Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 21:19:21 GMT

Thanks for all your suggestions. I'll find a way and it certainly helps to have some intelligent in put and support. Nil carborundum illegitimati as my Dad used to say

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Bob Russell — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:49:29 GMT

[quote user="Anthony Dennison"]

What about the pre-paid visa credit cards, a-la travel money cards?

[/quote]

They don't impact on or assist your credit score so not much use except for travelling or hiding your spending!

Difficult to get round the DWP problem if a credit card is inappropriate. Worth a rant at them on the phone!

A non-mobile relative had a credit card with the carer as an additional cardholder so she could do the shopping. Clearly only appropriate if you trust the cardholder.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Anthony Dennison — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 14:44:03 GMT

What about the pre-paid visa credit cards, a-la travel money cards?

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Hannah Wynne Richards — Tue, 02 Jun 2015 10:35:26 GMT

I think you can get credit cards with a very low credit limit.

Wynne

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 19:15:50 GMT

I'm a bit loathe to get him a credit card as it took a while for him to realise that to get money out of the hole in the wall you had to put some in by other means.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Simo — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 18:15:44 GMT

I applied for some tax scheme recently on the HMRC and apparently the ID required is a UK driving licence or ID card and a credit card, I felt a real weirdo. (but this could be an hint for those who want to pay less taxes, try to change citizenship and get rid of the credit card and see if you manage to disappear to them )

Anyway back to the original post, it's disgraceful that they ask this from people potentially unable to manage their own finances.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Bob Russell — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 17:59:54 GMT

[quote user="Clare Tapsfield-Wright"]The ironic thing is that the DWP know he exists because he has a job and gets disability living allowance but to access the online service Experian need to confirm his identity for some bizarre reason so that they can tell DWP that he exists which DWP know already ! Bonkers waste of time and money and my blood pressure

[/quote]

Experian have an almost instant system for identification which reduces identity theft. Probably just a cheap way for DWP to reduce on-line risks without having to do any work.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Bob Russell — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 17:54:47 GMT

Everyone should have a credit card, use it once a month and pay off at the end of each month. Those with sparse credit information will magically get a good credit score within a very short time. Tick the boxes to prevent multiple offers of further credit cards!

Another clincher is to have a landline number to put on the application. Just as when buying a puppy it shows a degree of permanence that a mobile does not! Credit checks related to mobile phone accounts stand for nothing with the credit agencies!

I had to provide detailed ID when I bought my Skoda and the sales manager was my 'ex' brother in law!

(Most of the idiocies revolve round a bank's 'duty of care' whatever that means!)

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Hannah Wynne Richards — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 17:28:18 GMT

The craziest bit of ludicrous bureaucracy I've experienced was the last time I changed my car. I bought it on HP, so the car dealer needed an ID. Fair enough you might think, except I went to school with him! His 1st grandchild had been born a few weeks earlier, so he had a certain amount of teasing along the line of senility setting in with grandfatherhood.

Wynne

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Wren — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 15:51:36 GMT

Ditto my husband when we tried to get our first mortgage. Having been through vet school I, of course, had a credit history as long as your arm. He had one bank account/card, no switch facility, no overdraft, no credit card and had virtually never bought anything (farmer, working for his father). Add to that that he was virtually self-employed and you could see them getting their bargepoles out before we even got through the door.

In the end we had to go for a smaller mortgage and do it in my name alone. Which was ironic, as I was the one with all the debt, whereas he had a 30% deposit and a healthy bank account. We set about getting him a bit of credit history and successfully got a joint mortgage when we remortgaged a few years later. I quite enjoyed talking about 'my house' for the first few years though...

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

ruths — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 14:35:18 GMT

[quote user="Simo"]

Thanks Bob, I'll try one of those. It's annoying though, that the system forces people to get in the debt mechanism for the most ridiculous reason. (I sound very much like an hippie/punk/anarchic, ranting about the b$#%&d system).

[/quote] I hear ya sista

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 14:28:59 GMT

Write to the responsible Minister, if you can raise the energy.

