for this, and that's at a reduced rate because he doesn't need transport!

I can't tell you how warm and altruistic it makes me feel to know that the taxes, that DH still pays on his private pension, are helping to fund designer Mulberry handbags for the poor souls who have to manage on their pension credit.

But of course, this is yet another example of trolling, a la Andy, so I hope the mythical Flo enjoys her mythical handbag.

xx

For a start I don't know who you think I am but I am not 'trolling' or whatever you call it.

I still pay tax both on my ESA and on my private pensions/annuities too!

And whether you actually believe what I have posted is up to you, but there is nothing mythical about the damn handbag my wife bought who incidentally isn't called 'Flo' either!

I don't and won't apologise for what the government in their wisdom consider that we need to be able to live on. If you so strongly object to what Pension Credit pays, I would suggest you take it up with your MP!

PS - I'm waiting for my wife to come back with matching shoes - if she dares!!!

Instead of making ridiculous posts maybe you could offer some advice on the problems outlined in this thread - DLA payments not being made?

Pollycat

cbrown372 wrote: »

Your life must be hell Andy, all this hassle for a mere £500 a week, goodness its almost like having to work full time in your world

oldboy64 wrote: »

Yes it is Andy. What really gets me is the incompetence of the DWP and HMRC.

oldboy64 wrote: »

For a start I don't know who you think I am but I am not 'trolling' or whatever you call it.

You've admitted above that you have an AE (Andy).

I'm sure this has been pointed out to you before (From MSE forum rules):

If your posting privileges are suspended or terminated, please don't attempt to re-register on the Forum or make any posts in any guise whatsoever.

When banned former users do re-register or otherwise disrupt the forum, this can cause severe distress to other users. Dealing with unwanted ex-forum users' posts distracts the team from the core purpose of the site and takes up time. Therefore in such circumstances we may:

• Report offenders to their ISP.
• Charge offenders for the administrative costs of identifying and removing their posts at the rate of £40 per hour, plus any external costs that we incur.
• Take legal action to recover these costs.
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margaretclare

oldboy64 wrote: »

Hey! All I want is what I was awarded - the mobility element of DLA.

That isn't about maximising entitlement - it is receiving what is duly mine by right.

Who said I didn't need it - it all comes in handy down to the last penny.

Of course we can spend it, try telling my wife that - she would have a heart attack on the spot! She rolled home on Saturday after spending the day shopping with our daughters' with a Mullberry handbag (if that is how you spell it) - when I asked how much it cost - I was told not to ask!.

Handbags & shoes, handbags & shoes.

Hang about...

This is your wife whom you describe as needing help to get in and out of the bath (a bath lift provided) and some kind of mechanical device to help her get in and out of bed of a night?

And she can spend the day out shopping? I couldn't spend that long on my feet, in and out of high street shops, designer handbags would be the last thing on my mind.

This is a stereotype of women, it's demeaning and degrading, when you mention 'handbags and shoes'.

DH and I are not on any type of means-tested benefit, like Sandra's poor husband we still pay tax, and I continue to be thankful that we do. I'd hate to live like you do.

You should try your local charity shop. DH picks up bargains there and some of them are 'designer', not that we care about that.

margaretclare

I don't understand how the OP is still a taxpayer, yet says elsewhere that he is on means-tested benefits and is, according to the official definition, poor.

I have little sympathy. I have much, much more for SandraScarlett and her husband. People still ask me 'what am I saving FOR?' (those who know, that is). My answer is always: we just do not know what is down the road, round the corner. DH is lucky to be on two legs and not in a wheelchair, but who knows, that day may come.

At present he's in a dispute with the County Council about damage to a wheel caused by hitting a pothole back in the winter. But he doesn't write a blow-by-blow account on this site all about it! He may get the cost of a new wheel back, he may not, as he says 'it's the principle'.

oldboy64

margaretclare wrote: »

I don't understand how the OP is still a taxpayer, yet says elsewhere that he is on means-tested benefits and is, according to the official definition, poor.
.

Totally true - I am a self assessed taxpayer.

