UK pension delay?

[jacko45k]

15 hours ago, chilly07 said:

I think DWP has 'outsourced' the Life Certificate function to an EU country (Belgium?) which has failed.

Well I mailed mine to Wolverhampton at the beginning of the year so I think not. There have been quite a lot of postal strikes there and it isn't that reliable here. 

[elfpattaya]

28 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I think DWP has 'outsourced' the Life Certificate function to an EU country (Belgium?)

I think you are right, i believe they are sending the forms OUT via Netherlands post, who have also had problems with strikes.

But I must admit I can't confirm if that rumour is true or not.

[jacko45k]

2 minutes ago, elfpattaya said:

I think you are right, i believe they are sending the forms OUT via Netherlands post, who have also had problems with strikes.

But I must admit I can't confirm if that rumour is true or not.

You have messed up the quote function somehow and misquoted me!

[Andycoops]

On 6/17/2023 at 6:41 PM, Calmer said:

BTW, I noticed there are many 'professions' suggested for people to use to counter sign these 'life forms'. Which do most people use? I've tried bank managers, even police here with this kind of stuff before, and always ended up with expensive lawyers (2000 baht for a stamp and a tel. no.). Professions don't seem to like to do this kind of thing here. Haven't tried my dentist yet. Maybe ...

I got mine signed at Pattaya beach road police station for 200 baht last month.

Was in and out in 5 minutes.

[Chivas]

On 6/20/2023 at 5:29 AM, Muhendis said:

@Calmer You can go to their website and leave a message. They will respond within 24 hrs https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/ipc/personal-details

excellent post

[Guderian]

I applied for my state pension by phone back in February. No problem, everything went fine and the helpful lady said they'd send me conformation my post. After my 66th birthday I still hadn't received any confirmation so I e-mailed the IPC and around 5 days later got a reply saying that everything was fine and they'd sent the confirmation to me on March 3rd. At the end of June my first full four-week pension payment was made and it seemed about right, a bit more than I'd expected if anything, but I won't query that. Yesterday, July 7th, the confirmation letter from DWP, supposedly sent on March 3rd, finally arrived, it took a bit over 4 full months to get here.

 

This agrees with other recent experiences mentioned here of post from DWP taking four months to arrive in Thailand, and it makes the Proof of Life system both ludicrous and impossible to comply with if they cut off your pension 16 weeks after sending the certificate. I'm going to send them a polite e-mail pointing this out, and I'd suggest that anyone else who's had this experience should do the same. They won't pay much attention to just one complaint, but a dozen or more saying the same thing might get them to take a bit of notice and move from the very slow Low Countries postal service they're using now.

[kinyara]

9 hours ago, Guderian said:

I applied for my state pension by phone back in February. No problem, everything went fine and the helpful lady said they'd send me conformation my post. After my 66th birthday I still hadn't received any confirmation so I e-mailed the IPC and around 5 days later got a reply saying that everything was fine and they'd sent the confirmation to me on March 3rd. At the end of June my first full four-week pension payment was made and it seemed about right, a bit more than I'd expected if anything, but I won't query that. Yesterday, July 7th, the confirmation letter from DWP, supposedly sent on March 3rd, finally arrived, it took a bit over 4 full months to get here.

 

This agrees with other recent experiences mentioned here of post from DWP taking four months to arrive in Thailand, and it makes the Proof of Life system both ludicrous and impossible to comply with if they cut off your pension 16 weeks after sending the certificate. I'm going to send them a polite e-mail pointing this out, and I'd suggest that anyone else who's had this experience should do the same. They won't pay much attention to just one complaint, but a dozen or more saying the same thing might get them to take a bit of notice and move from the very slow Low Countries postal service they're using now.

I think that's the sort of issue the UK Embassy in Thailand should be made aware of as well and raise with the DWP on on behalf of their citizens out here. I lwatched an interview with the Minister in charge on a UK TV consumer money programme a few weeks ago and it sounded like the DWP is in a real mess response time wise even with pension queries within the UK.

[jacko45k]

16 hours ago, Guderian said:

This agrees with other recent experiences mentioned here of post from DWP taking four months to arrive in Thailand, and it makes the Proof of Life system both ludicrous and impossible to comply with if they cut off your pension 16 weeks after sending the certificate

But is this the fault of the UK postal service or the Thai one? I count my blessings that I am allowed to live full time here in Thailand and receive the state pension.. although it being frozen is wrong. I hear Oz guys do not get the same treatment. They need to protect from fraud, but like National Savings, remain  too attached to the Postal Service...out of date. 

[ignis]

DWP or Post Question.........

