MSE News: Over 74? You could be owed backdated energy bill cash

Dennis_K

I told my mother in law about this and she enquired as to if this had been given her / eligibility and was told you cannot claim that far back! Anyone else had this?

macman

The WFP call centre staff are barely aware of the existence of this reclaim procedure; at least they weren't when I phoned last Friday to confirm the address.
Unfortunately your MIL now has missed the boat; the deadline for receipt of claims was today.

johncr

I posted application first class on Friday March 28 and have just received notification that my "claim form was not received into the department until 1 April 2014, therefore your claim has been received too late to be considered." Annoying !!

RV07

Johncr, my dad had the same letter and we sent it First class 29th March. Wonder if it's a standard response that we can complain about as unfair it's Royal Mail's fault!

barncopxx

RV07 wrote: »

Johncr, my dad had the same letter and we sent it First class 29th March. Wonder if it's a standard response that we can complain about as unfair it's Royal Mail's fault!

Johncr's post says :"my claim form was not received into the department until 1 April 2014". "RECEIVED INTO THE DEPARTMENT" - given the huge amount of mail they must receive daily it is most likely that it was delivered on time by the Royal Mail but not passed internally to their correct DEPARTMENT until too late. Best check that avenue out first rather than take the easy route and blame the postie! Don't forget that RM only deliver to the first point of delivery!

RV07

barncopxx wrote: »

Johncr's post says :"my claim form was not received into the department until 1 April 2014". "RECEIVED INTO THE DEPARTMENT" - given the huge amount of mail they must receive daily it is most likely that it was delivered on time by the Royal Mail but not passed internally to their correct DEPARTMENT until too late. Best check that avenue out first rather than take the easy route and blame the postie! Don't forget that RM only deliver to the first point of delivery!

Yep you're absolutely right, I'm too quick to make assumptions!

barncopxx

RV07 wrote: »

Yep you're absolutely right, I'm too quick to make assumptions!

Lol:D, just noticed as well that johncr didn't post his application until Friday 28th March. Presumably the DWP don't work Saturday's and Sunday's so that would have taken care of the 29th & 30th which means the earliest they would have received the letter would be Monday 31st, and they got it in their department the day after on the 1st. Sounds as if Royal Mail did their bit spot on:T

macman

I posted mine first class on the last posting date and have yet to receive a response, not sure if that''s good news or not.
The time it reaches the correct dept should not be relevant,it's surely the date it enters the building. It should then be date stamped in the postroom before distribution-the period that takes them is an internal matter.

johncr

Have just sent the following email to The Pension Service :
I am in receipt of your letter dated April 4 concerning my recent claim for Retrospective Fuel Payments, and note your comment that "in order to claim for these years, we must have received your claim on or before 31 March, 2014. Unfortunately your claim form was not received into the department until 1 April 2014, therefore your claim has been received too late to be considered".
Since the claim was posted First Class on March 28, it seems very likely that it was received by The Pension Service on March 31, but did not reach a Pension Officers' desk until April 1.

I would suggest, therefore, that there are grounds for this claim to be reconsidered, and hope that this suggestion will be viewed sympathetically.


Worth a try !!

priorslee

Just wondering if anyone has had a response to the sort of email/letter that johncr tried suggesting that fault lies with DWP's post-handling, rather than Royal Mail or claimants?

I'm guessing this is unlikely, given the timescales for DWP issuing the 'sorry too late' letters - my dad only got his this week ie 5 weeks after the deadline.

Given the conflicting messages from DWP staff recorded earlier in this thread about the address to send the form to and also the fact the claim form didn't say where it had to be posted to, I think we have strong grounds for complaint.