My income for the current year:

ESA £106.50 per week
Pensions & Annuities £130.90 per week

Total weekly taxable income - self £237.40

On top of that my wife receives her SRP £56.25 per week
Plus between us we get DLA & AA of £187.40 per week
And Guaranteed Pension Credit of £114.00 per week.

Which brings it to a total weekly income of £595.05

My taxable income is £237.40 per week (£12344.80 per annum)
Less tax allowance 9440

Tax Due £2904 x 20% = £580.80 for this year approx.


Being on Guaranteed Pension Credit automatically qualifies us for other help as it is classified as being 'poor & on low income' - as per the government!

As you can see it is more than possible for a couple to have to rely on a means tested top up income, yet still be liable to pay tax.


I would add that if I was to drop the ESA claim and lose the £106.50 per week, the Guaranteed Pension Credit would be increased from £114.00 a week to £220.50 per week - giving us the same level of income.
However as I would be removing a taxable source of income I would no longer pay any tax so in effect would be £580.80 a year better off on GPC than I am claiming ESA.
There are very good reasons why I don't do this and don't intend to discuss them on here.

margaretclare

I am unfamiliar with ESA, but gather it is a contribution-based benefit for the long-term sick and/or disabled. (What my first husband would have been on up to his death aged 58 in 1992.) We did better then because I was able to use all his unused tax allowances. But that's by the by...

So you pay tax because this, together with your other pensions/annuities, brings you into the tax bracket. Your wife, I assume, is not taxed on her income? I agree that the DLA/AA is non-taxable and non-means-testable. However, your ESA, your pensions and annuities, bring you into the tax bracket. All this, coupled with your wife's tiny amount of SRP, puts you below the amount the 'government says you need to live on'? Come on! I simply don't believe it. The word 'poor' needs to be redefined.

oldboy64

margaretclare wrote: »

I am unfamiliar with ESA, but gather it is a contribution-based benefit for the long-term sick and/or disabled. (What my first husband would have been on up to his death aged 58 in 1992.) We did better then because I was able to use all his unused tax allowances. But that's by the by...

So you pay tax because this, together with your other pensions/annuities, brings you into the tax bracket. Your wife, I assume, is not taxed on her income? I agree that the DLA/AA is non-taxable and non-means-testable. However, your ESA, your pensions and annuities, bring you into the tax bracket. All this, coupled with your wife's tiny amount of SRP, puts you below the amount the 'government says you need to live on'? Come on! I simply don't believe it. The word 'poor' needs to be redefined.

Yes my ESA is contribution based.

No my wife doesn't pay tax and yes I agree the transferring of tax allowances should happen.

Yes it does put us into the bracket of needing financial help as our assessable income falls well below what the government say we need to live on.

Pension Credit calculates that unless our total income (less the DLA & AA) is equal to or greater than £407.65 we are entitled to a top up to make it up to that figure.

Hence our combined income is only £293.65, we are given another £114.00 a week to make it up to £407.65.

We are therefore in receipt of a means tested income that puts us in the 'poor' and 'low income' category.

Maybe instead of redefining the word 'poor' the government should reduce the amount of money that is being paid to pensioner couples?

Why do you think I gave up work as soon as I was able to draw my pensions at age 60 and claim PC?

Based on our total income now of just over £595 a week, that equates to a gross of approx. £42,000 a year.
I was earning £45,000 a year gross but when you take into consideration the cost of going to work, we are now no worse off or better off than if I had continued to work.
Believe it or not, that is your choice, but you only have to use google to confirm it.

margaretclare

I have just done the maths all over again and have realised that DH and I would not qualify for any means-tested pension credit. This is without asking him for his figures, this is on my income alone.

We are happy with everything that we have at present. What we have, we worked darned hard for, a century in the workplace between us, and we've saved. When we needed the shower upgraded so that DH could use it, a new bed that we could get in and out of more easily, new chairs that we could get in and out of with greater ease, we dipped into savings, no one came around and 'assessed' us for what they thought might be suitable. And we continue to save because similar things may happen again, who knows.

You were on a high income, much higher than either of us have ever been - don't you feel humiliated by having to go cap-in-hand to the government for this, that and t'other? If you're 60 now you're going to have to live on this for maybe another 3 decades, or even more!