barebackrider

There is a lot of silent movement between campaigners, with private emails, phone calls and text messages; not everything can be laid bare on the site or big brother and little sister will know what the moles underground are doing! Thank you Tony and DR (what date is your birthday?) Reach out and touch...... BBR

Hello Tina we did the same regarding DCPU customer services and the email was referred to and responded by Elizabeth Lewin. Guess what? She passed it on to Kettle! I then responded to that, and eventually got the letter from Paul Taylor. I sent an email to him (copied you in) and guess what again? Not even got an acknowledgement. Ivory towers come to mind...... blessings BBR

Hello Tony Thank you for this, you have brought a breath of hope back to us. Please can you tell me how and when we start this? bright blessings BBR

Well here goes another saga. I sent a recorded delivery letter 3 weeks ago (backed up by email) and have received no acknowledgement or response to date. The letter stated if my husband's claim for reinstatement was 'negative' he would like confirmation to that effect and the claim to be annotated and move straight to tribunal (delays in post etc) I rang this afternoon, and was told that no decision has been made - but as he appealed they cannot overturn that decision - I asked 'if he had not appealed would the decision be a yes then?' response  'I am not saying that' - then I got the 26/52 week ruling (if this was a new claim from where you live in France) which I replied yes but it is not a new claim it is reinstatement and is not applicable etc etc and quoted the last Upper Tribunal case on May 5th. I was told every case is individual and it does not set a presedence. So I asked, how long before he receives the refusal letter so we can move to appeal, no timescale, cannot answer that either, even though I said in my letter that everything has to have a finite ending. Finally she said there are lots of cases like this one, and I cannot say how long it will take. I said so he has to sit and wait for a letter eventually to arrive to say the claim has been refused, and then we go through the appeal procedure again? Reply, I am sorry I cannot say any more than what I have, and I am sorry I cannot be more helpful. So was I. BBR

Fingers toes legs and eyes!!!!! Reach out and touch somebody's hand....... bright blessings BBR

Ali Cat congratulations! so pleased for you! and thank you for including your 'statement' - ironically it is similar to the one we made - 14th August 2006 - and we received our last 'get lost you are not in the UK' letter at the end of October 2006. good for you. BBR

The one asking for repayment in X days - yes - the lady who received it was extremely distraught and had a panic attack - not nice to witness.

England used to have respect and care for the people who fought for and supported their country. England now cares for immigrants and rubbing noses in the brown stuff. Old people sometimes have to resort to a little forgetfulness to survive, unlike staking claims for luxuries and outright non existant loans and mortgages taken from public funding. Do you watch BGT? A pensioner on there was breakdancing - and was on disability benefits. That was disgraceful and making a mockery of what should be a helping hand to the needy. I applaud the agreement for the £5 per month and have no criticism to make, it is a very generous offer. What I was saying was instead of writing to elderly sick and/or disabled people 'you owe us X and pay this outstanding amount within X days' and shocking the hell out of them, would it not be less heart attack material to write 'we have reviewed your case and inform you that an award of Y has been made, payable from Z to Z. However, according to our records.....etc' thus giving the person what they are rightfully entitled to and a chance to explain any anomolies? I do not condone fraud, but I will say that God helps those that help themselves. HMG do the same for their own.  

This has appalled me. The DWP is - according to their own figures - chasing over £700m in overpaid and/or non-entitled benefits. Letters are dropping on doormats demanding repayment of monies claimed which they believe the claimants were not entitled to - believe it or not most are for DLA/AA/CA payments. Dates of leaving the UK are being questioned, and any time spent during payments received prior to that date is being asked for proof of. One person has been told he owes over £4000 for benefit he carried on receiving when he had moved to France, although he said he was moving back and forth until he notified them of permanance. He pointed out he receives £650 per month state pension with his wife's allowance and the DWP have accepted £5 per month. This story is on the internet. It would appear that the elderly, sick and disabled are targeted once again, and no doubt a lot of very distressed people will be in turmoil with letters saying they owe thousands of pounds. Of course I am not saying that it is right to claim benefits which one is not entitled to, but by the same standard, will all the MP's be receiving letters from HMG debt collection demanding repayment? If the government had not denied the vulnerable in the first instance for so many years, those very same people who have paid their dues and demands all their lives and now are suffering poor health and poverty in some cases, the DWP are using their information to come swooping in - no doubt to justify any further delays in paying rightful legal payments within the law to those who unquestionably and undenyably deserve and qualify for it. Errors of judgement and compassion are not words used often, and neither is a softly softly approach. The DWP make no apologies for their actions and can stand firm ground. Customers are tried and tested and found wanting- and left in limbo. I find it totally dispicable that the DWP are refusing to pay out what we know is lawful, and yet they can demand refunds of overpayments as soon as they believe they have made them. Calculating the payments for benefits, informing the claimants (ooops sorry - customers) and discussing any 'overpayments' (should they be found to be correct) for deduction surely would be a human approach? But then again, England is just not England any more.  

