Responsibility for travel costs?

Millwall_Alan

I wonder if anyone here knows the answer to this query.
I am currently claiming UC, had no problems, been treated well, had a few short-term or agency employments, but do far nothing permanent.
Last month I switched bank accounts, through uSwitch. All OK.
The day before I was due to be paid I received an email from DWP saying that I would not be paid as I had canceled my account, if I had a new one I must use my journal to give them the details. This I did. I then received another email saying that I had to make an appointment to see someone, face-to-face to confirm that I had changed banks, and I couldn't be paid until this happened. Contacted them, got an appointment for the following morning, told I had to bring proof of the new bank details, home address, photo ID, and would be paid once I had provided these
I accept this is the system, overly bureaucratic as it is, and attended.
My payment actually went through anyway, so everything was on the system. I had an appointment with someone I had never seen before, who didn't ask for any of my ID, just the new bank card, which she typed into her pc, telling me that I wouldn't get paid until she did this and how important it was. I pointed out that I had been paid, and she told me I hadn't. O well.
After this was done, I asked for a forms to claim travel expenses, was told that the DWP no longer has any forms for this as travel is 'absorbed' by UC payments.
I have always been under the impression that if someone decides that you have to do something to help them, or fit in with their system, they would be responsible for out of pocket expenses. In this case the journey was not necessary, as I was in fact paid anyway, I could just have easily provided the information over the internet with a photo of the bank card, and I had an appointment a week later anyway, when I could have brought the bank card in. Further, no checks were done, so if there was any sort of fiddle, nothing was done to prevent it. All they did was confirm that a bank account with the details I provided actually existed, which was not in doubt.
I have made an official complaint, got a call from someone claiming to be a manager, who repeated, several times, that my account had to be verified, so I had to meet any costs as it was 'for me'. Making the points above simply led to me being told that I had to be verified again.
Wrote to my MP, got a reply back from DWP yesterday, thanking me for my interest, but telling me that the DWP can only refund travel if it directly relates to job hunting, so I would have to pay for the travel.
It is now a matter of principle rather than about the monies (which was only £1.50 anyway) so I am taking it to the Independent Tribunal now, but before composing the letter to them, does anyone know if there is any legislation that states who is liable for travel costs, when instructed to do something that is entirely for the benefit of the requesting body, and which could easily have been done in a more convenient manner at a more convenient time, at no expense?
Looking forward to any responses received

Many thanks

Alan

KatrinaWaves

The reason they cannot absorb costs like this any more is because of people like you taking them to tribunals over trivialities which cost time and money.

Blatchford

The error was in paying you without verification. I assume that you'd have been ok if someone had fraudulently changed your details and diverted your payment to a third party account? After all, they'd have provided the details over the internet - and nobody has ever heard of hacking? I totally agree with you that it is appalling that payment was made without properly verifying the details. But it was your choice to change accounts and so verifying the account was to your benefit, not theirs. You are being unreasonable.

poppy12345

Millwall_Alan wrote: »

It is now a matter of principle rather than about the monies (which was only £1.50 anyway) so I am taking it to the Independent Tribunal

This has got be a joke, yes? :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:


I thought school holidays were over?

NedS

I'm afraid the decision was correct. The jobcentre does not refund travel costs for appointments such as this. You are expected to attend appointments as required if you want to claim benefits. It's your choice, you don't have to claim.

Afraid_of_Kittens

KatrinaWaves wrote: »

The reason they cannot absorb costs like this any more is because of people like you taking them to tribunals over trivialities which cost time and money.

It probably gets worse. He probably gave a friend his bank card to withdraw £1.50 from his bank but 3 years later he discovered his friend took all his money...

snilloct1957

I suspect the DWP withheld payment because they were concerned that someone was coercing you into paying the benefit into another account, and you wouldn't see a penny of it.

JamoLew

But it wasn't just for the benefit of the requesting body.

You changed you bank account not them.

tomtom256

Payment was probably made to the old account, but with the account being changed via uswitch, they normally forward payments on to the new account for a few weeks.

Travel is absorbed by the customer, unless they are being seen weekly, in which case the Jobcentre can pay travel for alternate weeks like they used to on legacy benefits.

parkrunner

Gordon Bennett!!

dippy3103

Assuming this is for real..

You can only appeal if the decision was either wrong in law (it's not) or made in ignorance of the facts, which doesn't sound as if thos happened either. So your appeal is likely to be rejected.