Don't just assume something

[Angeldancea812]

March 4th I had an interview with a compliance officer at my local job centre, due to an inheritance I had failed to mention. My money stopped that week. We assumed it was something to do with him and when I phoned ESA yesterday that was confirmed.

The compliance officer was in touch today. It was nothing to do with him. My ESA had gone through at almost the same time. So close the officer actually had to tell me I was on it.

The problem was that an office in Burnley(?) hadn't completed the paper work properly. I should have had my benefit all those 10 weeks. It was only due to the time it was taking that I chased it up or I wonder how long it would have taken. An e-mail has now been sent to them from my compliance officer who had never heard of them before this arose and hopefully I will soon have some money.

[hamble99b]

fair point, well made.

we are left so vulnerable by all this form filling and ever moving goalposts that it's difficult to know who or what to trust.

Some seem to be supportive and promise the earth only to let us down.

Others seem against us but come through for us.

thankyou for posting it.

sandra.

[Sandy247]

Hello, I had a similar thing happen to me. Because I was getting plantation blinds fitted I moved money from my savings account into my current account. I was then really poorly and never bothered to check my bank balance. It wasn't until about 3 weeks ago I realised that my current account balance was dangerously low so I then went through all of my account from January and low and behold no ESA had been paid for the current 2013/2014 tax year. I rang the Benefit office immediately who told me it had been stopped because I was living 'cohabitating' with a man. I told her that my carer is male, he has his own house but if I am too ill to leave overnight he uses the spare bedroom. She then said that 'someone had forgotten to pass my file to payments' and then a 3rd excuse, 'your ESA should not have been touched. I'll get the amount [£700+] paid into your bank account by close of business today'. As good as her word, my ESA was paid. What would have happened if I hadn't of noticed or if I was one of those people who don't check their bank balance assuming that the Benefits Office/DWP would never get it wrong?

All I can say is check every week/month to ensure that your benefit is paid. It is very easy for DWP staff to put an incorrect number when filling in your bank details and so your money is paid to someone else oras in my case, not paid at all because the right hand didn't know what the left hand was doing.

I have been very lucky here as the 'plantation blinds' money covered my mortgage etc if it hadn't been there everything would have bounced and I would have incurred bank charges and I believe, my credit rating would have been affected,

S x