 

After having my pension stopped, never received the Life Certificate so say sent in Jan 2023, returned the one sent by email on the 19th June by recorded delivery...  So could track it...  Long list until it arrived at Heathrow Royal Mail Sorting Office on 24th, as of today still says arrived at Heathrow 24th June..

 

Should I be worried ? expected it to be delivered in Wolverhampton by this time ?  or is it only tracked as far as to UK  ??

[Guderian]

5 hours ago, jacko45k said:

But is this the fault of the UK postal service or the Thai one? I count my blessings that I am allowed to live full time here in Thailand and receive the state pension.. although it being frozen is wrong. I hear Oz guys do not get the same treatment. They need to protect from fraud, but like National Savings, remain  too attached to the Postal Service...out of date. 

I'm pretty sure it's not the Royal Mail that's to blame as the letters are sent via what looks like the Dutch postal service, postnl, see the envelope below.

 

 

As always with business mail, there's no postmark so I can only date it by what DWP told me, that it had been sent on March 3rd, and that it arrived at my house here on July 7th. I had some birthday cards from the UK back in May (not sent via EMS) which used the Royal Mail and Thai Post, and they arrived within 3 weeks, not great but both of those services seem to be working reasonably well. So although I can't prove it, the problem appears to be with the postnl service. It's also possible, of course, that the March 3rd date was an internal DWP note, and it could have sat in a physical Outbox in their offices for weeks. It's also possible that however the mail gets from DWP to postnl is a poorly run service and what's causing the delays, we have no way of knowing. What we do know, however, is that the service is not currently fit-for-purpose and one way or another we need to let the DWP know. Maybe some people can e-mail the International Pensions Center via
 

https://secure.dwp.gov.uk/ipc/personal-details

 

while others can try contacting the Embassy or Consulate as suggested by @kinyara, or even do both if it suits you.

[elfpattaya]

59 minutes ago, Guderian said:

the service is not currently fit-for-purpose and one way or another we need to let the DWP know. Maybe some people can e-mail the International Pensions Center via

I e-mailed them on June the 18th and got a reply on the 21st, complaining about their use of a foreign post and the delays and upsets it is causing us.

It seems to take on average of 3 to 4 months for things to arrive from them. I also asked for a confirmation letter about how much my pension was, this was their reply.

 

"I will Send you a confirmation of your state pension amount to your address but can take up to 28 days to arrive. I cant send it via email for security purposes."

 

For security purposes??? It will probably get lost in the post. I have 2 other pensions where everything is done electronically and quickly. I shall wait until the 28 days are up and will contact them again.

Gruderian is right we need too keep complaining to them until it gets sorted out.

 

Maybe someone who is a little more articulate than I could contact Mel Stride MP, who I believe is in charge of the DWP.

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by elfpattaya

[prakhonchai nick]

On 6/17/2023 at 9:31 AM, foreverlomsak said:

or elsewhere other than the UK (not issued to addressees inside the UK - not needed as UK Death Cert is automatically reported to UK agencies) 

Aah! But is it? I am far from convinced that the British Embassy, who are made aware of a death, do pass on the info to the DWP. Many a widow I have assisted out here in Isaan has some 6 months down the line had a request for pension repayment!

[prakhonchai nick]

4 hours ago, ignis said:

DWP or Post Question.........

 

After having my pension stopped, never received the Life Certificate so say sent in Jan 2023, returned the one sent by email on the 19th June by recorded delivery...  So could track it...  Long list until it arrived at Heathrow Royal Mail Sorting Office on 24th, as of today still says arrived at Heathrow 24th June..

 

Should I be worried ? expected it to be delivered in Wolverhampton by this time ?  or is it only tracked as far as to UK  ??

My Thai registered post to the UK, never gets recorded beyond the airline office at Suvarnabhumi.  As for EMS its a pricey scam and takes ages.  I receive many EMS letters from Bangkok and they always take 3/4 days to arrive in Isaan (late PM at that!)

[elfpattaya]

I have just e-mailed Mel Stride, which I then had to contact another department??

 

Hello Mr Stride,

 

I am a UK pensioner resident in Thailand. Earlier this year many of us received a Certificate of Life form from the Department of Work and Pensions.

For some reasons these forms have been sent out using Nederland Post, causing a delay of 3 to 4 months, and many not received at all. This has caused many people to miss the deadline, and have their pension suspended.

I personally was able to make a phone call and got the deadline extended, Phone calls to the UK from Thailand are expensive.

I do not understand why a UK department is using a foreign postal service, after all we have left the EU.

