Pension Credit

Mjolinor

I qualify for pension credit and every month £100 goes into my bank account. In June 2023 I had some correspondence from them and I ended up having to send them five years worth of bank statements, share dividends etc etc. Basically everything I had related to income. All in paper form. It was a lot of work that involved several trips to places and a big pile of paper.

Almost two years to the day, same again. When I spoke to them asking why they needed an overlap or three years they responded by telling me that the women dealing with it had left and they no longer had access to the information. Basically, they lost it.

I told them that I was not prepared to send them the information again if they could not keep track of it. I also told them to close my claim. I like getting the money bit not with the risk of all that information getting where it should not be.

I was somewhat gobsmacked that they lost it.

I would really like to know if any else has suffered from this or if it is an isolated case.

Robbie64

It's possible that the information you sent to Pension Credit has been deleted from its computer systems under DWP data retention rules. Supporting documents (such as bank statements) may only be retained for a certain period of time. The usual length of data retention for DWP benefits is between 18 and 24 months. Some data (usually basic claim data, some claim forms etc) will always be kept while a claim is "live" and for a period after this. Other data is periodically removed.

While access by DWP staff to the previous bank statements you sent wouldn't be determined by who conducted your last review review (staff move on all the time and its unlikely that the same person would undertake the reviews two years apart), the fact that your last review was over 2 years ago suggests it might be possible that the bank statements etc you sent two years ago are no longer held by them rather than having been lost. However, it might be worth phoning again to see if the information from the overlap period (2 to 5 years ago) is still on the Pension Credit computer system. You might have been speaking to a customer service agent who didn't bother looking to see if the information was on the computer system.

Has your claim been closed?

Mjolinor

Yes, it has been closed. They closed it on my request. I has not stopped the letters though because apparently the money checking and the pension credit people are two separate lots that do not communicate.

Mjolinor

I thought that paper copies could be stored until no longer needed according to the data protection act, provided they are securely stored. Why else would they insist on paper copies only.

Robbie64

Mjolinor said:

I thought that paper copies could be stored until no longer needed according to the data protection act, provided they are securely stored. Why else would they insist on paper copies only.

Paper documents are stored in line with document retention rules: the documents are usually scanned onto the relevant benefit computer system at the relevant mail sort centre in the Wolverhampton area. The days of lots of paper documents sitting on a DWP officer's desk are (in theory) long gone. Depending on the document the paper version can be kept for as little as 6 weeks. Once on the computer system, a copy exists in digital form so it's less important for the DWP to hold on to paper documents for an idefinite period of time as this takes up storage space.

The DWP used to insist on original paper copies of documents but most benefit departments are now happy enough to receive photocopies of the document (and in fact some benefit forms state not to send original documents). The DWP still like to see documents with official letter headings so some computer print outs may not be acceptable. However, I've personally not had any problems sending in copies of bank statements downloaded from my bank's website. I also scan anything I send to the DWP, if I don't already have the document on my computer. It makes for easy printing if I have to resend the form.

Rubyroobs

I work as an advisor and have a client who I suspect has been overpaid for almost a year now as they had savings wrongly entered. We have sent in bank statements but when I last rang ( on the clients behalf) they could not seem to see them on their system. These documents were sent recorded delivery. they keep saying they are looking into it but it is getting on for a year now and nothing.They just seem totally incompetent.

Spoonie_Turtle

Mjolinor said:

Yes, it has been closed. They closed it on my request. I has not stopped the letters though because apparently the money checking and the pension credit people are two separate lots that do not communicate.

They will likely want to check that you haven't been overpaid in the last two years since the previous review, and closing your claim doesn't change that.

Have you factored in any passported benefits in your decision to close your claim?  You may lose entitlement to other financial support not just the Pension Credit.

Mjolinor

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Have you factored in any passported benefits in your decision to close your claim?  You may lose entitlement to other financial support not just the Pension Credit.

Yes, council tax, dental etc etc. It aint about that though, it is about my data.

If it had been the last two years they asked for then I would not have had a problem or aired any grievance.

I don't think I need it, time will tell on that one anyway and I can always reapply if need be.

p00hsticks

Mjolinor said:

 I also told them to close my claim. I like getting the money bit not with the risk of all that information getting where it should not be.

Sounds a bit like cutting of your nose to spite your face to me, but it's your choice....

Mjolinor

p00hsticks said:

Mjolinor said:

 I also told them to close my claim. I like getting the money bit not with the risk of all that information getting where it should not be.

Sounds a bit like cutting of your nose to spite your face to me, but it's your choice....

Real constructive.

Robbie64

Is there a particular reason why the DWP want 5 years worth of financial information, given that this was previously asked for? Even if the previous set of doucments are no longer held by the DWP, the information taken from the documents should still be available. That is, the balance of your overall savings when assessed by the DWP officer two years ago should be noted.

As you have cancelled your Pension Credit claim, you may be contacted by your local council regarding council tax support. In addition, you mentioned dental benefits, if you need any dental work done on the NHS you will have to complete a HC1 form to get treatment done on the grounds of low income.