Hi,

Not sure if this is just me or if anyone else has come across this but The Pension Service seem to be taking a long time in processing new claims.

I have three clients who will all qualify for Pension Credit (Savings Credit). All three clients (with my help) completed and submitted application forms in August.

None of the three have heard a thing about the claims. I have contacted the Pension Service on behalf of these clients and they have confirmed the claims were recieved in August but would not give any indication as to when the claims would finally be processed.

Other than making a complaint, is there anything I can do to help get these claims assessed and in payment for my clients? Are there any regulations similar to those in the HB/CTB Regs which say how quickly a claim should be processed?

Any help / comments gratefully received

Cheers

John

Swansea Pension Centre covers my area. Currently new claims are taking 90 days to process and they are dealing with 1000 new claims per week. Targets are to clear applcations in 15 working days. So if your pension centre is like this I think you have reason to complain.
I would start protesting now . My experience suggests that if a claim is anything other than very straightforward e.g. no mortgage it will sit in a pile and can wait until someone really shouts.

We wrote to Terry Moran the Chief Executive of Pension Service about some unacceptable delays on cases.That got a swift response from the Pension Centre Manager. In one case they made a Special Payment as compensation. At that time old cases were 41+ days old so things have gone downhill since then!

It may be worth making contact with your local Pension Service team to ascertain how you can access the escalation route.

If your compalints are not dealt with satisfactorily you can contact Independant Case Examiner who looks at the service provided but not case law or government policy. 0845 606 0777