Re: Bereavement designated as a change of circumstances

by Muppet1970 Thu Dec 21, 2023 5:40 pm

oneman wrote:Put a request in to your journal saying you bank is paperless and can they provide you with a link so you can up load your 4 months statement from the bank. You should not have to go in to do this. All files must be pdf.
Legislation states that it is them that must supply you with this option and not the other way around.
I'm so annoyed about this as this is exactly what I'm trying to get changed through the ICE.

Amazing work! We need more people like you to change the legislation and the rules, just like the restart. My provider has introduced each advisor, who will be monitored closely by two senior managers before they are set loose to abuse without any warning guessing they have enough of the complaints.

I have faced hell on earth for 10 months now, they are being monitored for texts, emails, and even phone calls. Even their laptops are being monitored remotely, and it only takes one person to change the system. Makes it better for others in the future.

by oneman Thu Dec 21, 2023 5:52 pm

Absolut wrote:

Legislation states that it is them that must supply you with this option and not the other way around.

Right, then they shouldn't refuse the request.

Sorry What request, have you done??? Embarassed

I do hope you have asked this to be forwarded to their manager as well. I think you know this. Very Happy

I also think you can handle yourself better than most of us on here. We are thinking about you all the time so feel free to talk any time you want. Neutral

P.S. My mam went totally bonkers, mentally, and aggressively ill about a year after her husband died. She was falling down all over the place wanting attention and demanding emergency services to respond because she had paid money all her life.

It all worked out when all her saved money went in weeks. The local Salvation Army Charity Shop did ask her to come in and donate her belongings before moving out to care another cheaper care center. They also ask if she could do 5 days a week to inspire others to buy her things in the charity chop. No kidding!!!

by oneman Thu Dec 21, 2023 6:10 pm

Muppet1970 wrote:
oneman wrote:Put a request in to your journal saying you bank is paperless and can they provide you with a link so you can up load your 4 months statement from the bank. You should not have to go in to do this. All files must be pdf.
Legislation states that it is them that must supply you with this option and not the other way around.
I'm so annoyed about this as this is exactly what I'm trying to get changed through the ICE.

Amazing work! We need more people like you to change the legislation and the rules, just like the restart. My provider has introduced each advisor, who will be monitored closely by two senior managers before they are set loose to abuse without any warning guessing they have enough of the complaints.

I have faced hell on earth for 10 months now, they are being monitored for texts, emails, and even phone calls. Even their laptops are being monitored remotely, and it only takes one person to change the system. Makes it better for others in the future.

Wow. Sorry. Who exactly is doing this and how has it started if you are at the 10-month mark?
Very interested. Smile

Please, please start a new thread as this is Absolut's thread (the pedant in me says that was not correct?)
We all encroach so it's no big thing as I'm probably more guilty than most.

by Ignatius Thu Dec 21, 2023 7:57 pm

Jobcentre summon up the spirit of Scrooge yet again. I think heartless might be too kind on them, really. An awful personal situation, a truly difficult time of year in such circumstances and they're busy playing stupid fuckers with you.

If you are still trying to contact them, if you don't know, they knock off at 4pm tomorrow and don't reopen until next Thursday.

by oneman Thu Dec 21, 2023 8:12 pm

Ignatius wrote:

OK.Ignatius.

by Absolut Fri Dec 22, 2023 6:25 am

Sorry What request, have you done???

I have put a formal request in my journal in connection to the appointment that they give me the facility to upload bank statements rather than summoning me into a job centre that causes me to feel deeply upset following the death of my husband. (It's the office where we attended together. It's not the office where work coaches see UC claimants.)

How I feel about that particular office and all the work coaches in there who ever gave Mr A a hard time is summed up by Hicks in Aliens: "I'd nuke the whole site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

What legislation is it that I can quote to them about giving me the facility to upload documents please?

by oneman Fri Dec 22, 2023 12:44 pm

That's the obvious question Absolut. I'm not sure where I got it from. I thought I got it from you!

The funny part is there are several quote from my job centre manager acknowledging the fact. In fact I have just looked in my journal history and I actually asked this question ( to provide a link) on 37! occasions in the past year and got a similar answer every time. It states " I acknowledge the legislation that dictates that we must provide you with the means to forward information to us but can I ask what the information is please? "
They were obviously trying to delay things further with that answer otherwise they would have just provided me with the link! You know how they work when they want to be awkward.
Obviously this legislation is legitimate otherwise they would not acknowledge it would they.

It's so ingrained in my memory now that I think it is true even if I have never tried to look it up. It must have a grain of truth in it though otherwise I would never have used it in the first place. My manic brain does not allow me to make things up, just like that it just does not work like that without some thorough thought time being put into it and even then it sounds like I have just made it up!

I think it might be the old saying that if you repeat a lie often enough then it becomes true!I

I included this information in my ICE complaint and asked them to read my journal. I got an apology from them saying the delay in response to this repeated question was not acceptable.

by Absolut Sat Dec 23, 2023 6:38 am

No worries. I will track it down over the next few days. Due to them being closed until next Thursday I've plenty of time to read UC legislation, but I suspect it's in the Equality Act somewhere.

by oneman Thu Dec 28, 2023 2:22 pm

Hi. Absolut. Hope you are as well as possible under the circumstances. I've been thinking of you, especially considering this is your first year without your beloved husband. I can only imagine how challenging this time must be for you. If there's anything I can do to offer support or simply lend an understanding ear, please know that I'm here for you.

I am wishing you strength and comfort during this difficult period.

With heartfelt sympathy,
Oneman.

by Absolut Sun Dec 31, 2023 8:58 am

oneman wrote:Hi. Absolut. Hope you are as well as possible under the circumstances. I've been thinking of you, especially considering this is your first year without your beloved husband. I can only imagine how challenging this time must be for you. If there's anything I can do to offer support or simply lend an understanding ear, please know that I'm here for you.

