The Curious Incident of the Disappearing Benefit

By: R.S.

The other day I was in Inverurie and decided that I needed to get some money from the ATM. Just on a whim I wondered how much money I had in my account. Looking at the on screen balance it said I had only £123.45 and this amount had not changed for weeks. I went into the bank and had them give me a statement for the last two months. I observed that I had not had any money credited to my account since the 22nd  of November. I then had to contact the job centre to see why my benefit had not been paid.

The rigmarole I had to go through to get the correct department, using their ‘user friendly’ telephone system, none of this is free of course, eventually the kind assistant asked if I had claimed for any other benefit recently, giving it some thought I remembered I put in a claim for PIP ( Personal Independence Payment ). The assistant then proceeded to reinstate my benefit and I was sent money to my account.

One of my compatriots at AAD said that he also had the same experience and it seems as if PIP triggers a flag in the IT system that another benefit has been claimed even though PIP is supposed to be a payment on top of your existing benefit payment and should not be taken into consideration when it is granted.

So beware everyone, check your bank accounts and if it happens to you then good luck in dealing with the department of work and pensions.

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