In no man's land

I was supposed to receive my first pension credit payment this week.....no such luck....my i.s. payments have been stopped but they haven't shut my claim down,so pension credit can't pay me out; now they're just passing the ball back and forth and I can't pay my bills. I spent 3 hours on the phone,going back and forth between the two,and NO ONE could tell me exactly why the hold up was occurring. Pension Credit have the payment ready to go; Income Support have stopped my payments,but will not tell me why they have not shut my claim down,though Pension Credit have formally asked them to do so. I started this process at the beginning of December,and was told it would be an automatic transfer and that I would have no problems because I had applied in plenty of time and all my info was current and correct.
Well.....what a load of crap : typical DWP lies and obfuscation. I felt like tearing what's left of my hair out with their Orwellian cant.
What can I do to make them live up to their legal responsibilities? They make us go through hoop after hoop,but deliberately mess with our lives and abrogate THEIR legal duties. I need to know what I can do to sort this out,because if it drags on too long I'll be in all sorts of trouble.

You need to ask to speak to a supervisor and explain how long it has been going on and that you are in financial difficultly and cannot pay your bills.If they say a supervisor does not take calls then insist and stay on the phone.
Good luck.

miki123 wrote:

I was supposed to receive my first pension credit payment this week.....no such luck....my i.s. payments have been stopped but they haven't shut my claim down,so pension credit can't pay me out; now they're just passing the ball back and forth and I can't pay my bills. I spent 3 hours on the phone,going back and forth between the two,and NO ONE could tell me exactly why the hold up was occurring. Pension Credit have the payment ready to go; Income Support have stopped my payments,but will not tell me why they have not shut my claim down,though Pension Credit have formally asked them to do so. I started this process at the beginning of December,and was told it would be an automatic transfer and that I would have no problems because I had applied in plenty of time and all my info was current and correct.
Well.....what a load of crap : typical DWP lies and obfuscation. I felt like tearing what's left of my hair out with their Orwellian cant.
What can I do to make them live up to their legal responsibilities? They make us go through hoop after hoop,but deliberately mess with our lives and abrogate THEIR legal duties. I need to know what I can do to sort this out,because if it drags on too long I'll be in all sorts of trouble.

Hi M123,

I'm afraid that Pension Credit, and Income Support are not benefits that we advise on.

You may wish to gain advice from one of the agencies from here :

Where to get advice?

You could escalate a complaint on the phone, and ask to speak to a Team Leader.

If you wish to make an official complaint to the DWP please see :

Complaining to the DWP

bro58

Tell your MP, that's what they're for. www.writetothem.com/ Contact them through there.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and links.....I have resolved the issue through determined phone calls....however,my benefit is going to be a whole week late/delayed.....I haven't got the will to argue further....but once my benefit is assuredly in place I WILL be making a formal complaint in every available quarter.
Apropos of my state of mind : in the Thatcherite regime of the 80's I put together a 'Social Security Action Group' in an unemployed workers centre in order to deal robustly with the injustices prevalent in that era. What's going on now,with this hideous ConDem 'government' & its blatant NeoCon agenda and their Social Darwinist (eugenics) policies,it's reminiscent of those dark days. In fact,with people like Iain Duncan Smith wielding unfettered power,it's probably worse. I can hardly believe what they're being allowed to get away with. Where is the effective opposition?