Life Certificate

[OJAS]

20 hours ago, delgarcon said:

I have just received a Life Certificate

In that case, DWP's suspension of the issuing of Life Certificates due to the ongoing pandemic, as reported by @cooked on 26 October in the following thread, didn't last long, then, did it:-

 

https://aseannow.com/topic/1235686-uk-life-certificate/

 

Makes me wonder how many other Life Certificates might currently be winging their merry way to Thailand by carrier pigeon?

 

[OJAS]

Have just sent IPC a secure message via https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/ipc/personal-details seeking clarification of the situation (and whether a fresh LC is currently en route to me).

 

[clivebaxter]

23 hours ago, delgarcon said:

I have just received a Life Certificate and when you make the declaration you have to certify that you understand that criminal or civil proceedings may be taken if you give incorrect or incomplete information.

You get that warning when you fill in the census, anyone been taken to court for missing a name off or adding one on? it's just procedure.

[delgarcon]

3 hours ago, clivebaxter said:

You get that warning when you fill in the census, anyone been taken to court for missing a name off or adding one on? it's just procedure.

I was just quoting the declaration, whether or not anyone gets prosecuted I haven't got a clue!

[Kwasaki]

On 11/23/2021 at 12:03 PM, OJAS said:

Have just sent IPC a secure message via https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/ipc/personal-details seeking clarification of the situation (and whether a fresh LC is currently en route to me).

 

So did I  and what seems to be a hurried reply is not very helpful as usual,, the question I asked was

 

" Would you please inform me by email when you have sent a Proof of Life form to me as you have stopped my pension twice before when I have not received 2 life form you allegedly sent before.

I will be quite happy to send back one now if that will assist you during this pandemic time."

 

There reply :- ????

Thank you for your email to Newcastle Pension Centre (International Group) dated 3 December 2021.

I have checked your pension records and payment was issued to your bank  23 November 2021,it can take up to 5 working days to credit.

Payment is made every 28 days.

TheIssue of Life Ceryificates has not been issued to you,we have only started re sending them due to pandemic.Your pension will not be affected

 

Stay Safe and well

[Eff1n2ret]

1 hour ago, Kwasaki said:

what seems to be a hurried reply is not very helpful as usual

It's not that bad. They've confirmed that your pension has not been stopped and they haven't sent you a Life cert. Unless they change their system that's probably the best they can do.

I agree with you that it's about time they put in a system that didn't rely on the vagaries of international mail and the totally moribund Thai Post Office (at least, in our area it now only delivers every three months, if that). I think we just have to keep pestering them.

[Kwasaki]

8 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

It's not that bad. They've confirmed that your pension has not been stopped and they haven't sent you a Life cert. Unless they change their system that's probably the best they can do.

I agree with you that it's about time they put in a system that didn't rely on the vagaries of international mail and the totally moribund Thai Post Office (at least, in our area it now only delivers every three months, if that). I think we just have to keep pestering them.

I understand your problem but mine is there is no problem with post where I live get mail from UK regularly that is my beef with DWP(IPC) they said on telephone that LF's are sent at random from Netherlands whether they do that now being out of EU I have no idea. 

[OJAS]

8 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I understand your problem but mine is there is no problem with post where I live get mail from UK regularly that is my beef with DWP(IPC) they said on telephone that LF's are sent at random from Netherlands whether they do that now being out of EU I have no idea. 

And my particular beef with them is that, if the DWP/IPC rule book is strictly followed to the letter, witnessing has to be performed on a face-to-face basis with your witnesser who in our case usually means, in practice, a Thai national "of suitable standing" with more often than not a minimal grasp (if that) of the English language - yet DWP/IPC steadfastly refuse to provide us with a Thai-language version of the form to facilitate this task for us! Given that they already provide this form in a variety of other foreign languages, it would surely not be too much to expect them to go the extra millimetre involved in producing a Thai-language version.

 

It is also IMHO a bit rich of DWP/IPC to claim that their list of acceptable witnessers is consistent with HMPO's list of acceptable passport application countersignatories, when Thai nationals are specifically barred from countersigning UK passport applications submitted from abroad!

 

https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications

 

And I contrast the cumbersomely bureaucratic requirements which DWP/IPC have inflicted on us in the case of our frozen State Pensions with the relative ease and grace with which I was able to satisfy CSP that I was still in the land of the living as far as my non-frozen occupational pension is concerned a year or so ago. I just got my mother-in-law to sign the CSP form which I then scanned and emailed back to them! Why on earth can't the State Pension witnessing process be equally so straightforward?

Edited December 9, 2021 by OJAS

[Kwasaki]

19 minutes ago, OJAS said:

And my particular beef with them is that, if the DWP/IPC rule book is strictly followed to the letter, witnessing has to be performed on a face-to-face basis with your witnesser who in our case usually means, in practice, a Thai national "of suitable standing" with more often than not a minimal grasp (if that) of the English language - yet DWP/IPC steadfastly refuse to provide us with a Thai-language version of the form to facilitate this task for us! Given that they already provide this form in a variety of other foreign languages, it would surely not be too much to expect them to go the extra millimetre involved in producing a Thai-language version.

 

It is also IMHO a bit rich of DWP/IPC to claim that their list of acceptable witnessers is consistent with HMPO's list of acceptable passport application countersignatories, when Thai nationals are specifically barred from countersigning UK passport applications submitted from abroad!

