HELP - Student Finance England has lost my passport and claim they never received it

Wantaflat

I'm appealing to anyone with any idea of what I can do: I sent my DSA application to SFE together with my passport early September this year. I later called to ask whether I could have the passport back as I was due to take an exam which required my passport as proof of ID. I spoke with someone at student finance (unfortunately, I didn't note down this person's name) who confirmed receipt of the application form and passport, and said they'd send the passport to me so I could take the exam, and send it back when I was done. In the meantime, I was able to negotiate with the exam administrator directly who found an alternative ID for me to gain admission to the exam centre without my passport, so I called SFE back asking them to cancel my request for the passport back, and keep it until they'd processed my application.

End of October, I called back as I hadn't heard anything. Long story short, they hadn't put info about my application, which I sent recorded delivery, on my records. They located the application but not the passport. They have an evidence retrieval going on to find the passport but they claim they didn't receive the passport. They cannot trace the earlier conversations I had with their teams even though they do record all calls.

What can I do here? My application won't go anywhere without the passport, I cannot afford to have another £100 passport made, a passport is a sensitive document which contains personal information and gives rise to potential ID theft if it lands in the hands of criminals. In the meantime, I'm not getting the financial support required for my intense MSc course.

I'm out of options, I'm going to go to my local MP and student union, but any advice from anyone who's gone through this nightmare, or who works/has previously worked SFE would be extremely welcome

devildog

Welcome to the world of Student Finance, I too have sent original paperwork that they have claimed not to receive despite them having received other paperwork that was sent in the same envelope!!! Went through an evidence retrieval too yet they still didn't find it. Fortunately it wasn't a passport and in the main we were able to supply further evidence, but it wasn't a fun process and we still ended up not being able to claim for everything entitled to due to their inability to keep track of evidence.

When you call them, and go through security etc usually the call is connected to your account and I do believe that Taiko (some one here who has worked with the funding process) has indicated that it is possible to trace who you spoke to based on the time your account was accessed, so even if you do not have a name SF should be able to trace who you spoke to(if you had a time/date that could be of some help)

If it was sent recorded, do you still have the receipt and did you cover the actual value of the passport?
TBH I think that you are on a hiding to nothing with SF and your best action would be to follow through with your MP (I have done that on issues regarding SF too) but they appear unanswerable to anyone!!

Wantaflat

I've spoken with a "manager" who seemed to be closer to the page I'm on but still not convinced he'll do much. He said calls could be traced back to me but the problem is that they didn't start putting information on my records until October when I chased up to see what was happening, so the conversations in early September where I requested for the passport back (hence proof that they actually did have the passport) isn't linkable to my profile but I should be able to find th date and time that conversation took place, through my phone records. It seems that when they got my documents early Sept, no one actioned it/bothered to update my profile. I only sent the passport recorded without insurance. Even if I had, it's not like Royal Mail lost the document as SF have confirmed receipt so RM wouldn't pay for the lost passport... Can I ask you how you contacted your MP, was it by email/letter? Did it take long for them to respond to you? Sounds like you've had your fair share of the consequences these people's incompetence can cause, but hope you've managed to put the worst behind you

nimbo

keep on at them - they denied having my statutory declaration, even though I sent it with my birth certificate (i changed my name years ago - and i they hadn't seen it, they would have had to question the surname change) - when i started to stress how difficult it would be to get the document replaced as the solicitors i did it at have closed down it suddenly appeared in the post....

It does suck, but hopefully it will appear... Oh and google your local MP, and councillors online, and then wither email or snail mail them according to what details they have got online for you to use...

good luck

nimbo

in the meantime can't you just give them the passport number? I thought I only had the issue of sending in actual documents as my passport was out of date...

devildog

I contacted my MP via a local surgery he was holding re a Student Finance issue(not lost documentation though) but tbh all that happened was further correspondence between me and David Lammy (Higher Education Minister) but TBH it was a waste of time.
Yes we have had many issue. since my eldest went to Uni just over 6 years ago, every single year something has gone wrong (not kidding) Lost paperwork/receipts, them not deducting pension contributions in their calculations, paying money out that they shouldn't have (Student not registered) trying to reclaim money that regulations do not allow for them to reclaim (just won an appeal on that one ) the list is endless!

I thought the worst was behind us last year as youngest didn't apply for partial SF funding that they were entitled to(couldn't face any more hassle with them) but they still made mistakes despite this.
Hopefully having won the appeal we will not have to ever deal with them again!!

Taiko

For them to have confirmed in September receipt of your passport, they'd have had to have accessed your account. Unless they have changed systems since 2010 (which I don't think is likely, in all honesty), your records will show the name of the person who accessed your account and the times.

