can they just stop paying us/

[Eileen 40]

hi just wanted to know if they can just stop paying us my husnands incom suport and Incapacity Benefit they said in a letter at the end of jan that he hadnt sent a form back for e s a . that we never recived. and his last payment would be on the 27th jan. so hegave them a ring to let them know we hadnt had the form . they said they would sent a nother one out we finnelly got it this week. but we arnt getting any money from them at all at the moment .we have bills to pay and a morgage. we hardly have any money as it is to buy food . we have to borrow it from the familey.to get buy how can this be right.that they just stop it like this

[poppett]

Sorry to hear you have been left in dire straights.

Sadly the DWP are a law unto themselves when it comes to stopping benefit.

When my OH was due to change from Incapacity benefit to Pension credit we wondered why there had been no letter informing us of the change ahead. Luckily when I went to the bank and the benefit hadn`t been paid I was able to phone the DWP right away and explained the situation. They said they didn`t know if my OH wanted PC or not as he hadn`t told them. It was obvious we needed something to live on. Long story short, the money was paid in two days later before the duplicate confirmation letter arrived. Silly part is, our block of flats was next door to the DWP and I couldn`t just walk in and sort it out, had to rely on snail-mail. Progress? I don`t think so.

Hope you get it sorted out really soon.

Take care
Meg

[Guest]

As Meg says the DWP is a law unto itself, I can only suggest that you find a CAB or other welfare rights organisation as soon as possible and ask them to assist you. Whether it would be quicker to start a new claim or carry on with the existing claim I have no idea but I personally would get the claim form back to the DWP along with a medical certificate and a letter explaining that you did not get the original form and referring to your telephone calls, I hope that you have kept a record of them, as soon as possible too just to cover yourselves for the missing weeks' payments.

[lady_c]

sorry to hear about your situation. If you can, go down to your local citizen's advice bureau. I've started working for them recently and your not the only one having trouble with the DWP at the moment.

http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ there is a search small box on the right hand side this will give you contact details for your local CAB.

If you want a bit more info about the CAB do please inbox me

[Eun]

We have had two lots of the same ESA form in but the envelopes to return them in are to two different addresses - we sent off the first ESA form on Tuesday and then got a 2nd one yesterday from somewhere else - the right hand doesn't know what the left one is doing!

Eun

[bowlingbun]

Ring the DWP and ask to speak to the Complaints Officer, say you want to make a "formal complaint". These are the magic words. My closest friend works for DWP, so I hear all sorts of things. The people on the call centre used to be experienced, now they are not. They use a computer to help them but it doesn't tell them what to do in every single situation! If that doesn't work contact your MP. An MP complaint to DWP is fast tracked. Good luck.

[Eileen 40]

hi thankyou for the advice done all the above hope we can get it sorted pritty soon as we will be in more troubel then we allready are thanks again everyone

[Guest]

There was a time when you could speak to the person who processed your benefits and any problems were quickly resolved, now you have to ring a call centre where the majority of call-handlers know nothing, do not care that they know nothing and can be rude, if do you manage to get someone who is knowledgeable and helpful it is such a rarity that it is cause to open a bottle of champagne, that is if the DWP has not stopped your money or has actually got round to processing your claim . You can though ask for someone who works at the Benefits Processing Centre to ring you back, their telephone numbers are no longer available, this does sometimes work and can save a lot of time and stress, it might be worth trying this, Eileen.

[Eileen 40]

hi just to let every one know that we have got the old payment back again and it has been back dated to when they stoped them . thankyou every one for you help

[bowlingbun]

That must be a huge relief. Well done.