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MR notice containing no reference to legislation whatsoever
I have helped someone who was paid ‘early’ at Christmas and therefore 2 pays in one month affected her UC when in fact she is monthly paid … as per court ruling …. with an MR
The MRN is extremely poor. It contains no reference to the UC regulations on earnings whatsoever. It contains only this sentence to support the SoS argument:
‘However these regulations do allow for reassessment where the information received from HMRC is not considered accurate or timely’
Is this normal for an MRN in UC? What an utter waste of the MR process which is supposedly an opportunity for a Decision Maker to actually consider your argument in relation to the law!
Plus ca change.
I can still hear the person at Rhyl Benefits Agency back in 1990 putting their hand over the phone and yelling to their colleagues “Hark at this. This bloke from the the Citizens Advice Bureau is quoting the law. What’s the law got to do with benefits?”.
Decision notices did used to contain legal references though Mike!
Yes it is! Assuming they produce an actual MRN. Negating the need to bypass etc etc by citing the relevant mantra i.e. reg 7 (5) etc etc and case law and appealing direct to HMCTS.
I know Justin Tomlinson was cited as saying they will make MR’s meaningful and the stuff that has been apparently happening with PIP (sadly it passed me by, but in my defence i think it was the euphoria of Torquay winning Conference South and breaking the record for the highest ever record crowd in that division against Hungerford Town on Monday).
Erm moving on back to Justin Tomlinson it was pretty much same old same old stuff we’ve all heard before from his many predecessors! “But nothing has changed” to borrow his colleague’s catch phrase!
MR’s whether UC or otherwise at the best of times are a gateway exercise (the worst a positively obstructive exercise). Then there is the amount of ESA and PIP MR’s treated as ‘white mail’ i.e. not actioned that we then have to spend precious time and resources chasing up spending e.g. Tuesday over an hour on the phone before it was answered. Just makes a bad process even worse.
Then there is UC….....................If Laura ever fancies a scrap MR’s policy idea or debate or whatever as long as the theme is to scrap them. She has the support of this tiny town Welf!
Decision notices did used to contain legal references though Mike!
Yes, they did but the reality was that the law cited was often meaningless and often wrong e.g. citing the legislation which allows you to make a DLA claim rather than the legal basis for recoverability of an overpayment of DLA. Citing reported Commissioners decision which were relevant but which had been selective and ignored subsequent decisions which came to the opposite conclusion.
A reversion to what used to happen is not what needs to happen here.
... but in my defence i think it was the euphoria of Torquay winning Conference South and breaking the record for the highest ever record crowd in that division against Hungerford Town on Monday).
Working on the assumption that Wrexham AFC will not make it past the first of the sudden death play off games next week we look forward to welcoming you back to the National League.
... but in my defence i think it was the euphoria of Torquay winning Conference South and breaking the record for the highest ever record crowd in that division against Hungerford Town on Monday).
Working on the assumption that Wrexham AFC will not make it past the first of the sudden death play off games next week we look forward to welcoming you back to the National League.
Thanks Mike its been very emotional!
Is this normal for an MRN in UC? What an utter waste of the MR process which is supposedly an opportunity for a Decision Maker to actually consider your argument in relation to the law!
You actually got an MRN? I had an MR request “cancelled” by a case manager - I did then get a proper MRN with law and everything but only after threatening JR.
In the interests of fairness I will say I then got an immaculate MRN for a different UC client with everything which was not in the decision notice correctly covered. That may have been because it was also for a Deputyship client with exactly the same issue so possibly they learned from the first one?
Not a widespread learning experience clearly.
Is this normal for an MRN in UC? What an utter waste of the MR process which is supposedly an opportunity for a Decision Maker to actually consider your argument in relation to the law!
You actually got an MRN? I had an MR request “cancelled” by a case manager - I did then get a proper MRN with law and everything but only after threatening JR.
In the interests of fairness I will say I then got an immaculate MRN for a different UC client with everything which was not in the decision notice correctly covered. That may have been because it was also for a Deputyship client with exactly the same issue so possibly they learned from the first one?
Not a widespread learning experience clearly.
‘You actually got an MRN? I had an MR request “cancelled” by a case manager’
We have seen that too!
Yes indeed - now seen a few times ‘You cant have an MR because the decision is right how it is’ … and you cant have an MR because we have already sent you a paragraph from our guidance which explains our decision
Then there is UC….....................If Laura ever fancies a scrap MR’s policy idea or debate or whatever as long as the theme is to scrap them. She has the support of this tiny town Welf!
Please contribute your ideas to Labour Party policy review on the whole social security system!
https://policyforum.labour.org.uk/commissions/work/rebuilding-a-just-social-security-system
Then there is UC….....................If Laura ever fancies a scrap MR’s policy idea or debate or whatever as long as the theme is to scrap them. She has the support of this tiny town Welf!
Please contribute your ideas to Labour Party policy review on the whole social security system!
https://policyforum.labour.org.uk/commissions/work/rebuilding-a-just-social-security-system
Thanks for the response Sarah!