Women’s underpaid state pension

JJC1956

molerat said:

The checking process began on 11 January 2021 and is expected to be complete by end 2023.

From that link

That’s OK she’s only 92 🙄 

44ALLAN44

Well my update is ...............not good.
I originally asked for a review of my deceased Mothers pension in May 2021.
I received a reply letter in July 2021 saying my Mothers pension was correct,even though I had not sent them any details other than her name and date of birth.
I therefore sent them a letter with her NI number and my deceased fathers details ( full NICS history) and asked them to review it correctly.
I heard nothing so waited till Sept 2021 and finally spoke to someone who told me my Mother hadn't claimed her pension at all and wasn't receiving one when she was alive !
I sent them a copy of her bank statement showing receipt of state pension and I've heard nothing since.
These 'new' people appear to be 'call centre staff' working from home as it is impossible to get and information from them..........9 month and waiting.........

xylophone

These 'new' people appear to be 'call centre staff' working from home as it is impossible to get and information from them..........9 month and waiting.........

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/pensions/article-10415225/State-pension-delays-Furious-pensioners-slam-DWP.html

 ..............and call centres which seem to have operators who either have insufficient knowledge to help callers, or insufficient authority to ensure others respond and follow up on promised call-backs.

'This is surely something that needs to be addressed urgently. The public has a right to expect much better service than this, especially when it relates to their state pension, which many will be wholly reliant on for their later life income.

'If they expect their pension to start on time and it does not arrive, this can cause serious hardship.'

Lady Altmann adds: 'The DWP has contracts with outside call centres and also has its own staff who handle customer phone inquiries, letters or emails.

'If those paid to respond to the public are not performing adequately, surely there should be penalties on them and redress offered to people who are being treated so badly.

'What is the point of taxpayers paying for helplines, call centres or response services, if the public do not receive the help they need ................

JJC1956

There is an article on BBC News (online) today, that might interest all those waiting but it doesn’t really show how things will be improved, more like it is highlighting the DWP pensions failings and the DWP saying they are dealing with the problem as best they can.
As for call centre staff WFH, I doubt these people would be able to do anything other than fob you off or put you through to someone that might be able to help, they wont actually be dealing with pension problems as they wouldn’t have sufficient training or authority to make decisions

sparky0138

So it's been six months now and my mum phoned for an update. They've finally updated the options at the beginning of the call now so they actually give a number to press depending on why you're phoning (in my mum's case, her late mother's pension).

The gentleman she talked to just said her case would be dealt with eventually but they were still prioritising people who are living, which is as it should be, of course. He said they would definitely get back to her after that. However, she did ask him to confirm they had all the details on record as last time they weren't recorded and he confirmed they were so at least that's something.

As the whole exercise is supposed to be finished by the end of 2023, she's going to wait until November/December next year to contact them again if she doesn't hear anything. I fully expect that deadline to be extended though, to be honest.

sparky0138

44ALLAN44 said:

These 'new' people appear to be 'call centre staff' working from home as it is impossible to get and information from them.

When my mum phoned yesterday she could hear other staff working in the background so it's possible they're back in the office now with perhaps more access to details.

JJC1956

sparky0138 said:

44ALLAN44 said:

These 'new' people appear to be 'call centre staff' working from home as it is impossible to get and information from them.

When my mum phoned yesterday she could hear other staff working in the background so it's possible they're back in the office now with perhaps more access to details.

Seems to be a Civil Service thing, I called the DWP on Thursday, i asked about the information they requested and received last Oct, they told me they would send an email with priority stamped on it to the relevant department.
I called HMRC a week ago about my NI SAR request made last July (and a couple of emails since then) they said the would send an email with priority stamped on it to the relevant department, Deja Vu methinks.
Does anybody in the Civil Service actually deal with people on a one to one basis or does everyone have to try and breach the Firewall.

Dazed_and_C0nfused

JJC1956 said:

sparky0138 said:

44ALLAN44 said:

These 'new' people appear to be 'call centre staff' working from home as it is impossible to get and information from them.

When my mum phoned yesterday she could hear other staff working in the background so it's possible they're back in the office now with perhaps more access to details.

Seems to be a Civil Service thing, I called the DWP on Thursday, i asked about the information they requested and received last Oct, they told me they would send an email with priority stamped on it to the relevant department.
I called HMRC a week ago about my NI SAR request made last July (and a couple of emails since then) they said the would send an email with priority stamped on it to the relevant department, Deja Vu methinks.
Does anybody in the Civil Service actually deal with people on a one to one basis or does everyone have to try and breach the Firewall.

There was an update published fairly recently.  Safe to say it seems to be very slow progress.

Less than 5,000 cases cases resolved in the last 5 months.

Will take a few years to get through them all that rate!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-underpayments-progress-on-cases-reviewed-to-28-february-2022/state-pension-underpayments-progress-on-cases-reviewed-to-28-february-2022

JJC1956

Dazed_and_C0nfused said:

JJC1956 said:

sparky0138 said:

44ALLAN44 said:

These 'new' people appear to be 'call centre staff' working from home as it is impossible to get and information from them.

When my mum phoned yesterday she could hear other staff working in the background so it's possible they're back in the office now with perhaps more access to details.

Seems to be a Civil Service thing, I called the DWP on Thursday, i asked about the information they requested and received last Oct, they told me they would send an email with priority stamped on it to the relevant department.
I called HMRC a week ago about my NI SAR request made last July (and a couple of emails since then) they said the would send an email with priority stamped on it to the relevant department, Deja Vu methinks.
Does anybody in the Civil Service actually deal with people on a one to one basis or does everyone have to try and breach the Firewall.

There was an update published fairly recently.  Safe to say it seems to be very slow progress.

Less than 5,000 cases cases resolved in the last 5 months.

Will take a few years to get through them all that rate!

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/state-pension-underpayments-progress-on-cases-reviewed-to-28-february-2022/state-pension-underpayments-progress-on-cases-reviewed-to-28-february-2022

According to the stats for the link you sent, approx 10,000 cases per week were reviewed between Jan 11th and 28th Feb, that seems pretty good to me, even though most claims were turned down. Or did I misread them

JJC1956

YES I did misread them!! 11th Jan last year!!! That doesn’t make good reading