UC Statement missing child element

NE12

I got my Child Benefit payment on Tuesday including the previous weeks.  Universal credit left a message in my journal saying "your  claim has been progressed Regards, Verification team"  But the statement is still missing the child element, so I've got a feeling they aren't going to pay me it this month.

NedS

NE12 said:

I got my Child Benefit payment on Tuesday including the previous weeks.  Universal credit left a message in my journal saying "your  claim has been progressed Regards, Verification team"  But the statement is still missing the child element, so I've got a feeling they aren't going to pay me it this month.

It's a multi-step process. First you report the change to "add" the child back onto the claim. Next the CBOL verification team will have to verify the child against Child Benefit records (normal UC agents don't have access to this). Once the child is verified they will show (again) on the next statement. The message from the "Verification Team" above would suggest this is now complete.

To get payment for the missing month, the Case Manager will have to manually issue a payment. In order to do this, they may have to go through the late reporting of a change procedure to backdate the payment for the missing month.

Send a message on your journal under heading of Payment and ask about the missing child element payment for last month.

If they ask why you reported the change late, I would take the line that nothing changed - the child still lives with you and is still in full time non-advanced education, so there was no change to report. You only reported a change because UC stopped paying you for the child.

Let us know how you get on.

NE12

I've still had nothing off them.  Not even a response to my journal message on the 14th September. 

I've posted in the journal 5 times now.

Why are they always so bad at responding.

poppy12345

NE12 said:

I've still had nothing off them.  Not even a response to my journal message on the 14th September. 

I've posted in the journal 5 times now.

Why are they always so bad at responding.

Did you put the question under the payment section?

NE12

poppy12345 said:

NE12 said:

I've still had nothing off them.  Not even a response to my journal message on the 14th September. 

I've posted in the journal 5 times now.

Why are they always so bad at responding.

Did you put the question under the payment section?

Yeah I did.  and tbh anytime I've ever had an issue and had to write to them in my journal,  it takes them days to answer.

tomtom256

NE12 said:

Yeah I did.  and tbh anytime I've ever had an issue and had to write to them in my journal,  it takes them days to answer.

It's because case managers willl only be in your claim around the end of your assessment period or pay date and won't see the message until then.

NE12

tomtom256 said:

NE12 said:

Yeah I did.  and tbh anytime I've ever had an issue and had to write to them in my journal,  it takes them days to answer.

It's because case managers willl only be in your claim around the end of your assessment period or pay date and won't see the message until then.

That makes sense.  But then wouldn't you think that payment messages posted to your own Journal would send staff an Alert.  Or other staff that could forward it onto a case manager.

Anyway I gave up waiting for them and called them up.  I was told to expect to be contacted by a case manager by tomorrow 6pm.

NedS

NE12 said:

tomtom256 said:

NE12 said:

Yeah I did.  and tbh anytime I've ever had an issue and had to write to them in my journal,  it takes them days to answer.

It's because case managers willl only be in your claim around the end of your assessment period or pay date and won't see the message until then.

That makes sense.  But then wouldn't you think that payment messages posted to your own Journal would send staff an Alert.  Or other staff that could forward it onto a case manager.

They do receive an alert and tasks are then prioritised for case managers into 5 categories. Unfortunately replying to journal messages is low on the list or priorities, so unless there is a higher priority task outstanding on your claim, it may take a significant amount of time to get to it. They will first clear all the level 1 tasks, then move onto the level 2 tasks (going back to clear any new level 1 tasks), before moving onto level 3 tasks etc.

Unfortunately, if tasks were not prioitized in this way, case managers would spend all their time responding to journal messages and payments and would not be made.

NE12

I was told to expect a call, or to have a message in my journal by 6pm yesterday.  I didn't get any message or a call. 

I get what you're saying about the tasks being prioritised, but I've been trying to get them to do something since the 10th September and got nowhere.

NedS

NE12 said:

I was told to expect a call, or to have a message in my journal by 6pm yesterday.  I didn't get any message or a call. 

I get what you're saying about the tasks being prioritised, but I've been trying to get them to do something since the 10th September and got nowhere.

I know, I feel your frustration. If you are not making any progress by sending a message, are you able to call into the jobcentre and speak with someone. I know they are not actually the member of staff that are responsible for the change, but at least they can escalate your query. The call centre staff are now mostly outsourced and simply pass on a message, which like your journal messages, may or may not get actioned.