I am wishing you strength and comfort during this difficult period.

With heartfelt sympathy,
Oneman.

Thank you. I truly appreciate your message. It's been tough getting through Christmas on my own but I did it. The day didn't actually feel any different to any other day since Mr A died, in that every day without him is awful. I cry a lot, but in amongst the tears, I am truly grateful for having had him in my life for 20 years.

I was finally allowed to upload my bank statements on 27 December. A staff member was working over time and saw that my claim hadn't been progressed. I don't have to go into the JCP next week, so that's a bonus, but the appointment is still on my journal, which annoys me. At this rate it will be 7 weeks or more before UC comes through. That's simply appalling. They were brilliant where the bereavement payment and funeral costs were concerned, those came through straight away, but my claim for UC has been made harder than it should have been. I expected it would be a bad experience and I wasn't wrong.

by Absolut Wed Jan 10, 2024 9:50 am

Thought I'd mention that I still haven't received a single penny in UC since making my claim on 18 November. Rang up 2 days ago and a note was left on my journal that it had been passed onto a case manager. It said someone would contact me before 6pm last night and of course no-one did.

by Ignatius Wed Jan 10, 2024 10:44 am

I appreciate my potty mouth is of no practical assistance to you, but what fuckers the DWP are.

You may not have the energy but an email to your MP may elbow the DWP into action. I really cannot understand why they haven't been able to pay you if your claim has been approved. Being heartless fuckers is not a legitimate reason to mess you about.

by Absolut Wed Jan 10, 2024 11:58 am

Ignatius wrote:I appreciate my potty mouth is of no practical assistance to you, but what fuckers the DWP are.

You may not have the energy but an email to your MP may elbow the DWP into action. I really cannot understand why they haven't been able to pay you if your claim has been approved. Being heartless fuckers is not a legitimate reason to mess you about.

I've read on Rights Net that getting an MP involved is singularly useless. All I've asked for is a time-scale so I know how much longer the council also has to wait for me to prove that I can't pay full council tax. I don't feel that there's anything I can do except be patient. It's a warning to others who are on JSA - expect them to take as long as they want in the switch over from JSA to UC.

by Ignatius Wed Jan 10, 2024 12:58 pm

Presumably you are stuck in the overworked, under resourced DWP we read so much about. It's very typical of them to be sufficiently organised to pay your JSA run on and funeral grant but have your UC claim stuck somewhere in the abyss. Hopefully your local authority are sympathetic to your situation. And thanks for the heads up about them playing silly buggers with moving from JSA to UC.

by oneman Wed Jan 10, 2024 3:12 pm

Absolut wrote:

I've read on Rights Net that getting an MP involved is singularly useless. All I've asked for is a time-scale so I know how much longer the council also has to wait for me to prove that I can't pay full council tax. I don't feel that there's anything I can do except be patient. It's a warning to others who are on JSA - expect them to take as long as they want in the switch over from JSA to UC.

I understand how you would come to this conclusion but in my experience, my MP has been very good if not exceptional in helping me. I did not even vote for him.
In my opinion, I would contact them and ask them to contact the job center and ask what is going on. My job center manager is always spouting on about how good their relationship is with their MP. (usually just after I have contacted my MP.) You have nothing to lose and might be surprised. They do tend to get things done quicker if they do engage with the job center.
I really can't believe that I'm promoting contacting your MP! Everyone is different and I hope you get a good experience with them.

by Absolut Thu Jan 11, 2024 12:21 pm

Well someone from the DWP finally got back to me today. The excuse they have used to make yet another appointment for me to go in to the local JCP tomorrow with physical bank statements is they claim they can't open the pdf documents I uploaded to them. It took them a week to tell me this? Suspect

If I don't go in with statements (printed out on a printer that is running out of ink) then my claim won't be progressed. The only concession they have made in regard to their utter incompetence over one of the most common computer file types in existence is I can go in with the statements at any time tomorrow and they will try to see to me quickly.

Bereavement designated as a change of circumstances - Page 4 3228069604

Bereavement designated as a change of circumstances - Page 4 3228069604

by Ignatius Thu Jan 11, 2024 12:47 pm

I'm giving them my hardest stare on your behalf, Absolut.

How come they manage to open just about everyone else's PDFs?? Could your bank, assuming they are easy to get to and still open, not print and countersign statements for you?

We all understand your having to physically attend a jobcentre tomorrow will be a difficult experience, for you, so the forum will all be right behind you. Keep taking care of yourself.

by Absolut Fri Jan 12, 2024 11:00 am

Ignatius wrote:We all understand your having to physically attend a jobcentre tomorrow will be a difficult experience, for you, so the forum will all be right behind you. Keep taking care of yourself.

Thanks. The forum is the only place that does understand that going in there makes me feel physically sick. However, I managed it, for the third time, by not looking around too much. It was also early, so it was quiet and I got a sympathetic work coach who I've met before.

My bank statements were scanned and sent as pdf files. Bereavement designated as a change of circumstances - Page 4 507219341

Bereavement designated as a change of circumstances - Page 4 507219341

I said how come the four files I sent, which were pdf files too, couldn't be opened? I was told the files were set as "restricted". It sometimes happens with a bereaved person that files are set to restricted access due to the sensitivity of the case. Who the hell can open them then? Apparently no-one in the payments section. Anyway, it's done now. They've got proof that my savings are under the limit. I asked that my case be prioritised as I've already been left waiting long enough. Will see what happens next.

by Absolut Fri Jan 12, 2024 3:43 pm

Yay! I got paid.

Bereavement designated as a change of circumstances - Page 4 2936143587

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