Lied to by DEA

Poppie68

50Twuncle wrote: »

So DWP tries to charge individuals for mistakes that it has made....
This takes the biscuit.
What about FOI - if someone (my wife for example) - requests full details of ALL info held on me by DWP ?
(you are unable to request info on yourself)
Mind you - we are talking pre-DWP here - it was the DSS then !!

Everyone charges for a SAR. It's a request for a SAR that you have to make not FOI, and i don't understand where you got the impression that you can't request it ?. I might be wrong but i'm sure that you are the only one that can request information on yourself.

50Twuncle

p00hsticks wrote: »

What makes you think you are unable to request info on yourself ? (or that any one else can (and would be given it) ?)

I think you are probably wrong on both counts .......

See whatdotheyknow.com

Tiddlywinks

50Twuncle wrote: »

So DWP tries to charge individuals for mistakes that it has made....
This takes the biscuit.
What about FOI - if someone (my wife for example) - requests full details of ALL info held on me by DWP ?
(you are unable to request info on yourself)
Mind you - we are talking pre-DWP here - it was the DSS then !!

Are you deliberately trying to find fault with everything people are posting here?

You can apply for YOUR personal data using a Subject Access Request:

http://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/personal_information?hidecookiesbanner=true

The Freedom of Information Act specifically prevents the disclosure of personal data - it is there to allow public access (where appropriate) to policy, process etc but NOT personal information.

http://www.ico.org.uk/for_the_public/official_information

Back to your original 'beef', the bottom line is that you will need evidence of being wrongly directed by a DWP employee. Do you have any letters of advice etc?

It will also look odd that you had an MP intervene subsequently on another matter yet failed to mention this issue.

Tiddlywinks

50Twuncle wrote: »

See whatdotheyknow.com

This website purely offers a portal to the Government websites and publishes the results of FOIA / EIR requests made via their site - nothing more.

The regulator for DPA / FOIA is the Information Commissioner - his office has a helpline so call it.

You ARE able to ask for your own personal data (subject to certain exclusions).

Your wife CANNOT ask for your personal data using a Freedom of Information request - so, the other poster was correct - you are wrong on both counts.

portly1

woodbine wrote: »

when i first claimed benefits some 15 years ago we didnt have the luxury of the internet in most homes,i came across dla purely by accident claimed and got it,now its far easier for people to research benefits and make valid claims without reliance on the underpaid/overworked/badly trained staff at the DWP

That is using the assumption that they have an internet connection and a computer!

This thread is about a specific question that is unlikely to be answered by t'internet. Far better to seek advice from the government department that administers the benefit - surely - not?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

There is no chance of any appeal succeeding due to the length of time that has passed. There won't be any surviving documentation held for a start or any computer notes going back that far. When the claim was stopped they would have held the file for the statutory length of time and then disposed of it.

Adereterial

DWP does not currently charge for subject access requests, but it is entitled to if it wished.

A FOI request isn't appropriate for personal information - it will be refused.

TOBRUK

The DEA who advised that you would not be entitled to further DLA worked for the DWP. The people who would have decided whether or not you were eligible were DLA and they are not to blame.

Whenr you received this advice you must have contacted the DLA office to stop your claim. If you had asked their staff what the rules were regarding work and DLA they would have told you.

50Twuncle

TOBRUK wrote: »

The DEA who advised that you would not be entitled to further DLA worked for the DWP. The people who would have decided whether or not you were eligible were DLA and they are not to blame.

Whenr you received this advice you must have contacted the DLA office to stop your claim. If you had asked their staff what the rules were regarding work and DLA they would have told you.

At the time - I was recovering from a head injury - so was not exactly up to much negotiations! !
In fact - I had spent a week in a coma.....

TOBRUK

50Twuncle wrote: »

At the time - I was recovering from a head injury - so was not exactly up to much negotiations! !
In fact - I had spent a week in a coma.....

I understand 50Twuncle, but wasn't that 13 years ago? I am not being harsh but the answer is the same as your gripe is with the DEA at DWP as he gave you this advice and the DLA are not the same.

If you were recovering from a head injury at the time wasn't someone helping you back then or were you dealing with the claim yourself?
I can't see what difference it would make now as I can't see you getting a penny.