DWP have no record of the claim!

DWP have no record of the claim!

11:56 AM, 3rd August 2020, About 4 years ago 9

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A tenant has been in situ in a flat since Jan 2020 and from the start (due to alcohol/drug history/ongoing rehab) it was all agreed I would have express permission to talk to DWP and have direct payments. All good.

Fast-forward to July – no rent payment. Nothing from the tenant before this point, no issues, nothing, so I call the DWP. They don’t even have a record of an open claim. I give all the details including full name address DOB NI Number…nothing.

How can this happen?

I called the tenant, and he said he received his money OK on the 4th July as normal, but no rent allowance (by mistake?) as this is paid directly to me.

The July rent is due in a matter of a week now too. Has this happened to anyone before? Now what?

Many thanks

Reluctant Landlord


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Comments

rbinscotland

12:30 PM, 3rd August 2020, About 4 years ago

I have the same kind of issue which initially was raised with UC and I keep getting replies from Job Centre Plus. None of which make sense to me.

I received a payment of over £1700 for rents. But it was over 8 payments on one invoice. Due to normal tenants on UC and new due to Covid issues I coukd not allocate where the money comes from. ie which tenant to allocate the funds to

Now I'm presuming that if the tenant wants to pay me directly they are authorising the UC to have their details and I probably haven't been told
First question - are they sharing my details outwith data protection rules.
And second ; the UC don't know where the payments are coming from ( who its allocated to) as there is no audit trail. AND They cant tell me if they new due to data protection.

So (advise please) ill allocate the money as income for tax purposes and / or spend it as I would on mortgages services etc. And as I cant allocate to any particular tenant. Shoukd I just ignore it and see who jumps when or if I need to evict on non payments of rent.

#endoftetherwithUC

Paula Lewis

12:40 PM, 3rd August 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Rbinscotland at 03/08/2020 - 12:30
I'm in the same boat, be interesting to see if anyone has any advice. UC is a shambles

Mick Roberts

14:03 PM, 3rd August 2020, About 4 years ago

This is happening to Landlords all the time, & UC not dealing Landlord is making things much worse.

And Rbinscotland, yes I too have many payments go in bank, not got a clue who from, I presume UC DWP. Again UC need to allocate people to talk to us & they'd save a fortune in the long run as we can tell 'em what's going wrong.

rbinscotland

14:32 PM, 3rd August 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 03/08/2020 - 14:03
Agree totally. They would be quick to want it back if they or I can't trace it.

Robert M

22:29 PM, 3rd August 2020, About 4 years ago

This is happening all the time with UC, no end of problems landlords are facing with UC. They won't accept information from landlords, they won't make payments to landlords even when tenants want this, they won't speak to landlord, they won't explain their decisions clearly enough for landlords to establish what the problem/issue is. I would suggest that you join UC Advice website and if necessary contact Bill Irvine for consultancy (he also runs various UC training courses).

Jonathan Clarke

4:58 AM, 6th August 2020, About 4 years ago

UC is a shambles . DWP is a shambles
I get paid strange random amounts into my account.
No notification. No explanation . No receipts . No Nothing
I`ve reduced my exposure to HB and will continue to do so .
I wont deal with an organisation which cant get the basics in communication right. DWP encourage homelessness. They mess the tenants about. They mess me about

I`m sure Bill`s courses are very good but I shouldnt really need to go on a course to work out how to deal with a tenant (aka DWP ) paying my rent . In this automated day and age its really very very simple to talk to me and keep me informed . Other big organisations manage it . My working tenants don`t have a problem with this aspect.

Hello Jon - Ive paid the rent in today. Thanks mate . Sorted .

TheMaluka

10:46 AM, 8th August 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Mick Roberts at 03/08/2020 - 14:03
Mick, no need to tell them what's going wrong for the DWP NEVER make mistakes.

Ron H-W

14:59 PM, 8th August 2020, About 4 years ago

On the other hand, regarding tenant of the O.P. ("Reluctant Landlord")...
What if he was bullsh*tt*ng you, and there wasn't any actual claim?
And that his money of 4th July (and other dates) was actually profit from dealing or something, or income from irregular work? (Just asking!)

rbinscotland

10:17 AM, 2nd September 2020, About 4 years ago

Reply to the comment left by Paula Lewis at 03/08/2020 - 12:40
They have now requested £nearly £5k back, but the reference number they gave ( although they cant say who it is for (data protections)) only adds up to £2k - Ive gone through another 3 hours tryingt o contact someone, who isnt working from home, or that passes me onto someone else who eith doesnt know or cant talk about it due to data protection. Advise please. Should I just bury my head until they start legal proceedings?

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