On hold to the DWP

[tufty79]

Should be the address on the relevant written communication - they have targets to respond within 14 days I think (if they breach these, you might be able to lob in a claim for compo for maladministration). Make sure you keep a record of everything you send to them.

definitely this.

my dwp-tastic challenge (this month) started yesterday at about 9am - after this morning's hour's delay for my appointment, i've got to go back at two to collect my benefit payment that should've come in yesterday.
grrrr. dwp, feel my and urban75's internet wrath


stella - copies to both departments maybe (and proof of posting) and then they can argue between themselves?

 

[ethel]

An hour's wait is a disgrace though, unless it is something that happens only freakishly. If you have to make people wait that long as a matter of course, you haven't employed enough people. Things like that really make me ANGRY .

which is at least in part due to the government cutting DWP's budget by 5% every year.

oh and http://www.dwp.gov.uk/contact/complaintsappeals.asp

it's also worth writing to your MP and/or the minister involved.

 

[Fedayn]

which is at least in part due to the government cutting DWP's budget by 5% every year.

Correct, which in 'concrete' terms has meant a reduction of thousands of staff and closing of hundreds of offices/job centres.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

Aha. I have a letter from the Central Benefits Section and they are the one's saying "Well, the info we have is from the DWP - you'll have to speak to them"

Problem is that "local" benefit offices have been closed en masse, and they now have the walk-in Jobcentre Plus offices for the face to face stuff and regional benefit processing centres that do all the actual claims administration.

You mention that you think you should have been paid more, but then you mentioned an overpayment - is it the case that you think the overpayment should be lower or do you think you are owed unpaid benefit?

eta: for the central benefits section to say that its info they got from dwp is fucking nonense excuse - they are all part of the same administration and their internal machinations shouldn't cause you to have to spend time chasing your tail (that's the ranty bit from me btw)

 

[5t3IIa]

Problem is that "local" benefit offices have been closed en masse, and they now have the walk-in Jobcentre Plus offices for the face to face stuff and regional benefit processing centres that do all the actual claims administration.

You mention that you think you should have been paid more, but then you mentioned an overpayment - is it the case that you think the overpayment should be lower or do you think you are owed unpaid benefit?

eta: for the central benefits section to say that its info they got from dwp is fucking nonense excuse - they are all part of the same administration and their internal machinations shouldn't cause you to have to spend time chasing your tail (that's the ranty bit from me btw)

This is what I sent to the Overpayments Section:

I have received the above invoice which states I owe £439.62 in housing benefit over-payments.

I was eligible for benefits for three weeks from 10 November 2008 to 30 November 2008. I received £586.16 in housing benefits payments.

£439.62 amounts to three weeks benefit (£146.54 a week) to which I was entitled. In this case I owe £146.54 as overpayment. In effect: I was paid four weeks benefit when I was only entitled to three.

Please confirm that this is correct. I would like to spread the repayment of £146.54 over one year (52 weeks).

______

They wrote back saying I was only entitled to bens from 24/11/2008 to 18/11/2008! For serious - that's what it says on the letter!
_______

Is there a Central DWP address or do I have to write to the JC where I signed on?

 

[kabbes]

They wrote back saying I was only entitled to bens from 24/11/2008 to 18/11/2008! For serious - that's what it says on the letter!

No wonder they say you owe them so much money. They paid you a negative weeks' worth of benefit.

I might start doing this. I'll send letters all over the place telling people that they owe me money for benefits I sent them covering negative periods of time.

I bet that some people would pay up n'all.

 

[kabbes]

Actually, I had another thought. If they say that they sent you an overpayment for a negative amount of time, that means that the overpayment must also be negative, so THEY owe YOU money. Try that one out on them, see what they say.

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

This is what I sent to the Overpayments Section:

I have received the above invoice which states I owe £439.62 in housing benefit over-payments.

I was eligible for benefits for three weeks from 10 November 2008 to 30 November 2008. I received £586.16 in housing benefits payments.

£439.62 amounts to three weeks benefit (£146.54 a week) to which I was entitled. In this case I owe £146.54 as overpayment. In effect: I was paid four weeks benefit when I was only entitled to three.

Please confirm that this is correct. I would like to spread the repayment of £146.54 over one year (52 weeks).

______

They wrote back saying I was only entitled to bens from 24/11/2008 to 18/11/2008! For serious - that's what it says on the letter!
_______

Is there a Central DWP address or do I have to write to the JC where I signed on?

Ah, I see - the problem is to do with a local authority housing benefit section overpayment - that's why they are referring you to DWP.

Basic advice is the same - provided you're still within 30 days of the date that the local authority letter notifying you of the overpayment and asking you to pay it back, you can simply write to them to say that you dispute their facts regards your benefit payment period, and thus you don't think you need to pay back what they say.

