What problems do you face when benefits are delayed or underpaid?

mattcanary

pmlindyloo wrote: »

Free internet access can be found at libraries/Job Centres/council offices.

If you ring your utility company they can extend the emergency credit.

You will not get any extra charges for debts if you ring the company and explain the situation. They are usually very understanding and should allow a month's grace while things are being sorted. DDs should be cancelled so extra charges are not put on. Rent arrears can be paid back when you receive your back payments. No landlord can evict for rent arrears unless you are in two months arrears.

Keeping in contact with people that you owe money to is usually met with a sympathetic response.

I am not making light of the situation. Things need to improve and get more efficient. I am merely trying to explain how only food is considered a priority and everything else can wait or be managed.

If you live out in the sticks you probably won't be able to get access to the internet at a library, etc.


Emergency credit on a prepayment meter? - that won't last long!

Indie_Kid

I moved out in February. The day before I moved out, we submitted the housing benefit claim.

I informed the HA a few days before that I'd be claiming HB and this will be paid directly to them and will take a few weeks to come through. They sent me a payment card type thing and said this is a standard thing they send to everyone.

4 weeks later, I get a letter from the HA telling I'm in arrears (I know that and I told them I was claiming HB, which takes a few weeks to come through) and they will have to consider court proceedings if I don't pay up soon.

Thankfully, I got a letter the same day telling me my HB claim was sorted and the HA would get the backdated money.

mattcanary

pmlindyloo wrote: »

The only thing that I disagree with is your quote of 'many groups'.

What groups of people are you talking about?

I note the discussion of what people consider to be vulnerable people.

My definition of that is someone who does not have the ability to seek help and support, or does not know how to access it.

There is a wealth of help and support out there from charities to government bodies. The important thing is to reach out to people who do not have the ability to access these themselves.

Perhaps if we were a more caring society and did not see it as a government responsibility than we all would benefit.

You seem as out of touch as the Tory government does.


You do realise that if Jobcentre Plus realise that you have been unable to apply for the minimum number of jobs you have been required to apply for, that they can sanction you (ie: reduce the benefits in your pocket to nothing - for 4 whole weeks). Without any internet access, this is entirely possible.


Not to mention that people on prepayment meters invariably are on a low income or wholly reliant on benefits. Most of these people will have little (if anything) in the way of savings

UKParliament

The Work and Pensions Committee will be holing an oral evidence session on the timeliness and accuracy of benefit delivery by the Department for Work and Pensions on Wednesday 21 October from 9.30am.

This is the first of several evidence sessions and will focus on organisations who offer benefits advice to claimants.

The will be hearing evidence from the following witnesses

Clarissa Corbisiero-Peters, National Housing Federation
Rhiannon Sims, Citizens Advice Scotland
Clare Jephcott and Barbara King, Islington Law Centre
Peter Hughes, Wigan and Leigh Homes
Carmel Keddy, Derbyshire County Council
Clare Hughes-Cross, St Mungo’s Broadway

You will be able to watch live or via catch-up on Parliament TV.

UKParliament

The Work and Pensions Committee is holding an oral evidence session on Wednesday 4 November on the timeliness and accuracy of benefit delivery by the Department of Work and Pensions. Potential problems that can arise when benefits are delayed or underpaid include people resorting to food banks for emergency food rations.

This is the second evidence session and will focus on benefit delivery.

They will be hearing evidence from the following witnesses

At 9.30 am

Lorna Gledhill, Regional Asylum Activism Coordinator and member of West Yorkshire Destitute Asylum Network
Fabio Apollonio, Project Manager, Policy, research and advocacy, British Red Cross,
Phil Reynolds, Disability Benefits Consortium,
Sue McCarron, Wirral Citizens Advice Bureau

At 10.15am

Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform
Andrew Rhodes, Benefits Services Director, Department for Work and Pensions

The committee will question the first panel on problems associated with benefit delivery and the impact this can have on claimants. It will then raise the problems involved with benefit delivery with the Minister and discuss potential solutions.

You can watch the session live or via catch-up on Parliament TV.

duchy

I'm reminded of when tax credits were in a terrible mess and I waited months to be paid. I was calling frequently - and explained this was causing hardship. I was told not to worry it would be backdated. As I pointed out at the time - my electricity meter didn't take IOUs and nor did my local supermarket.

This ivory tower attitude that if a mistake is made and payment is late it doesn't matter as people can manage - when referring to means tested benefits is completely unrealistic. Most people on means tested benefits don't have creditcards to fall back on (and even if they do don't want to risk interest charges if the delay is longer than expected) or savings .

The government's ivory tower approach is unrealistic and just shows out of touch they are.

thorsoak

I am relating my experience from about four and a half years ago, so I do hope that things have changed since then.

When my OH died, in January 2011, his state pension and mine were stopped immediately - to be "reassessed". Over the next five months, random amounts of money were deposited to my bank account under the heading "DWP pension". Obviously this was unsatisfactory as I had no idea as to how much money my pension would actually be - leading to difficulties in working out my budget.