Dear Dragonrouge thank you so much for your help and advice over the weekend, it is greatly appreciated. kindest regards BBR

Dear Dragonrouge I have used your information immediately and will keep you informed as the outcome. kindest regards BBR

I buy repellent with deet from chemistdirect uk they are fantastically cheaper with thousands of products than anywhere else online, and charge £7.40 for delivery no matter size or weight of order. For example, I buy Ceterizine allergy tablets, they cost nearly £3 for 15 tablets normally and they charge 29pence for 30 - seriously. They have an abundance of repellants with and without deet, and I also get mozzie spray for my horses containing deet for £12.50 and it was 49 euros for the same size spray here without deet and it was useless. They also have online help and are very quick with instant messaging. Hope this helps! with regards BBR

I have today received this letter (dated 14th May) - I must add that in between my original email and receivng this letter I have sent another email to the same department and copied in the Expo Team but have received no acknowledgement of it. Thank you for your email of 6 May 2009 addressed to Terry Moran, the Pension, Disability and Carers Service Chief Executive. As Mr Moran is unable to reply to all the correspondence he receives I have been asked to respond on his behalf. I am sorry this matter has not been finalised and would ask that you accept my apologies. I can assure you that we trying to deal with cases such as your husband's as quickly as we can but because of the complexity of the issues involed this is taking longer than normal to complete. However, I can confirm the ECJ judgement states that the benefits concerned should be classed as sickness benefits not that they are automatcally exportable. It does not state that benefit previously awared  but since disallowed should be re instated., There are rules and regulations regarding how sickness benefits shold be claimed and exported when people move to live or claim from abroad in the EEA. More informationn concerning the judgement can be found on he Direectgov. website at www.direct.gov.uk It is also worth noting that when a new claim is made from abroad a person must have been resident in the United Kingdon for 26 of the last 52 weeks before entitlement can be considered. You husband's case is presently with the decision maker waiting advice and I cannot there quotea timescale in which the matter will be resolved. In the meantime should you or your husband need any further information Wendy Kettle the team leader of the operational section dealing with your husband's claim at the Disability Contact and Procesing Unit will be please to help. Whilst I realise that this will be a somewhat disappointing reply I thank you for giving the the opportunity to clarify the position. Paul Taylor Official Correspondence DCP Same old same old then. Nineteen months on, test cases breakthrough, this is not exactly a refusal, hence cannot appeal yet? So much for 'fitting around our customers not them fitting around us'. Tosh. Any response would be welcome. Thank you BBR  

So Jonathon Shaw has not gone to ground.... http://www.dwp.gov.uk/mediacentre/pressreleases/2009/may/150-09-130509.asp  

Does this apply to immigrants when they arrive in the UK that they have to spend 26 weeks before they claim? When I was with my OH applying for his disability badge (8 years ago) for the car a family of 15 - yes we counted them - were asking for 4 badges within the family - with an interpreter! He said they had been given temporary accomodation 2 weeks previous when they had arrived, and needed to 'get around' to see where they would like to live permanently - but 6 out of the 15 had 'disabilities' (the others were minors), and they had applied for mobility allowances - they did not understand bus timetables!  All that, no doubt on top of every other allowance they would be told they could have - and that wasn't 26 weeks was it. Tribunal here we come BBR