Is it not possible to upgrade your security so that all these things could be done electronically I have 2 other UK pensions and everything is done electronically and quickly.

 

Thanking you in anticipation of your help

 

The e-mail address is [email protected]

 

Please inundate them with e-mails so they they can put this right.

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, Guderian said:

I'm pretty sure it's not the Royal Mail that's to blame as the letters are sent via what looks like the Dutch postal service, postnl, see the envelope below.

Yes, I recall quite a few of my UK letters had this Dutch stamp, some bank statements for eg. Don't get hardly anything now, all statements available on-line. I  got my proof of life demand quite quickly, January 2023.

[OJAS]

8 hours ago, jacko45k said:

But is this the fault of the UK postal service or the Thai one? 

Could equally be the fault of the UK and/or Thai Customs services, through whom all incoming and outgoing international mail is routed, I gather.

[OJAS]

6 hours ago, ignis said:

DWP or Post Question.........

 

After having my pension stopped, never received the Life Certificate so say sent in Jan 2023, returned the one sent by email on the 19th June by recorded delivery...  So could track it...  Long list until it arrived at Heathrow Royal Mail Sorting Office on 24th, as of today still says arrived at Heathrow 24th June..

 

Should I be worried ? expected it to be delivered in Wolverhampton by this time ?  or is it only tracked as far as to UK  ??

Have you tried tracking it on the Royal Mail tracker? In my experience that provides much more detail on current whereabouts in the UK than its Thailand Post counterpart.

 

Edited July 9, 2023 by OJAS

[jacko45k]

1 hour ago, OJAS said:

Could equally be the fault of the UK and/or Thai Customs services, through whom all incoming and outgoing international mail is routed, I gather.

I had tracking on the outgoing and it seemed to move well on the Thai end.... but at that time lots of UK strikes going on. 

[Muhendis]

50 minutes ago, jacko45k said:

I had tracking on the outgoing and it seemed to move well on the Thai end.... but at that time lots of UK strikes going on. 

If you use tracking international you might find this useful. It tracks end to end.

https://www.parcelmonitor.com/track-thailand-post/

[OJAS]

3 hours ago, jacko45k said:

I had tracking on the outgoing and it seemed to move well on the Thai end.... but at that time lots of UK strikes going on. 

When a new Life Cert is on its way to us from DWP, it would appear to need to go through 4 customs checks, which could well add to the delay in its receipt:-

(1) UK outbound

(2) Netherlands receipt

(3) Netherlands outbound

(4) Thailand receipt

 

[OJAS]

6 hours ago, elfpattaya said:

For security purposes??? It will probably get lost in the post.

Not to mention that the whole Life Cert process is wide open to abuse anyway, it seems to me. What's to stop a State Pensioner in Thailand upon receiving this form to, say, get a family member to impersonate a completely fictitious Thai individual purporting to work in an acceptable occupation at a completely fictitious Thai address for witnessing purposes? I somehow doubt whether DWP are sufficiently resourced to undertake the necessary in-depth checks of the credentials of each and every Life Cert witnesser.

 

In any event, it strikes me that said State Pensioner is doing nothing wrong as he is still in the land of the living and, hence, still entitled to receive the State Pension. Would be a different matter, though, of course, if he had popped his clogs before the new Life Cert had been received.

 

DWP are IMHO so hung up on security that it appears to act as a blindfold in devising methods to prove that we are still in the land of the living for State Pension purposes, which more appropriately reflect the fact that we are nearly a quarter of the way through the 21st - not 19th -  Century! Would you believe it, they apparently destroy all emails after 3 months for security purposes, so they told me recently!!

Edited July 9, 2023 by OJAS

[elfpattaya]

18 hours ago, ignis said:

Should I be worried ? expected it to be delivered in Wolverhampton by this time ?  or is it only tracked as far as to UK  ??

Telephone them +44 (0) 191 218 7777 I found the best time to call them is after 3 p.m UK time. They are usually very helpful when you get through.

 

Instead of using the + sign,

If using AIS use 00500

If using DTAC use 00400

If using True use 00600

Edited July 9, 2023 by elfpattaya

[ignis]

2 hours ago, elfpattaya said:

Telephone them +44 (0) 191 218 7777 I found the best time to call them is after 3 p.m UK time. They are usually very helpful when you get through.

