The day after my state pension qualifying age, nothing heard from the DWP

rosalind110

I am so frustrated by this fiasco.  It just gets worse and worse.  I have now written twice to the DWP by Royal Mail and received no response at all.  I have tried to get my pension via Gov Gateway, but although it accepts and uses my mobile phone number when I log in, it won't accept the exact same phone number as one of the two forms of identity verification that are required before it will allow me to fill in a pension application, and requires me to telephone Gateway in order to sort this out.  I have successfully verified my identification with the Post Office verification service using this mobile number, so this makes NO sense at all. Since I'm deaf and cannot use the phone, I have installed Relay on both my pc and my mobile phone, but it won't work on either, so I cannot phone them either.... 

xylophone

Is it worth trying RNID for support?

https://rnid.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/

rosalind110

xylophone said:

Is it worth trying RNID for support?

https://rnid.org.uk/about-us/contact-us/

Thank you. I'll try that.  I never thought it would prove so hard to get my state pension when I completed my application online on the same day back in April that I got the letter through the post inviting me to apply, and duly received their email saying they'd received the application.  

xylophone

I never thought it would prove so hard to get my state pension when I completed my application online on the same day back in April that I got the letter through the post inviting me to apply, and duly received their email saying they'd received the application.  

I have to say that I am very surprised that you should still be in this difficulty after so much time and effort - and the universal covid excuse just doesn't cut it.

You may find this of interest

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/compensation-for-poor-service-a-guide-for-dwp-staff

Just one other point, as you said in your first post

Since I am deaf, which the DWP knows, I am not able to communicate by phone and they will not allow anyone else to speak on the phone on my behalf, 

I assume that a friend/relation actually tried to do this in your presence and the DWP refused to speak to him, even though you were ready and willing to give your consent?

rosalind110

That's correct.

Thrugelmir

In normal times it can be up to 14 days before your retrirement date. Times aren't normal due to the pandeimic. WFH isn't the pancea it's portrayed to be. I'm sure that it will be resolved shortly. We all just need to have some patience and flexibility. 

xylophone

We all just need to have some patience and flexibility. 

And the civil servants need to get back to work?

rosalind110

It's not that I'm "impatient" or "inflexible", so much as being 100% in the dark, 8 days AFTER I reached pensionable age. 


I would expect that, even during a pandemic, I would be told at some point in the full five months between completing my pension application online, and the qualifying date for my pension, how much pension I'm going to get and when I'm going to get it.  I don't think that's an unreasonable expectation when it concerns my day-to-day income and financial planning to pay the bills, buy food etc.


Today I've literally spent 6 hours online trying to get some sort of information from them with no success whatsoever.  In order to access my own information on GOV. UK Verify, I am required to prove my identity via either The Post Office or a company called Digidentity, by providing two forms of identity.  I don't have a driver's license or an identity card, so my only two options are my passport and my mobile phone number. However, while there has been no problem with verifying my passport, neither company will accept my mobile phone number as verification, probably because I own the phone outright and use it with a SIM card, rather than having a contract, so I can't even log in to look at my own information. 


After further two hours of trying, and completely failing, to install apps on both my mobile phone and my desktop pc that will allow me to speak on the phone to the DWP via a deaf relay service, I am at a complete loss as to what to do next,  as literally, all avenues of potential contact appear to be completely closed to me. 


Based on that, I would ask that you don't assume that I'm being unduly impatient simply because I need to know how much money I'm going to have to live off, or, for that matter, whether they've processed my application at all, which is something I'm not able to check.

SouthCoastBoy

Maybe worth writing to your MP, this issue needs to be raised as some sort of acknowledgment should be given by DWP that they have your application and will respond by a certain date.

rosalind110

Good idea.  If I didn't have a work pension and was wholly dependent on the state pension, I'd be pretty well scuppered at this point.