Delays to State Pension for Newbies

Thrugelmir

Pollycat said:

Disregarding the last half dozen posts, the fact remains that - for whatever reason - people's state pension payments are not being processed in a timely manner.

And the pandemic rolls on and on. 

Pollycat

Thrugelmir said:

Pollycat said:

Disregarding the last half dozen posts, the fact remains that - for whatever reason - people's state pension payments are not being processed in a timely manner.

And the pandemic rolls on and on. 

It's about time we stopped using that as an excuse.

QrizB

xylophone said:

And I can see no excuse whatsoever for DWP staff to remain working from home if this arrangement is contributing to the chaos.

That's quite a big "if", though.

Lots of staff in clerical jobs are working from home, and (judging by my employer's actions, plus reports in the press) doing so successfully enough that their employers are thinking of continuing indefinitely. Do you have any reason to think that DWP staff would be different?

xylophone

doing so successfully enough 

Would you describe the record of DWP as "successful enough"!!!!!

I'd suggest that you look back over previous threads.

xylophone

But you know the facts

Were you not previously saying that I didn't?

People have claimed their state pensions in the usual way, some three/ four months before due payable.

They were entitled to expect that those pensions should be paid on time.

They weren't, owing to mismanagement at the DWP.

And it would seem, alas, that the current batch of staff were not given the same training in customer service as you received.......

I have helped a lot of people many of them amongst the least well off in society and received many genuine thank yous in my time.

See

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/78596796/#Comment_78596796

Sue Lockett, 68, said her sister was reduced to tears after a DWP official told her she “wouldn’t starve” and “there were plenty of food banks around” while she waited for £1,590 in overdue payments.

Mrs Lockett, who acted on behalf of her sister Jean Walton, said no money had arrived in her account since her 66th birthday on June 30. That is despite helping her apply for her state pension three months in advance to ensure there would be no issues. Mrs Walton failed to meet her rent payments following the delay. 


“I told the DWP she had never been behind with her rent for the past 30 years and would be in arrears for the first time through no fault of her own.,” Mrs Lockett said. “I told them she was struggling to pay her bills and food from her savings, which have now gone. One DWP assistant told me that she ‘won’t starve as there are plenty of food banks nearby’. I was disgusted for them to even suggest that.””

Words (almost) fail me.

Silvertabby

As awful as these stories are, the system doesn't appear to be totally broken - a friend who reached SPA in September received her first payment just a week or so after her birthday.  Perhaps it's a regional thing?  Perhaps only those with problems are contacting the media, and those who have been paid on time are the silent majority?

And horrible DWP assessors are nothing new.  When my late (see, she really was ill) sister had her benefits review, she told the assessor that she had to attend hospital 3 times a week for renal dialysis, which left her too tired to carry out any meaningful work on her 'free' days.  Note that she had been on dialysis for nearly 20 years, with the inevitable toll on her body....

The assessor wanted to know why she couldn't sleep through her dialysis sessions, leaving her free to stack supermarket shelves overnight.

Thrugelmir

Pollycat said:

Thrugelmir said:

Pollycat said:

Disregarding the last half dozen posts, the fact remains that - for whatever reason - people's state pension payments are not being processed in a timely manner.

And the pandemic rolls on and on. 

It's about time we stopped using that as an excuse.

Easy for the armchair critics to solve very challenging problems. In the real world, time doesn't stand still long enough to recover lost output quickly. 

Troytempest

I am aware of 5 people (including MrsT) who reached SPA this year. All were contacted 4 months prior, did the necessary on-line and payments made exactly as they should and continue to be. So it's not all bad although I would be seething if MrsT's had gone wrong.

QrizB

xylophone said:

doing so successfully enough 

Would you describe the record of DWP as "successful enough"!!!!!

It seems to me that you are deliberately conflating two (or more) distinct topics:

1. Are DWP civil servants able to work effectively from home? For all we know, they are, people in similar roles in other organisations are able to do so and you haven't advanced any evidence to the contrary.
   
2. Is DWP as an organisation performing its role to an acceptable standard? Here, there is evidence (much of it anecdotal) to suggest that it isn't.
   

There is nothing to suggest that (1) is contributing to (2). Nevertheless, your statment:

xylophone said:
And I can see no excuse whatsoever for DWP staff to remain working from home if this arrangement is contributing to the chaos.

... relates to (1) and there doesn't seem to be evidence to support it.

Vegastare

Troytempest said:

I am aware of 5 people (including MrsT) who reached SPA this year. All were contacted 4 months prior, did the necessary on-line and payments made exactly as they should and continue to be. So it's not all bad although I would be seething if MrsT's had gone wrong.

I think I was one of these....if it hadn't been for this thread though I would have not claimed till about a month before.....reading this made me quickly apply online, five days later received letter and stated the date and amount - it commenced exactly as stated (much to my surprise and relief).

Someone makes the point that if you do not apply online - it might be the reason for slow processing.  The Works and Pension should really accept that not everyone is fortunate enough to have access to online.  If the error is to applying by post shift more to that resource.  Those who are waiting might be those in the greatest need, and saying it will be back dated just isn't good enough.