 

Instead of using the + sign,

If using AIS use 00500

If using DTAC use 00400

If using True use 00600

All have Overseas deals

This time used AIS  you buy a 40 min package = 3 baht per min [normal 7 baht] 0034 then 0044 etc

 

Still had to buy a 2 nd package, total bill was 488 baht !!  

still took 20 days before my pension arrived in the Bank !! after the phone call and the man said he would approve my Pension for another 16 weeks  + send the new Life forms by email 

[elfpattaya]

2 hours ago, ignis said:

Still had to buy a 2 nd package, total bill was 488 baht

488 Baht 3 Baht per minute means your phone call lasted 2 Hours and 42 minutes??? You are right the numbers i supplied cost 6/7 Baht a minute.

I am only trying to help. They can also be contacted on line for free https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

[ignis]

56 minutes ago, elfpattaya said:

488 Baht 3 Baht per minute means your phone call lasted 2 Hours and 42 minutes??? You are right the numbers i supplied cost 6/7 Baht a minute.

I am only trying to help. They can also be contacted on line for free https://www.gov.uk/international-pension-centre

No  as said bought 2 x 40 min packages [add ons] + 4 x phone calls

 

1st 18 mins was cut off

2nd  22 min said would call back but never did  = Had to buy another package 2 days later

3rd call he spoke very bad English could not understand his security questions

4th call 27 mins, very helpful and all good.

[foreverlomsak]

20 hours ago, prakhonchai nick said:

Aah! But is it? I am far from convinced that the British Embassy, who are made aware of a death, do pass on the info to the DWP. Many a widow I have assisted out here in Isaan has some 6 months down the line had a request for pension repayment!

The Embassy do nothing with regards to the death of a UK passport holder other than telling you to ensure the passport is kept safe and that it is cancelled, to stop possible misuse.

My comment was that Life Certs are not issued for people residing inside the UK as the Registrars inform government departments automatically on issue of Death Certificate, it does not happen for people living outside UK therefore Life Certs are required, difficulty comes when somebody is registered as living in the UK but in fact is residing outside, hence claims for repayment months after the event.

 

[Guderian]

I've just sent an e-mail off to the helpful lady at the IPC who dealt with my query about the missing pension confirmation letter. If I get anything useful in the reply I'll post it here.

[jwest10]

On 7/9/2023 at 6:26 AM, jacko45k said:

But is this the fault of the UK postal service or the Thai one? I count my blessings that I am allowed to live full time here in Thailand and receive the state pension.. although it being frozen is wrong. I hear Oz guys do not get the same treatment. They need to protect from fraud, but like National Savings, remain  too attached to the Postal Service...out of date. 

 

On 7/8/2023 at 1:37 PM, Guderian said:

I applied for my state pension by phone back in February. No problem, everything went fine and the helpful lady said they'd send me conformation my post. After my 66th birthday I still hadn't received any confirmation so I e-mailed the IPC and around 5 days later got a reply saying that everything was fine and they'd sent the confirmation to me on March 3rd. At the end of June my first full four-week pension payment was made and it seemed about right, a bit more than I'd expected if anything, but I won't query that. Yesterday, July 7th, the confirmation letter from DWP, supposedly sent on March 3rd, finally arrived, it took a bit over 4 full months to get here.

 

This agrees with other recent experiences mentioned here of post from DWP taking four months to arrive in Thailand, and it makes the Proof of Life system both ludicrous and impossible to comply with if they cut off your pension 16 weeks after sending the certificate. I'm going to send them a polite e-mail pointing this out, and I'd suggest that anyone else who's had this experience should do the same. They won't pay much attention to just one complaint, but a dozen or more saying the same thing might get them to take a bit of notice and move from the very slow Low Countries postal service they're using now.

gUDERIAN 
I can assure you many have let them know for sure ad bad enough it is frozen, unless many are giving a false UK address  but also a very active member of the various pension groups of ll pension issues and over 20 years and the barbaric frozen pensio issues and yes before May 2023 my paltry pension was always credited on the due date to my Thai bank account and then blaming the banks for over  weeks delay.
How we despise these 650 so-called public servants and financial institutions.

[elfpattaya]

On 7/9/2023 at 2:09 PM, elfpattaya said:

I have just e-mailed Mel Stride, which I then had to contact another department??

I have just had a reply not to helpful, I'm ducking out now I get my pension and don"t want to get too involved with them.

 

I am afraid my team cannot help with this as we have no access to personal data.

 

Please resubmit your enquiry giving your full name, address and date of birth to – [email protected]

 

I am sure colleagues there will be able to assist.

 

Department for Work and Pensions

 

 

[Muhendis]

On 6/18/2023 at 12:42 PM, Liverpool Lou said:

"Thailand Post strikes again".

Perhaps Royal Mail struck again, TP is generally very reliable unless you chose to live out in the sticks.

In that case the whole Thailand must be "out in the sticks".