HMRC giving incorrect payment information to DWP, affected UC award

JonVarnas

kaMelo said:

They are wiping up someone else's mess, have done so pretty quickly yet still you attack them whilst not having a bad word to say about those who caused all of this.

Like I said, I guess they're an easy target.

Er, hello, my issue was with the DWP and their crap communication? If I wrote what I thought about my employer I'd almost certainly get banned. And my point isvalid - they are truly terrible with communicating with people when issues arise. If you haven't had the misfortune to have to deal with the DWP then bully for you, pat yourself on the back and treat yourself to a cream bun, but for others it's like banging your head against a brick wall unless you show some tenacity with them.

born_again

The biggest issue is DWP are the customer facing side here, so get all the flack. Despite not being at fault. All they can do is chase HMRC, who are chasing the cause of the problem, who are not responding & ignoring the issue.
Perhaps if cause does not respond. The information should be ignored & HMRC inform DWP of this, so they can correct. While HMRC continue to chase & fine company for lack of replies to their questions.

tomtom256

Its a numbers game, not enough resources outside the jobcentre, so journals only get looked at as a last resort, unless you have a work coach assigned, but again even then it could be 48 hours until it's picked up.

National telephony are told to say "send a journal" but if the matter is urgent, drop into a jobcentre, as long as it isn't an appointment only office, they will have a front of house team who may be able to look into the issue.

JKS$(

My friend has got nowhere with his querie & has MH issues which make it more difficult to keep going with an overstretched DWP.

Doe it matter that we're coming to the end of a financial year? Wondering if that may affect chasing up this rubbish employer & getting the record corrected?

JonVarnas

JKS$( said:

My friend has got nowhere with his querie & has MH issues which make it more difficult to keep going with an overstretched DWP.

Doe it matter that we're coming to the end of a financial year? Wondering if that may affect chasing up this rubbish employer & getting the record corrected?

Nothing really to do with the financial year, more likely just a crappy employer with a really crappy HR/Payroll department.

Has your friend begun an RTI dispute with the DWP? The DWP would be my main focus for resolving this because ultimately they are the ones who end up paying you. HMRC and the employer won't give a toss.

My vectors of attack were:

• Raised an RTI dispute immediately with the DWP and contacted them every day, mainly by phone as they don't bother responding to journal messages, pushing them and trying to expediating to mandatory reconsideration. It doesn't cost anything to call them and generally the agents are helpful to the extent where they will leave notes on my account. When it moved to Mandatory Consideration stage I still contacted them regularly, but not every day, just to give them a prod.
• Wrote a letter to my MP, explaining my grievance at the process and how it was leaving me in financial difficulty, and asked for their assistance. They then write to the DWP. Usually the DWP pay more notice when they get a letter with the Houses of Parliement's address stamped on it.
• Made several complaints via their online portal and a couple of less advertised email addresses.

They key is you have to keep at the DWP because it is so easy to be forgotten and dismissed by them.

JKS$(

@JonVarnas - he heard from UC who said they wouldn’t be looking into this any further & have closed his complaint. He has some MH issues so just wants it all to go away. I’m not sure if the case has been closed because they’ve agreed with him & have finally got the correct info, so he should be due a back payment, or if they’ve decided they CBA…

I shall encourage him to keep on at them, but there’s a limit to what I can do on his behalf. I’ve has my struggles with DWP over the years & felt like giving up -I can only imagine how much worse it is with MH concerns.

Thanks for all the good advice, very much appreciated.