Let them do the donkey work of contacting DWP to find out whether this is true or not. If you have any evidence regards your benefit payments e.g. letters showing what you recieved and when, it would be useful to enclose copies of these as well.

 

[5t3IIa]

No wonder they say you owe them so much money. They paid you a negative weeks' worth of benefit.

I might start doing this. I'll send letters all over the place telling people that they owe me money for benefits I sent them covering negative periods of time.

I bet that some people would pay up n'all.

They do, they do it all the time!

When I spoke to the chappy at OP Centre he was all talking too quickly and gabbling over himself while I waited for my turn to speak and he said 'Ah yes and you agreed a repayment schedule of X...' and I screeched 'WHAT NO I DIDNT!!!'

 

[5t3IIa]

Ah, I see - the problem is to do with a local authority housing benefit section overpayment - that's why they are referring you to DWP.

Basic advice is the same - provided you're still within 30 days of the date that the local authority letter notifying you of the overpayment and asking you to pay it back, you can simply write to them to say that you dispute their facts regards your benefit payment period, and thus you don't think you need to pay back what they say.

Let them do the donkey work of contacting DWP to find out whether this is true or not. If you have any evidence regards your benefit payments e.g. letters showing what you recieved and when, it would be useful to enclose copies of these as well.

AHA! Wonderful. I sent them a letter saying exactly that well within the 30 days which they have on file but have never replied to.

I'll send them another one...wait, I'll go compose it and get back to you *small hug*

 

[Paulie Tandoori]

AHA! Wonderful. I sent them a letter saying exactly that well within the 30 days which they have on file but have never replied to.

I'll send them another one...wait, I'll go compose it and get back to you *small hug*

Oh good - the main thing is that you have disputed the fact of the overpayment with them within the time limits - that doesn't mean that it won't still be a complete and utter pain in the arse to sort out but it does mean that you have given yourself a chance of sorting it out (if you miss the stautory deadline to ask for a review, then usually you're completely stuffed).

G'luck missy *small smile*

 

[5t3IIa]

I am going to write the letter when I have all my letters and dates organised. I am at work now.

Ta x

 

[panpete]

for....55 mins and 10 seconds. Hovis music and perhaps Vivaldi's Autumn?

Please hold while we try to connect you. You are next in line to be answered.

Shall I give up?

56 minutes and 26 seconds.

That's soul destroying.
Can you not just write to them, and send it recorded delivery (to save time-so long as the post office queue is small) *edited, as crisis line is free

 

[panpete]

I was talking to the Central Benefits Section first and they put me through to the DWP and I couldn't work out how to put the receiver down and have speaker fone instead

And YES! I was next for the whole hour!

I am, naturally, in dispute with the DWP over the length of my claim. I signed on on 10/11 and signed off on 30/12. Three weeks. They think (and have told the Benefits Overpayment Team) that I was only entitled to benefits 13/11 to 18/11!!!1!!! So now they want a bazillion pounds overpayment from me

Does anyone have the number to get this sorted? I am in Tower Hamlets. Ta

There is a website (awfully sorry I cannot remember the name) that gives details of all of the organisations head honches.
I would send him/her a letter stating that you know, that they pride themselves on customer service, and that they care about their image (a bit of flattery) Say that you know, they would not like to think that their customers, are wasting time and money, being kept waiting an hour on hold.
Say you realise they know that such treatment is unacceptable, and you trust, because they are so cool, they will compensate you for wasted time, money, and back payments of benefits due. (word it a bit better, but convey that meaning) When I have been treated badly by any company, this is how I go on, and it never fails.

 

[panpete]

There are a number of things that annoy me about it. The main one is the way that it takes advantage of desperate people, however. Did you know that the second hour's parking, for example, costs MORE than the first hour? So if you have rushed someone into hospital and you are sitting in their bloody awful queue waiting to be seen -- or even, as so often happens, if you have turned up at your allotted time for an appointment and yet still have to wait an hour to be seen -- you have to worry about the charges becoming more and more expensive.

And they are expensive. Very expensive. You can easily spend more than a fiver -- even more than a tenner -- in the car park of a hospital. How is that fair? How does that correspond with the principle of treatment free at the point of delivery? It's not like most people have a choice in the matter. There is often nowhere else to park, for a start. Especially for people who are ILL, which is why they are going to hospital in the first place.

It's a revenue-generation exercise from an organisation that isn't supposed to generate revenue. And it's fucking sick, taking advantage of those who quite possibly can't actually afford it, who are ill and scared and those who are worried for their loved ones.

Well, apparently, if we vote Cameron in, we will see much worse.
We will deserve it if we vote him in though.

 

[panpete]

That's all irrelevant, L_C. Many hospitals (outside of London in particular, which is what I am interested in) are only accessible by vehicle. The Royal Surrey Hospital in Guildford, for instance, serves a massive radius. There is a train station in Guildford, but you'll generally have to either go into London and back out again to use it. And then you'll have to walk for quite a few miles, which is great when you are ill enough to need to go to hospital. People have cars because they have to have a car. It isn't a matter of the "freedom of the road", it's a matter of basic survival.

