To think the bloody Tax Credits people should be a little more helpful if you have recently been bereaved?

[MavisEnderby]

I am SO ANGRY right now.

In the last 2 weeks I have arranged a funeral singlehandedly as dp parents were in bits and both elderly so couldn't do this,arranged a wake,dealt with other practicaliities,thumbs up to DLA and Incapacity people who dealt with stuff sensitively,also motability people who were great and the furniture store who refunded the cost of a recliner chair I had ordered a few months ago for dp as he couldn't sleep in a bed and had been awaiting a delivery of prior to his death.All very helpful

BUT THE BASTARDING TAX CREDITS PEOPLE..

so I rang them last week to inform them of dp death.20 mins waiting to get through then got some bloke who didn't know much about the proceedure for it all but eventually after much faffing informed me he would inform the "priority one" team whoevwer they are and took my phone number and siad someone would ring me from the team.Of course no phone call.Instead a new tax credit claim form drops through the door a week later so i think i know you can do the form over the phone so ill ring them as i can't face filling in another form.So another 20 min wait and eventually get through.

The conversation went something like this

Tax credit person "I'm xx can I have your NI number"

me(Give number) "Well I phoned you last week to inform you that my partner had died and was expecting a call from your priority 1 team but didn't get one."

TCP "oh we don't do that,I need to ask you some security questions"

Me "What do you mean?how come this guy told me that then?"

TCP "we don't call people back,we send a new form out.Now can you tell me where your first holiday was?"

Me "You're having a laugh mate.I just lost my partner and im getting conflicting information"

TCP repeats above

Me "How on Earth should I know?"(i DO NOT REMEMBER giving tc this as a security q.I go on to list all the possible answer I may have given.

TCP "i can't accept multiple answers,im going to have to ask more security q's.Can you tell me your last address"so i do"can you tell me your last employer?"so i do and on and on it goes.

So then I say"Well,as no one rang me can I now do the form over the phone as i can't face filling it in and want to get it sorted"

TCP "i'm afraid in these circumstances you have to send in the form to us"

WTF.WHY WHY IS THIS???

how come you can do it over the phone in all other circumstances

At this point i lose it a bit and tell the bloke that i think the TC dept are incompetent,don't know what they are doing and that they are breathtakingly insensitive,disgraceful and so on (i did say to the guy it wasn't him personally but the system).I now have the address for complaints and am going to write to them.

My point being that i am a relatively young,relatively well educated person and i am finding it hard enough to deal with these idiots but what if I were elderly or infirm and trying to do this.

Completely shocking "service" imho

ps sorry for rant congrats if you got this far

[Marjee]

Yanbu, so sorry for your loss xx

[CarGirl]

That is terrible.

Unfortunately you have suffered additionally because it is the peak time for renewals which means they are super busy (it took me weeks before I even got on a queue to be answered instead of being told to ring back later) and setting up the security questions is a new measure that has just been brought in as I had to set them all up when I did get through.

They def need a team to put bereaved or traumatised people through to, like you said the last thing you need is to be told all that conflicting information.



I'm glad to hear the other departments have been much better to deal with although presumably they have much more experience with this kind of situation

[asteri]

yanbu, that sounds horrendous (hug)

[Alibabaandthe40nappies]

Mavis that is crap

It's good to hear that all those other places have been helpful.

[edam]

So sorry to hear about your dp. And horrified by the tax credits people - that's astoundingly insensitive. If you have the time, worth writing to your MP - a letter from them usually puts a rocket up officials.

[PinkFuschia]

They really are the most insensitive bunch of tossers, aren't they?

My mum had similar problems when my dad died a few years ago. Dad had terminal cancer and Mum had to fight to get various benefits that he was entitled to (because, in the assessor's opinion, he wasn't ill enough) so she knew her way around the system.

However dealing with all the tax and benefits people after Dad died nearly drove us both up the wall.

And the twenty page council tax form (to get her the single person's rebate after Dad died) completely flummoxed both of us.

Considering that they must be dealing with situations like yours every day of the week you would think they would have a system that took the stress and the pain away at a time when more stress and pain are the last things you need.

My mum is a very feisty 80 year old, and is now an expert at dealing with this stuff. She's currently doing battle with the taxman as she has just been told that she has to pay tax on Dad's £25 a month works pension (despite the fact that she only has the state pension to live on.) If you need any advice let me know and I'll ask my mum

Sending you an unmumsnetty hug.

[lazarusb]

That is disgusting, I'm so sorry you have been put through such insensitivity, unfortunately some public services still need to take more care with their clients who are going through a bad time. Let's hope this is the exception and not the norm.

[zeno]

yanbu. They're organisationally incompetent and it's amazing there hasn't been a media outcry over it yet.

I won't go into how they handled it when dd died - suffice to say you're not alone in your fury, We have ceased all dealings with them in protest.

[BigBadMummy]

Disgusting.

I am so sorry Mavis. Write that letter of complaint and copy it into your MP, and local paper etc.

We had a situation where a letting agent were chasing us for a fee after my BIL died. A fee for renewing a tenancy that didnt happen and when I explained why they were talking to me and not my BIL he said "well we all have to make a living".

He got the mother of all complaints.

You need to do the same. How utterly insensitive of them. And totally un-necessary.

Bastards.

[nickelbabe]

I'm sorry Mavis, that they had to be like that - it's all very "computer says..." isn't it?

whatever happened to human compassion?

[glastocat]

I'm sorry for your loss, that sounds terrible. I had a similar problem with BT when my dad died. I rang them to ask them to cut off his phone and send in a final bill. They told me I could only do this if I was able to answer by dad's security questions, which of course I didn't know! So they kept on sending letters addressed to 'Mr Glastocat's dad (deceased)' asking him to contact them! I just ignored them and gave the last bill to my solicitor. They cut the phone off eventually!