Universal credit complaint? not answering my complaints

cupid07

Hi everyone, I issued two mandatory reconsiderations over the date in which i'm paid UC. Mainly because my claim gets shut down each month and then gets "pushed back a week" so the date at which i'm paid isn't the same date each month, it gets pushed back and back and back. Nobody on their hotline can tell me why this happens.

I sent in a MR in March and another in April, straight after i got the letters with the new dates on. In May, again its been pushed back again. I received no reply to either on these MRs and used the freepost address they gave me with the letter.

I then made a complaint about not receiving a reply at the start of May through the gov.uk website, once you input all your details - it states someone will call you to discuss within 48h. No call at all.

What recourse do i have here? i'm never paid on time and my claim is constantly pushed back. They don't answer my letters and haven't responded to my written complaint? has anyone else had any success with getting a reply from them or any idea as to what I can do next?

many thanks

paragon909

cupid07 wrote: »

Hi everyone, I issued two mandatory reconsiderations over the date in which i'm paid UC. Mainly because my claim gets shut down each month and then gets "pushed back a week" so the date at which i'm paid isn't the same date each month, it gets pushed back and back and back. Nobody on their hotline can tell me why this happens.

I sent in a MR in March and another in April, straight after i got the letters with the new dates on. In May, again its been pushed back again. I received no reply to either on these MRs and used the freepost address they gave me with the letter.

I then made a complaint about not receiving a reply at the start of May through the gov.uk website, once you input all your details - it states someone will call you to discuss within 48h. No call at all.

What recourse do i have here? i'm never paid on time and my claim is constantly pushed back. They don't answer my letters and haven't responded to my written complaint? has anyone else had any success with getting a reply from them or any idea as to what I can do next?

many thanks

Best thing you can do is call UC and ask to speak to the benefit delivery centre explaining all your problems just like here, And they will book a call back which takes upto 3 hours. Or take your mandatory reconsideration into JCP and they will send it using the internal mail.

Mersey_2

Sadly, there have been a lot of similar errors by the DWP re UC due to their IT systems.


Maladministration includes misinformation, error, delay etc. You should receive an apology, written explanation and you may also receive a consolatory payment of eg £50 or £100. Keep a record of your time spent, as well as the costs of any calls, postage and so on as a result of the DWP errors.


Send a complaint in writing.


DWP HQ address is: Noel Shanahan, PO Box 50101, London, SW1P 2WU. [I have his email address if you PM]

sammyjammy

Mersey wrote: »

Sadly, there have been a lot of similar errors by the DWP re UC due to their IT systems.


Maladministration includes misinformation, error, delay etc. You should receive an apology, written explanation and you may also receive a consolatory payment of eg £50 or £100. Keep a record of your time spent, as well as the costs of any calls, postage and so on as a result of the DWP errors.


Send a complaint in writing.


DWP HQ address is: Noel Shanahan, PO Box 50101, London, SW1P 2WU. [I have his email address if you PM]

you may well have his email address but it will bounce back as he no longer works for DWP.

NeilCr

This may help

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/benefits-introduction/problems-with-benefits-and-tax-credits/complaining-about-the-service-you-ve-received-benefits-and-tax-credits/

zagfles

Or try your MP. They can be quite good at getting this sort of thing sorted.

red_devil

universal credit is a universal disaster. Tell your mp of your problems, also there is a petition to get it scrapped.

Its unstable and unreliable, not fit for purpose. It should never have been allowed to be passed.

xylophone

you may well have his email address but it will bounce back as he no longer works for DWP.

Just address the letter to The Director General Operations, DWP?

TELLIT01

red_devil wrote: »

universal credit is a universal disaster. Tell your mp of your problems, also there is a petition to get it scrapped.

Its unstable and unreliable, not fit for purpose. It should never have been allowed to be passed.[/QUOTE

That's a bit harsh. It's only years behind schedule, is only capable in most areas of handling single job seekers and even then often with manual intervention because the systems can't cope with any variation from the norm, and has about 1% of the expected numbers on it.
Apart from that it's fine:)

Mersey_2

sammyjammy wrote: »

you may well have his email address but it will bounce back as he no longer works for DWP.

If that's true, you best tell the DWP as they still list him as their COO, as does he on LinkedIn.


Although they do seem to second someone new each year so it wouldn't surprise me (the previous one left halfway through his caseload according to the DWP Select Committee.)

zagfles

TELLIT01 wrote: »

That's a bit harsh. It's only years behind schedule, is only capable in most areas of handling single job seekers and even then often with manual intervention because the systems can't cope with any variation from the norm, and has about 1% of the expected numbers on it.
Apart from that it's fine:)

It's just following in the tradition of virtually every other govt IT project