Universal Credit and the Financial Ombudsman

[ighty seven]

is the stress/time worth £470 to you?
If not, cut them out of your life and forget about them. They will likely keep bouncing you around the bureaucracy trying everything not to pay up anyway.

 

[Scorer]

Ian Duncan Smith. The man has up to now 17000 deaths on his conscience. They still vote Tory though

Dead folks voting- that has to be electoral fraud! UC is an absolute mess and, pretty obviously, inflicts the worst hardship on the most vulnerable.

 

[FishburnMackem]

Absolutely untrue.
I work for Grahame Morris. I am inundated with UC and PIP problems every single day.
There is a specially set up MPs hotline that we use to deal with these issues. We win people their tribunals and mandatory reconsiderations every single day.
We are specially trained for this.
I know not every office in the area do this but we do!


@FishburnMackem
Pm me and tell me who your mp is, if you like I can contact their office tomorrow and ask them to contact the DWP on your behalf.



If you volunteer for EDT I’d expect you to know better considering EDT refer the majority of their UC enquiries to us in the MPs office.

Hello again.

So I've had a notification on my journal today saying they have recalculated my entitlement and I'm being paid the remaining money. They are unable to tell me when this will be paid like which is unusual.

Seeing as though I've spent the best part of 20+ hours (provable by mobile phone bills) on the phone to them and waited over 5 months for this issue to be resolved is it likely that I am entitled to any redress / compo for time wasted? I work full time Monday-Friday and all calls made have resulted in me working longer hours due to missed time etc. Not to mention it's been a complete farce trying to get any communication from them.

TBF, I'd be more than happy with a written apology from the bastards but after the way I've been spoken to again today on the phone after a 40 minute wait I want to get everything I can from them.

 

[stephen cartwright]

Hello again.

So I've had a notification on my journal today saying they have recalculated my entitlement and I'm being paid the remaining money. They are unable to tell me when this will be paid like which is unusual.

Seeing as though I've spent the best part of 20+ hours (provable by mobile phone bills) on the phone to them and waited over 5 months for this issue to be resolved is it likely that I am entitled to any redress / compo for time wasted? I work full time Monday-Friday and all calls made have resulted in me working longer hours due to missed time etc. Not to mention it's been a complete farce trying to get any communication from them.

TBF, I'd be more than happy with a written apology from the bastards but after the way I've been spoken to again today on the phone after a 40 minute wait I want to get everything I can from them.

The right wing front of the smb, refuse to acknowledge this and will blame yourself

 

[millfield ftm]

To cut a long story short, 5 months ago I spent a short amount of time between jobs and was due around £470 UC (incl housing costs) for 1 month.

I ended up getting £7 as my old employer had their PAYE dates wrong on the system so UC took into account earnings they shouldn't have. I informed them of this and went into the jobcentre and provided bank statements to show that the earnings infact were paid on a different date to their records, a day where the earnings would not be taken into account. Anyway, 3 weeks passed and I hadn't heard anything so I opened up a complaint, got a phone call a few days later and the bloke from the complaints team told me that they had sent this over to HMRC to investigate and get in touch with my old employer to check if the information is correct, I was fine with this and was advised that if the old employer doesn't respond then they will send this to a decision maker.

Since then my online account / journal has been closed, I received a letter stating my complaint has been closed and I cannot get in touch with them as the normal Universal Credit helpline people cannot talk about it, it has to be the complaints team who you can't contact directly, they can only call you back apparently which is a complete piss take as they don't arrange it and only try randomly when you're at work etc. Anyway, I have been advised that it is still with HMRC and they are waiting to hear from my old employer and that "there is no timeframe for this". Am I the only one thinking this is a complete joke? What happened to "if the old employer doesn't respond then they will send this to a decision maker". The reality of this is I'm lucky I have other funds and don't have kids to feed etc.

It's been over 4 months now and it's starting to really piss me off, are you able to open a case with the ombudsman against a government department? Is there anyone on here who can give me advice on this? I've spend countless hours writing in and on the phone and I'm at the point now where I can't even face trying to contact them about it as I know I'll just be fobbed off after waiting on hold for 30 minutes.

Any advice is appreciated.

Follow advice provided by joe bolton , he knows his stuff , ice appeals can take up to 18 months to investigate , wouldn't put too much faith in your mp , most dont give a fuck

Hello again.

So I've had a notification on my journal today saying they have recalculated my entitlement and I'm being paid the remaining money. They are unable to tell me when this will be paid like which is unusual.

Seeing as though I've spent the best part of 20+ hours (provable by mobile phone bills) on the phone to them and waited over 5 months for this issue to be resolved is it likely that I am entitled to any redress / compo for time wasted? I work full time Monday-Friday and all calls made have resulted in me working longer hours due to missed time etc. Not to mention it's been a complete farce trying to get any communication from them.

TBF, I'd be more than happy with a written apology from the bastards but after the way I've been spoken to again today on the phone after a 40 minute wait I want to get everything I can from them.

