Well it's taken nearly all day but this is what I've finally found out ...... someone who shall remain nameless and not responsible for their actions or the distress they've created, sent a memo from the Dept of Work and Pensions to our local council to say Marks benefit has been terminated, they then write to us and tell us our council tax rebates have been cancelled. I ring the council office and say as far as I am aware nothing has been cancelled ...... they tell me according to their records Marks benefit is terminated as from December 17th and therefore it voids the council tax rebate, that's all they can tell me.
I ring our local Job Centre Plus who are our first port of call with anything benefit related, explain the situation, they look at their records and tell me the same thing, his benefit has been terminated, no further explanation. If we want to find out any more they will email the processing department at the Dept of Works and Pensions and someone will ring me back.
Amazingly they did so, an hour ago, to say to me that the benefit had not been terminated, the next payment will go in as normal and there was no good reason why anyone should be telling me any different. I should ring them back and tell them to check the internal system and they would see that was the case. It struck me at this point that not one of these different departments was going to talk to each other, I had to do their communications for them!!
I ring the local council back again and tell them the benefit hasn't been cancelled and they should check on their internal system and it would confirm their actions were incorrect. The person I'm speaking too doesn't have the authority to view this system and has to get someone else to do it, they'll ring me back. An hour later they do. They tell me my information is correct, the benefit hasn't been terminated and they shouldn't have sent out their letter. They'll correct their mistake straight away. I ask can I have the name of the person who sent the memo and I'm told I can't, it's automatically generated.
So in short, I'm dealing with a government department for Marks benefit that doesn't have a physical address, is manned by un named people, who are not accountable for any of their actions and who I cannot ring because they don't provide a telephone number. If I want to speak to someone I have to ring my local job centre, they send an email to said dept and someone may or may not ring me back.
I despair at what this country is coming too.
I ring our local Job Centre Plus who are our first port of call with anything benefit related, explain the situation, they look at their records and tell me the same thing, his benefit has been terminated, no further explanation. If we want to find out any more they will email the processing department at the Dept of Works and Pensions and someone will ring me back.
Amazingly they did so, an hour ago, to say to me that the benefit had not been terminated, the next payment will go in as normal and there was no good reason why anyone should be telling me any different. I should ring them back and tell them to check the internal system and they would see that was the case. It struck me at this point that not one of these different departments was going to talk to each other, I had to do their communications for them!!
I ring the local council back again and tell them the benefit hasn't been cancelled and they should check on their internal system and it would confirm their actions were incorrect. The person I'm speaking too doesn't have the authority to view this system and has to get someone else to do it, they'll ring me back. An hour later they do. They tell me my information is correct, the benefit hasn't been terminated and they shouldn't have sent out their letter. They'll correct their mistake straight away. I ask can I have the name of the person who sent the memo and I'm told I can't, it's automatically generated.
So in short, I'm dealing with a government department for Marks benefit that doesn't have a physical address, is manned by un named people, who are not accountable for any of their actions and who I cannot ring because they don't provide a telephone number. If I want to speak to someone I have to ring my local job centre, they send an email to said dept and someone may or may not ring me back.
I despair at what this country is coming too.
I better tell you about Mark now hadn't I, he's in bed again today, in too much pain to get up. He was going to go out with a friend today, however, about 9ish last night he suddenly shouted me and said he had to get out of his wheelchair and into bed, he was in agony. The weird thing is, it comes on so suddenly and for no apparent reason that we can work out. So another night of no sleep and morphine every couple of hours. He spoke to the consultants secretary, or rather her stand in because the secretary is off ill, and we're waiting for a call back with some sort of time slot for his operation. Hoping it won't be more than another couple of months.
The other day was a farce .....
Mark got up with about the normal amount of pain and decided to go out to his friends who owns a garage. He likes it there as you can all imagine and it keeps him stimulated (read awake!!) because there's stuff going on. Anyway, I got him in his car, disassembled his wheelchair and packed it in the boot. Mark turned the key ..... A BIG FAT NOTHING!! Blue language coming from inside the car, I got wheelchair out of the boot, put it back together, got Mark out of the car, he made me find tools so between us we could take the fixture on top of the battery and see what was going on, found a loose connection .... between us put it all back together again (him getting frustrated because I'm a rubbish mechanic (but the best one he has on hand!). During this I can smell Mark and it's not good, took him back inside, found carers had dressed him with a dirty bum and dirty underpants, (me swearing now) so I undress him, wash him, dress him again ....... sounds easy when I write it like that doesn't it?? Feed him lunch, put him back in his car, take wheelchair apart, pack it into boot again and see him off. Knackered then, spent the rest of the day with my head in a book denying the rest of the world existed!!
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