The only place you can sensibly park your car if visiting that hospital is in the hospital. And you'll be charged through the nose for it. If you're an expectant father, for instance, and the labour is difficult, expect to be paying twenty quid or so. How is that something anyone can endorse?

It's not a related point really. I'm talking about the NHS, which is founded on the idea of being free at the point of delivery. If they're making a massive profit out of you because you had to drive there, it isn't free, is it?

Buses? I know they are slower, but they would be a damn sight cheaper than car park fees.

 

[panpete]

I don't doubt that it must cost them a fortune, especially after one especially nightmarish call that I had.

I had to redial at least eight times, after having the ;the system cannot take any more calls at the moment' recorded message, then, when I finally ended up on hold, I had to sit through over an hour of piped classical music and the mantra 'You are in a queue and someone will take your call as soon as possible. Your call is important to us' before finally spending another twenty minutes arranging a Crisis Loan (which, I might add, only left me with about 18 pounds to last me for four days) and then, finally, I got my loan approved.

Then I had to more or less run down to the local Jobcentre to get my loan, because they only hand out Crisis Loans at fixed times in Plymouth, cash it at the Post Office and was finally able to eat for the first time in a couple of days.

....and this is the 21st Century

 

[Maurice Picarda]

The fact that the DWP has to pay through the nose for the lengthy 0800 calls that are simply on hold is another example of how inefficiency and poor planning can end up costing you many times over.

0800 calls cost much less than a penny per minute at the volume the DWP takes, which is considerably cheaper than scaling up call centre staff to meet peaky demand.

Also, keeping Stella on hold means that she's less productive, which means that she can't do anyone else out of a job through hyper-efficiency and thus saves the DWP even more.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

As for underpaying and overpaying... I was underpaid for around a year when I went on benefits, because they didn't tell me what I was entitled to, and they're under no obligation to do so, you're supposed to know what you can claim and submit a claim for it. If you don't know, tough. And when you find out, don't expect them to backdate it.

And then after I'd had surgery and went back to work two years ago, in July 2007, according to their database, I was still in receipt of benefits claiming until December 2007. And even though I have written to them and explained that I didn't receive benefits from July-December 2007 - at one point, some DWP person accused me of going back to work and failing to inform them, although they had actually given me a 'back to work grant' of about 100 pounds, which I presumably wouldn't have gotten if I hadn't informed them...

Nevertheless, when I received compensation for a medical negligence claim, the Compensation Recovery Unit clawed back money relating to benefits I had received while out of work, and also 'clawed back' about six months worth of money relating to benefits that I had never received, because I had returned to work.

I even wrote to the CRU saying they have a legal obligation under the Data Protection Act to have up to date information, and they just blamed the DLA unit.

It's a bit bloody cheeky, at the start of a person's claim to underpay them for a year, and then after their claim has closed to claw back money that they've never paid out.

I expect I'll still be trying to correct this when I'm retired. No one takes responsibility for correcting anything, they just seek to pass on the blame.

 

[Bakunin]

The stupid and insane thing is, for me anyway, that I can ring up the Post Office (my benefits come into a Post Office Card Account) to ask whether or not there's been any payments into my account (I do this because it saves me wasting time and bus fare going into town to the Post Office) and I'll only be on hold for a few minutes at the very most. And often I'm put straight through to an advisor who can let me know more or less instantly.

Try calling any of the myriad of DWP departments, however, and if I'm lucky I invariably end up on hold for tens of minutes, usually while being charged at a local rate for the call, which may not sound like much but certainly is when I'm on benefits, and the quarterly bill comes through. That's if i can get as far as being on hold without being automatically cut off because the system is overloaded, thus forcing to dial again and again and paying for the privilege of, at some point, actually speaking to a real, live human being.

Of course, if I'm really lucky, I stand a good chance of being passed from department to department, with a lengthy stay on hold at each of them which I then end up paying for, before either, eventually, doing whatever I called them to do or, worse, not being able to do it at all and having been charged a not insignificant amount of hard currency in order to not do it.

 

[Bakunin]

I expect I'll still be trying to correct this when I'm retired. No one takes responsibility for correcting anything, they just seek to pass on the blame.

Welcome to petty officialdom's version of customer service.

They send you all around the houses for one of two reasons, usually.

Either they've miserably fucked up your claim, and probably not for the first time either, so that the people who should have the relevent information about your claim don't actually have it. Which is not unusual given the DWP's frankly legendary reputation for abject incompetence.

Or, they know you have a valid complaint and so they simply send you all around the houses either as a means of each department covering its own arse and evading the responsibility, or because they simply want you to get so tired and dispirited that you just end up giving up completely and going away without making any more fuss.