Be cheeky and request a special payment , provide phone records to back it up , you might get another 50 quid

 

[FishburnMackem]

Follow advice provided by joe bolton , he knows his stuff , ice appeals can take up to 18 months to investigate , wouldn't put too much faith in your mp , most dont give a fuck

Be cheeky and request a special payment , provide phone records to back it up , you might get another 50 quid

See post #43

 

[millfield ftm]

See post #43

Yep, saw that just after i posted , be still worth requesting a special payment if you can be arsed , cite delays getting through , financial hardship etc , stress and anxiety !!

 

[Cockney Mackem]

This is the underlying aim of UC. Make it impossible for people who need support to get it. They have used the natural tendency of government systems and processes to be completely shit as a device to achieve this and as a clever disguise, so they can blame teething difficulties and failures in individual cases for the wholesale punishment of an entire section of the population.

I mean if they wanted this process to make things better for people, why would they involve HMRC?

 

[FishburnMackem]

Yep, saw that just after i posted , be still worth requesting a special payment if you can be arsed , cite delays getting through , financial hardship etc , stress and anxiety !!

I did whilst I was on the phone and they said it would need to be the complaints team who I need to speak to and will ask the case manager if they can call me back... Complete piss take man. I've also received a letter from Parliament today stating I am getting the monies owed so it's clearly the involvement of the MPs office 48 hours ago which has solved this... 5 f***ing months of stressing having it at the back of my mind spending countless hours on the phone being given the run around and it gets solved as easily as that.. I'm not happy like. If I could stand them in front of me and pagger all involved individually I would.

 

[millfield ftm]

I did whilst I was on the phone and they said it would need to be the complaints team who I need to speak to and will ask the case manager if they can call me back... Complete piss take man. I've also received a letter from Parliament today stating I am getting the monies owed so it's clearly the involvement of the MPs office 48 hours ago which has solved this... 5 f***ing months of stressing having it at the back of my mind spending countless hours on the phone being given the run around and it gets solved as easily as that.. I'm not happy like. If I could stand them in front of me and pagger all involved individually I would.

Forward the details of your complaint to your mp , request financial reimbursement to be considered , supply phone records dates and times etc . Not an unreasonable request . Your mps involvement will mean it has to be looked at quickly, also the mp should have plenty of experience in dealing with these complaints

 

[marsey]

Is it possible to start charging for letters/your time?

 

[FishburnMackem]

Forward the details of your complaint to your mp , request financial reimbursement to be considered , supply phone records dates and times etc . Not an unreasonable request . Your mps involvement will mean it has to be looked at quickly, also the mp should have plenty of experience in dealing with these complaints

The original complaint has now been resolved and DWP have agreed to pay me the amount owed, this has been a direct result of my MP getting involved on Tuesday. Only issue is they won't tell me how long it will be until I get it which is very annoying, I'm fully expecting it to be paid by next Friday at the latest however that doesn't change the fact that I've spent so much time on the phone / stressed about it etc. Also I have incurred direct interest charges on credit card use due to this issue.

Although they have agreed to pay the money owed would it be worthwhile getting back in touch with my MP and asking for any potential reimbursement to be considered for the above reasons alone? It actually says on the letter I received today from Parliament / MP that DWP may also pay me a special payment.

Is it possible to start charging for letters/your time?

I wish.

 

[millfield ftm]

The original complaint has now been resolved and DWP have agreed to pay me the amount owed, this has been a direct result of my MP getting involved on Tuesday. Only issue is they won't tell me how long it will be until I get it which is very annoying, I'm fully expecting it to be paid by next Friday at the latest however that doesn't change the fact that I've spent so much time on the phone / stressed about it etc. Also I have incurred direct interest charges on credit card use due to this issue.

Although they have agreed to pay the money owed would it be worthwhile getting back in touch with my MP and asking for any potential reimbursement to be considered for the above reasons alone? It actually says on the letter I received today from Parliament / MP that DWP may also pay me a special payment.


I wish.

Ask for financial reimbursement, scan copies of your credit card statements and proof of any additional charges incurred , you wont get much , £100 tops , but better than nowt , if you ask for reimbursement they have to consider it

 

[sidneyeric]

I did whilst I was on the phone and they said it would need to be the complaints team who I need to speak to and will ask the case manager if they can call me back... Complete piss take man. I've also received a letter from Parliament today stating I am getting the monies owed so it's clearly the involvement of the MPs office 48 hours ago which has solved this... 5 f***ing months of stressing having it at the back of my mind spending countless hours on the phone being given the run around and it gets solved as easily as that.. I'm not happy like. If I could stand them in front of me and pagger all involved individually I would.

As both @Ginger John and I said,a lot of MP's will help in genuine situations like this..

 

[FishburnMackem]

Thanks for the advice folks it's pretty much sorted now..just waiting for the payment to go in now