I phoned on many occasions to try and find out when I would learn what my pension would actually, only to be told "we will get round to you, but we do have to deal with other people too, you know" - which did not make me feel very good - as if I was being too greedy/pushy which was not good, Id just lost my husband of 48 years, my world had come to an end, and other people were more important than me.

Everything was eventually sorted out, and life has restarted - but I do hope that DWP is changing its attitude towards callers.

UKParliament

The House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee has published a report following its inquiry into benefit delivery.

Committee findings

The Committee says:

• It has been difficult to hold the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) to account on benefit delays because of a lack of available data. The DWP should immediately produce at least ESA Work Capability Assessment and Mandatory Reconsideration clearance time statistics, and Short-Term Benefit Advance application statistics.
• If the DWP has the data on benefit delays, it should publish them now. If it does not have this data, Government is making policy decisions in the dark.
• The DWP should immediately set a target for reducing underpayments, which can have an enormous impact on claimants and their ability to pay for essentials, especially since it has had a target for reducing overpayments since 2010.
• The DWP expects Universal Credit, its flagship reform, to simplify the benefit system and make it less open to mistakes. However this inquiry has flagged up the limitations to Universal Credit in improving benefit delivery, including the impact of "built-in delays" to a claimant's initial payment.
• At any rate, Universal Credit will not be fully implemented for several years and it has already been subject to repeated delays. Until it is fully implemented, the DWP must not neglect the delivery of "legacy benefits", which some claimants will receive for at least another 6 years.
• The processes and guidance designed to help particularly vulnerable claimants are not working as they should, and are not enough to prevent claimants falling into debt.
• The DWP's recent guidance for refugees has been welcomed and the Department should now look to build on it using local transition guides. In addition, the DWP should investigate the "move-on period" for refugees, as their own research suggests 28 days is insufficient.

Committee's comments

Frank Field MP, Chair of the Committee, said:

"Delays and errors in delivering benefits are not just an administrative issue. Late or insufficient payments are plunging families into hunger, or putting their homes at risk. The paucity of data about benefit delays has made our scrutiny of this issue difficult, but as MPs we see every week in our surgeries the real hardship that is caused. The Government is betting the farm on Universal Credit, but that will not be fully implemented for several years and has already been subject to repeated delays. The Department must not neglect the existing system in the hope that Universal Credit will save the day. On the contrary, it must do more to improve delivery now."

John Glen MP, Committee Member, said:

"Benefits must be delivered in a way that allows claimants to budget effectively. And for the most vulnerable claimants, timely and accurate payments are vital, across the full range of benefits. Universal Credit will be a welcome reform to improve benefit delivery, but whilst it is being rolled out, we must have the data to allow us to hold the DWP to account and suggest where improvements can be made."

Read the report in full.

red_devil

pmlindyloo wrote: »

This isn't going to happen.

This is tax payers money that we are talking about and if the sanction is proved to be justified then there may be problems with the money being repaid. There will always be (IMHO) an onus for the claimant to prove that a mistake has been made/good reason for the sanction.. The money will then be backdated.

What is missing is the fact that there is currently no system in place that will provide money in these circumstances immediately. Hence the rise in food banks.

The ability to receive food is, in reality, the only priority that anyone in this situation needs. Any other expenditure is non priority. The questions asked when applying for any of the financial help are detailed. Help from family members is always queried.

I also agree that mistakes are made and this can be very frustrating. The DWP and other departments are no different from any other 'company'.

What I strongly advocate is the opportunity for benefit claimants to be able to get quick and accessible help for any problems.

Contact from your MP usually produces incredibly quick results. CAB also has tremendous success in sorting things out. This is, I believe, because these people carry some 'weight' when dealing with benefits departments. Contact from an MP/CAB/welfare advisors are usually passed to someone far senior than the front line staff who often are inadequately trained to deal with anything that requires more than 'pushing a key on a computer screen'.

The sad thing is that many councils are now doing away with face to face help because of costs. if this becomes more prevalent nationwide then things will only get worse, especially for vulnerable people who need that face to face support.

I am unsure why this post has been put here. There is so much statistical information out there from individual complainants through their MP/CAB/welfare advisor to the administrators of food banks etc etc etc.

It does not take a super brain to work out how to improve services - more staff/better trained staff/computer systems that work/more face to face help..... I could go on.

I fear this is just another face saving exercise so that the public feel involved and we are 'all in this together'.

in this country we are innocent until proven guilty. Its to easy for the DWP to take someones money away on a whim and then make the claimant go thru hoops to get it back. Its not right. a lot of decisions are overturned so why were they made in the first place?

What they hope is people wont bother and they will save money.

A criminal does not get treated like this.

MummyMoo

I feel a bit silly adding this, but as someone with severe mental health issues I feel I should also highlight the effect it can have on people's mental well-being. I'm not talking about feeling sad or stressed, which of course are emotions that we all feel from time to time. I'm talking about vulnerable people thinking in extreme ways. I have bipolar disorder and I know for a fact that an issue in my benefits would be a serious trigger for me. I consider myself quite 'well' at the moment, but I know what it's like to be in dark places, and if during those critical times your only income is stopped or drastically reduced then it can be that last thing that is just too much.