And, your son could get himself a credit card and then throw it away as soon as he's got the online access.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Simo — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 14:26:29 GMT

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:41:32 GMT

The ironic thing is that the DWP know he exists because he has a job and gets disability living allowance but to access the online service Experian need to confirm his identity for some bizarre reason so that they can tell DWP that he exists which DWP know already ! Bonkers waste of time and money and my blood pressure

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Bob Russell — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:33:10 GMT

Try Capital One. Very high APR and low limit so not to be used as a credit card but will help build a credit profile. They refuse very few (90% acceptance)!

I have advised one of my staff to do this but to set it up to pay everything each month. She went via Money Expert and was accepted quickly. There are other cards with fantastically high APR's that do the same thing but absolutely must not be used for borrowing!!

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Simo — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 13:28:24 GMT

All my sympathy. I'm pretty much in the same situation (not with DWP) with close to no credit score just because I never felt the need for going into debt, and now having problems accessing good investment deals. I suppose I'll keep my money if banks don't want it.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Bob Russell — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 12:53:38 GMT

The system is rubbish. The purpose of DWP should be to assist and pressurise appropriate, to get people working.

Unless someone has actually seen the DWP at work they do not appreciate just how cr*p it is. My sister in law had a terrible time and met with racist bullying. No help at all. She had escaped from a nasty domestic situation and was left with zero self-confidence. DWP reduced her to tears on so many occasions that I stepped in and accompanied her to 'interviews'. Formal complaints did end up with a change of caseworker but thankfully she found work with my wife.

The system should not be rubbish. It should not cost more to help someone into work as it does to bully them out of claiming!

Even the paper they use for letters is specially poor, reminded me of izal bogroll!

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

ruths — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 11:21:34 GMT

[quote user="Bob Russell"]

He will have a credit rating. He has a bank account and that alone will involve the credit rating agencies.

This is a lazy way of checking identity and is entirely inappropriate for a government department. DWP (in my experience) are a useless bunch of wasters with a few good staff struggling with the worst IT system in the world.

One letter will tell you to go to some meeting or other and a second one will tell you not to. Then you will automatically receive a 'sanction' for not turning up. The foul, almost unemployable person the other side of the desk will let you know that is how it works. They will give you a form to appeal and this might or might not be processed. In the meantime you have severely reduced benefit though no fault of your own. Wynne will be happy with this one!

[/quote]

there are others who will just call it an accpetable causaulty of the system..

It's a really rubbish system...

i hope it gets sorted soon, Clare.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Mark Hedberg — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 11:04:36 GMT

I remember when i first came to the UK I had no credit rating - had a good rating in other countries, but i'd never lived in the UK so couldn't get the time of day here. It was funny when my bank cold called me to ask why I didn't have a credit card with them; hilarious to reply deadpan "because you turned me down, why do you ask?"

It's instilled some good habits, though; i hardly ever buy anything on payment plans anymore and it's done wonders for avoiding that old 'cash crunch' at the end of the month. Still not rich but nice to have more predictable finances.

Cheers,

Mark

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Bob Russell — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 09:30:51 GMT

He will have a credit rating. He has a bank account and that alone will involve the credit rating agencies.

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

ruths — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 07:50:21 GMT

Hoop as in bum ( was that too rude??)

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 01:15:01 GMT

Errrgh.....

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Evelyn Barbour-Hill — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 00:59:23 GMT

[quote user="ruths"]I've been using the phrase 'up your hoop' recently. It feels quite good to say it out loud in these circumstances -))[/quote]

I like it. What does it mean? (Just hint, if it's too rude for a family forum)

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

ruths — Sun, 31 May 2015 21:11:35 GMT

I've been using the phrase 'up your hoop' recently. It feels quite good to say it out loud in these circumstances -))

Re: Rant re bureaucracy , ignore if you like

Clare Tapsfield-Wright — Sun, 31 May 2015 19:59:05 GMT

Crazy. I got out my quill pen and used snail mail