£40 phone call to DWP

TELLIT01

There is nothing in the main body of the site to indicate there is a charge. In fact, in the main body is states "Calls are charged at local rate or free..." Only in the side bar does is say calls are charged at 7 p per minute plus access charge. Nowhere on the site can I see anything detailing the access charge. Even at that price though the OP would have to be on the phone for nearly 7 hours at 7p per minute.

Feral_Moon

TELLIT01 wrote: »

There is nothing in the main body of the site to indicate there is a charge. In fact, in the main body is states "Calls are charged at local rate or free..." Only in the side bar does is say calls are charged at 7 p per minute plus access charge. Nowhere on the site can I see anything detailing the access charge. Even at that price though the OP would have to be on the phone for nearly 7 hours at 7p per minute.

I was on the phone over an hour, maybe 1hr 20mins.

TELLIT01

I should actually have said nearly 10 hours if the only charge was 7p per minute. The rest must have been the 'access charge'. Something needs to be done about these con artists ripping unsuspecting people off. The site looks very professional and it's easy to assume it's an official site.
People claiming sickness benefits are often at a pretty low ebb anyway, particularly if they have been trying to get through for ages. These scum are just preying on them.

flower77g

Would the Phone Paid Services Authority help?


https://psauthority.org.uk/news/blogs/2018/september/what-to-do-if-you-re-seeking-a-refund-for-an-unexpected-charge-on-your-phone-bill

PersianCatLady

Feral_Moon wrote: »

It was 08435060359 and I'm sure one of the DWP operators gave it to me as I had it scribbled down on a piece of paper with other related notes on it.

From what I can gathetr from a two minute Google search 0843 5060359 is not an official DWP phone number but some sort of third party call-forwarding service that claims that "you’ll get put through straight away – no queueing or waiting".

There is only one reason for a company to promote their version of the ESA phone number and that is to make money so they charge you.

"Lines are open Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm. Calls are charged at local rate or free depending on whether you call from a mobile or landline and which number you call"

Link for dodgy call-forwarding phone numbers:
https://contactnumberuk.net/esa/

This link is about the costs of calling a 0843 phone number:
https://www.area-codes.org.uk/0843-numbers.php

Basically a call to an 0843 number is charged in two ways:

Firstly there is an ACCESS CHARGE which varies from around 13p per minute on landlines to up to 58p per minute from mobiles.

Secondly there is a service charge of up to 7p per minute, 7p per call or a combination of both.

Cost of 60 minute call =
Access Charge @ 58p a minute = £34.00
Service Charge @ 7p a minute = £4.20

TOTAL COST £38.20 (Plus of course any additional overall service charge)

PersianCatLady

Feral_Moon wrote: »

I was on the phone over an hour, maybe 1hr 20mins.

If you look at my calculation above, I worked out calling that number for 60 minutes coukd cost up to £38.20.

If you were on the phone for 80 minutes then using the same figures would cost £50.90.

Sorry you were scammed by this awful con.

pmduk

Nowadays, the only numbers beginning 08 that should be used are 0800 or 0808, the rest cost you an arm and a leg. Be very careful about using internet search engines to find phone numbers, it can cost you dearly.

Ian011

DWP has never used premium rate 0843 or 0844 numbers. Any such number found online is a scam.


For all benefits other than Universal Credit, DWP has had freephone 0800 numbers for "new claims" lines since about 2010. From 2010 to July 2015, DWP paid a large sum of money to the mobile phone providers such that calls to those DWP 0800 numbers were also free-to-caller from mobile phones. Nowadays, all 0800 and 0808 numbers are free-to-caller from landlines and mobiles.

For all benefits other than Universal Credit, phone lines for "existing claims" were originally on premium rate 0845 numbers. After a long period of campaigning resulting in a government-wide change of guidance from the Cabinet Office in December 2013, DWP changed to cheaper 0345 numbers on 17 March 2014. DWP further reviewed their policy and then changed again in December 2017, this time to free-to-caller 0800 numbers.

Universal Credit was slightly different. The helpline for existing UC claims had always been an 0345 number and changed in December 2017 to an 0800 number. Originally, there was no telephone line for enquiries about new UC claims because all new UC claims must be made online. In December 2017, DWP introduced a free-to-caller 0800 number for enquiries about new UC claims.


The premium rate 0843 number is a scam, and (after 16 January 2019) it can be reported to PSA for investigation. That's the date when all Call Connection Services, irrespective of price or prefix, come under PSA control.

Contact the connection service provider and demand a refund citing their declaration of incorrect call charges.

See also:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5639282/what-is-a-call-connection-service-be-aware-and-then-avoid

PersianCatLady

pmduk wrote: »

Nowadays, the only numbers beginning 08 that should be used are 0800, the rest cost you an arm and a leg. Be very careful about using internet search engines to find phone numbers, it can cost you dearly.

As my calculation above shows!!