 

https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications

 

And I contrast the cumbersomely bureaucratic requirements which DWP/IPC have imposed on us in the case of our frozen State Pensions with the relative ease and grace with which I was able to satisfy CSP that I was still in the land of the living as far as my non-frozen occupational pension is concerned a year or so ago. I just got my mother-in-law to sign the CSP form which I then scanned and emailed back to them! Why on earth can't the State Pension witnessing process be equally so straightforward?

Firstly I have no problem finding a Thai person signing my Proof of Life Form, there are people here on Asean Now that can sign your life form, I am one of them and have done so on 2 occasions on years back over Ems Thai post. 

 

That said IPC just want a name address and a phone number doesn't have to be a doctor they can just put I am a Thai self-employed Director. ????

 

Secondary well I wouldn't work yourself up too much on UK govt they are never ganna unfreeze UK pensions who are given pensioners in Thailand.

Frankly I don't think Thailand wants that either.

 

 

 

 

[Eff1n2ret]

21 hours ago, OJAS said:

It is also IMHO a bit rich of DWP/IPC to claim that their list of acceptable witnessers is consistent with HMPO's list of acceptable passport application countersignatories, when Thai nationals are specifically barred from countersigning UK passport applications submitted from abroad!

 

https://www.gov.uk/countersigning-passport-applications

Yes, I noticed that as well. In practice they seem to accept any Thai witness, as long as they have a rubber stamp of some sort. Time to get your John Bull printing kit out...

Last time I got mine done at a local pharmacy.

[Kwasaki]

6 minutes ago, Eff1n2ret said:

Yes, I noticed that as well. In practice they seem to accept any Thai witness, as long as they have a rubber stamp of some sort. Time to get your John Bull printing kit out...

Last time I got mine done at a local pharmacy.

A rubber stamp is not necessary done life forms 3 times without. 

[OJAS]

On 12/9/2021 at 7:41 PM, Kwasaki said:

Firstly I have no problem finding a Thai person signing my Proof of Life Form, there are people here on Asean Now that can sign your life form, I am one of them and have done so on 2 occasions on years back over Ems Thai post. 

 

That said IPC just want a name address and a phone number doesn't have to be a doctor they can just put I am a Thai self-employed Director. ????

"Firstly I have no problem finding a Thai person signing my Proof of Life Form"

 

But others on here have reported experiencing such difficulties - most likely, I strongly suspect, because the Thais whom they approached were unwilling to put their signature to a quasi-legal form which was not written in their native language. And who could blame them?

 

"have done so on 2 occasions on years back over Ems Thai post."

 

But that, of course, is not strictly in accordance with the DWP rule book which mandates in no uncertain terms that witnessing must be conducted on a face-to-face basis! That said, I will readily confess to having done exactly the same myself - which IMHO is one contributory factor towards making a mockery of the whole witnessing process.????

 

"That said IPC just want a name address and a phone number"

 

And that raises another factor towards making the existing witnessing process a farce IMHO. What would be to stop us from witnessing our life certificates ourselves in the completely fictitious name of, say, some equally fictitious Thai brain surgeon? I would have thought it highly unlikely that DWP are sufficiently resourced to conduct the necessary checks - which, in the case of my example, would presumably necessitate them laying their hands from somewhere on an up-to-date list of registered Thai brain surgeons! It must surely be in DWP's interests (as well as ours) and capabilities (now that we are into the 3rd decade of the 21st Century) for them to come up with some electronic method for satisfying themselves that we are still in the land of the living for State Pension payment purposes, which was far more secure and less open to potential abuse than the current paper-based system.

 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by OJAS

[Kwasaki]

19 hours ago, OJAS said:

"Firstly I have no problem finding a Thai person signing my Proof of Life Form"

 

But others on here have reported experiencing such difficulties - most likely, I strongly suspect, because the Thais whom they approached were unwilling to put their signature to a quasi-legal form which was not written in their native language. And who could blame them?

 

"have done so on 2 occasions on years back over Ems Thai post."

 

But that, of course, is not strictly in accordance with the DWP rule book which mandates in no uncertain terms that witnessing must be conducted on a face-to-face basis! That said, I will readily confess to having done exactly the same myself - which IMHO is one contributory factor towards making a mockery of the whole witnessing process.????

 

"That said IPC just want a name address and a phone number"

 

And that raises another factor towards making the existing witnessing process a farce IMHO. What would be to stop us from witnessing our life certificates ourselves in the completely fictitious name of, say, some equally fictitious Thai brain surgeon? I would have thought it highly unlikely that DWP are sufficiently resourced to conduct the necessary checks - which, in the case of my example, would presumably necessitate them laying their hands from somewhere on an up-to-date list of registered Thai brain surgeons! It must surely be in DWP's interests (as well as ours) and capabilities (now that we are into the 3rd decade of the 21st Century) for them to come up with some electronic method for satisfying themselves that we are still in the land of the living for State Pension payment purposes, which was far more secure and less open to potential abuse than the current paper-based system.

I find it ridiculous as you could get wife to do it under her sister name. 

My Thai teacher friend who signs my life forms has never been called. 

My main beef is them sending it snail mail it wouldn't put them to much out of pocket to have it sent by GPO recorded delivery the frozen pensions would pay for it.