Keep your recorded delivery receipt for if it doesn't turn up, then issue a Letter Before Action threatening a small claim against them for the cost of a replacement, relevant costs and a small goodwill gesture. I get the impression that will get you your passport back.

Out of interest, did you apply for DSA only? Or did you apply online for the original finance details?

Wantaflat

Taiko, I only applied for DSA, never applied for anything else. The whole situation is very strange. I spoke with SFE about having the passport back for the exam early September but they claim there are no records of me on their system before end of October which is when I followed up to find out what was happening with my application. The "manager" I spoke with on Sunday, checked for any duplicate accounts under my name and found nothing on top of the one from October. I'll follow your advice about Letter Before Action. Thanks for your advice. I'll post how I get on and if there is any progress.

jb000

Sorry to bring up a thread a couple of months old, however, I can understand what you all are going through as I worked for these jokers last year and boy have I some horror stories about Student Finance England, in fact I could write a book on them.

Firstly, the lost documents issue is extremely common, they have what's known as the GAS room (Grading and Scanning), this is mainly staffed by 16 to 18 year old college placement kids with no experience whatsoever. When I was there, if I had a pound for every student complaining about lost documents, I would be driving a brand new Merc now and not a clapped out Mondeo.

Secondly their software is absolutely ancient, they are still running on Windows XP!!!. Their main processing system was called the LA Portal which was slower than a wet week in Llandudno and was forever breaking down and freezing, the amount of lost hours due to the antique software was staggering. I'm sure they bought their computers second hand from the car boot sales as the majority of them were pentium 3. The document system was called Task Space which was an early 2000s version which again was forever breaking down. Their e-mail system was Lotus Notes 7 which was many years out of date. Lets face it, schools in Africa have better equipment and software than Student Finance England.

The majority of their staff are ex agency workers. You had to work via an agency to get in there in the first place. They dangled short term contracts front of you and are vicious target bullies which does no ones morale any good. The training and support are woefully inadequate, the people whose face did not fit did not get the support which meant their days were numbered. One halfwit employee was too busy organising gigs for a band than to provide support and encouragement for the team. If your face fitted, you got away with murder, if not, you may have well just resigned as your life at work would be made a misery. I have never witnessed such a high turnover of staff in my life. If this company operated in the private sector, it would have gone bust years ago. There is far too much egotistical dead wood in positions of authority.

All in all working for Student Finance England was only a small step higher than working in Morrisons (No offence to anyone working in Morrisons).
In fact I would sooner work in Morrisons. Every negative post on the internet regarding Student Finance England is true as I have first hand knowledge of working for such an incompetent, inept and the vilest organisation that I have ever had the misfortune to come across.

Taiko

jb000 wrote: »

Sorry to bring up a thread a couple of months old, however, I can understand what you all are going through as I worked for these jokers last year and boy have I some horror stories about Student Finance England, in fact I could write a book on them.

Firstly, the lost documents issue is extremely common, they have what's known as the GAS room (Grading and Scanning), this is mainly staffed by 16 to 18 year old college placement kids with no experience whatsoever. When I was there, if I had a pound for every student complaining about lost documents, I would be driving a brand new Merc now and not a clapped out Mondeo.

Secondly their software is absolutely ancient, they are still running on Windows XP!!!. Their main processing system was called the LA Portal which was slower than a wet week in Llandudno and was forever breaking down and freezing, the amount of lost hours due to the antique software was staggering. I'm sure they bought their computers second hand from the car boot sales as the majority of them were pentium 3. The document system was called Task Space which was an early 2000s version which again was forever breaking down. Their e-mail system was Lotus Notes 7 which was many years out of date. Lets face it, schools in Africa have better equipment and software than Student Finance England.

The majority of their staff are ex agency workers. You had to work via an agency to get in there in the first place. They dangled short term contracts front of you and are vicious target bullies which does no ones morale any good. The training and support are woefully inadequate, the people whose face did not fit did not get the support which meant their days were numbered. One halfwit employee was too busy organising gigs for a band than to provide support and encouragement for the team. If your face fitted, you got away with murder, if not, you may have well just resigned as your life at work would be made a misery. I have never witnessed such a high turnover of staff in my life. If this company operated in the private sector, it would have gone bust years ago. There is far too much egotistical dead wood in positions of authority.

All in all working for Student Finance England was only a small step higher than working in Morrisons (No offence to anyone working in Morrisons).
In fact I would sooner work in Morrisons. Every negative post on the internet regarding Student Finance England is true as I have first hand knowledge of working for such an incompetent, inept and the vilest organisation that I have ever had the misfortune to come across.

Whereas the service provided by LA's, for the most part, was a lot more impressive. But then, we did kind of tell the government of the day as such, but it's much better for them to shift it all up to Darlington!

There's probably posts back from 2007/8 where I'm predicting it all in advance, so I'll see your Merc and raise you a private jet.