Esa budgeting loans delay

Tinlady

I sent my application through and got a text confirmation that it was received on August 14th. I haven’t had anything come through in the post and have been trying to call them for the last couple of days as the 20 working days have passed. Do they only write to you if you get accepted? It would be better to just have the application form be the only form you need to send. If I had applied through the post, would they still send an acceptance form or is it all in one (ie the application serves as you signing for the loan and applying in one)? I can only stay on hold for so long as I get charged after an hour of being on the phone. Needless to say, I still haven’t managed to speak to anyone at all and it’s absolutely ridiculous. They must have around 5 people manning the phone line and regardless of the day or time, it says “we are experiencing high call volumes”. I really needed the money to come through for next week and I’ve managed to make myself physically ill through the stress of it all. I’m also thinking of starting a petition to make the DWP stop using the Vivaldi hold music. After listening to that for hours on end, do they wonder why the majority of callers are irate when they finally answer? It wouldn’t be such a big deal but because I’ve never got through to them in less than 30 minutes, it matters. My brain feels fried.

Chrysalis

Why is a form needed? the old crisis loans you rang up, answered questions and it got approved. In terms of cost to taxpayer the crisis loan was almost cost neutral meaning the amount not paid back was extremely low. So I see no reason why they would need to move to a form based system with waiting times other than as a deliberate policy to deter people.

Sorry to hear about these problems.

Unless they put you through to a decision maker I think ringing up daily wont achieve much other then extra stress sadly. Are they even able to quote you an estimated waiting time?

[Deleted User]

Budgeting loans are different to what crisis loans were. You don't have to complete a paper based application form, you can apply online too.

Once they have made a decision, they will write to you, if you have been offered it, then there is an acceptance form in with that letter.

Have you had a response from them since replying at all?

poppy12345

Tinlady wrote: »

I sent my application through and got a text confirmation that it was received on August 14th. I haven’t had anything come through in the post and have been trying to call them for the last couple of days as the 20 working days have passed. Do they only write to you if you get accepted? It would be better to just have the application form be the only form you need to send. If I had applied through the post, would they still send an acceptance form or is it all in one (ie the application serves as you signing for the loan and applying in one)? I can only stay on hold for so long as I get charged after an hour of being on the phone. Needless to say, I still haven’t managed to speak to anyone at all and it’s absolutely ridiculous. They must have around 5 people manning the phone line and regardless of the day or time, it says “we are experiencing high call volumes”. I really needed the money to come through for next week and I’ve managed to make myself physically ill through the stress of it all. I’m also thinking of starting a petition to make the DWP stop using the Vivaldi hold music. After listening to that for hours on end, do they wonder why the majority of callers are irate when they finally answer? It wouldn’t be such a big deal but because I’ve never got through to them in less than 30 minutes, it matters. My brain feels fried.

I recently applied for a budgeting loan online on the Thursday, received a letter the following Wednesday confirming the loan and how much it would be. I returned the signed acceptance form the same day and had the money in my bank yesterday. Took 3 weeks in total.



They have to send the acceptance form for you to sign otherwise they can't release the funds.


They write to you, whether you're accepted or not.

poppy12345

Chrysalis wrote: »

Why is a form needed? the old crisis loans you rang up, answered questions and it got approved.

It's not a crisis loan, it's a budgeting loan which is totally different.

You can apply online which makes the process much quicker than it used to be when you had to apply in paper form.

Tinlady

MarkN88: I’ve literally heard nothing from them since the text to say they received my online application. It said to wait at least 20 working days before contacting them but to not contact them as they will get in touch if they need anything.

I’m now worried that something has been lost in the post and if the 14 days are up then I’m totally screwed! Why are the DWP so bad at what they do?

poppy12345

Tinlady wrote: »

MarkN88: I’ve literally heard nothing from them since the text to say they received my online application. It said to wait at least 20 working days before contacting them but to not contact them as they will get in touch if they need anything.

I’m now worried that something has been lost in the post and if the 14 days are up then I’m totally screwed! Why are the DWP so bad at what they do?

The 20 days are well overdue. If a letter has been sent out agreeing to the loan you only have a certain amount of time to accept it. If this time passes they you have to apply again.



Try ringing first thing in the morning. i often find this is the best time to ring.

[Deleted User]

Agreed - ring as soon as they open Monday morning.

Chrysalis

poppy12345 wrote: »

It's not a crisis loan, it's a budgeting loan which is totally different.

You can apply online which makes the process much quicker than it used to be when you had to apply in paper form.

I would be careful with your words.

"totally different"

A loan is a loan.

Both loans lend you money, both you pay back out of your benefits, both are 0% interest, I would hardly consider them "totally different".

The part thats different is the application process, and the expected use of the money.

The DWP removed crisis loans, which were designed for emergency situations, budgeting loans were designed more for paying for specific things like a fridge, but of course since crisis loans got abolished there will be people applying for budgeting loans to manage emergency situations so budgeting loans have effectively become dual purpose.

[Deleted User]

There still different though. Designed for different purposes and have defined different application processes.

No one is disputing the word “loan”.