Bureaucracy Problem With Government Dept.

[ro2124]

I am currently doing battle with British bureaucracy which unfortunately I am losing at the moment.
Basically story is like this. I am an ex paratrooper and was discharged from the forces after a serious parachute accident. I have received a pension in compensation and this has been paid for many years without problems.
In fact the pension is in two parts. One paid by the Veterans Agency and the other part by an organisation called Equiniti Paymaster , which I think is the old Paymaster General which probably has been privatised now.
And of course anything privatised in UK is usually an utter shambles!
The problem started a few months ago when I changed bank accounts after moving abroad and my bank account is now with a major bank in Prague, Czech Republic.
And the new account is actually in Pounds Sterling which should make things easier, one would have thought.
I then wrote to both organisations to request my pension be paid into this new account from now, which I would have thought is a relatively simple matter by electronic bank transfer as before.
And in fact the Veterans Agency did this without any problems at all and I have been receiving payments from them for three months now.
However that other bunch at Equiniti Paymaster, have caused me nothing but problems.
They said we cannot pay pensions into bank accounts in Europe by electronic transfer!
I said are you serious? This is the 21st century in Europe and you cannot do a simple bank transfer? (Perhaps someone forgot to tell them we have been in the EU since 1973)
Unbelievable!
So after weeks and weeks of fruitless email exchanges, they finally said well under the circumstances we can do it now, so thought Hooray, problem finally solved! Hah. I should have known bloody better!
I informed them that I have an account in pounds sterling which should be a simple matter and what did they say? Sorry, we can’t pay you in pounds it has to be in Czech Krona.
I said look, my account is in Pounds, not bloody Krona.
But they won’t budge and refuse to pay, saying they can not pay in pounds.
I said are you people serious? You are a major government organisation in a country which has the Pound as its currency and you’re trying to tell me you cannot do a simple electronic bank transfer to a major European bank in pounds to another pound account?
Frankly I am speechless!
What makes it even more irritating is that the Veterans Agency had no problems with this whatsoever, but these idiots cannot seem to manage the most simple basic services.
Christ, bank transfers have been around for decades and decades and they can’t manage it in 2015 - and in pounds which makes it even more ridiculous.
Maybe I have accidentally wandered into a Monty Python sketch or something I don’t know, but I am at my wits end!
This has been going on for months and months and they stubbornly refuse to pay the pension I am entitled to.
First its, Oh we we can’t pay you by electronic transfer, then its OK we can now, but we can not pay in pounds...as I said Monty Python job!
I am at my wits end with these people and it is now causing me some serious financial problems and I may even end up losing my property, because of these dimwits.
Any advice on this from anyone, who has had similar bureaucrat problems would be welcome!

[ro2124]

@bednobs

>i am not trying to be rude or obtuse.

OK fair enough, nor was I :-) so lets forget it...and I
promise not to *** any more :-)

>If they can't change their way of paying, then you have to change your way >of receiving

Yes perhaps but can you not see the irony. A Government Dept in a country which has Pounds as currency, says sorry we cant pay you in pounds?

and in any case they have not been truthful. First they informed me they can not pay at all by transfer, then after pressuring them suddenly its Ah we can actually, but not in pounds.
and to this day I have not received a reply from them as to why their counterparts at the Veterans Agency which is part of the Military pension payment structure, can do it but they can not, they simply ignore that question every time I ask for explanation.

[bednobs]

why should they have to comment on how other agencies can pay you? The fact is they cant do it as you want it done, so you probably have to change the way you want it done

[ro2124]

well you may see it that way I do not! Especially as they already were economical with the truth, saying at first they cant do it at all and then suddenly they can but in other currency. Looks to me like can, but wont.
In my experience certain type of Bureaucrats like putting obstacles in peoples way, its their reason for existence, it keeps them in employment.
Not all of course, but some!

And the reason I questioned why they cant do it and other agencies can was after they told me " well we provide the same services as our counterpart agencies" which is patently not true!

[fiction-factory]

Good luck. I trust you are putting all these points to them and that the chance to let off steam on here has helped focused your thinking on how to tackle this

[ro2124]

@fiction-factory
>Good luck.....

Ok thanks Yeah one did get a bit rattled about this, but when you are thousands of miles away and in a foreign country and get the usual cant do answers from bureaucrats, it is very frustrating.Well they budged half way from cant do at all, to foreign currency, so maybe can push them all the way to pay in pounds. Actually contacted a Services Support Organisation and they agree its a pretty ludicrous situation, especially given the fact that the other agency dealing with pension can do it. They said they will take up the matter on my behalf.

[Peter Pedant]

I thought I got a pension from Equiniti
and today I had a letter from them

and they say that the 1995 Pension Act obliges them to have an internal result procedure (IDR) which is a two stage procedure

So there is an Equiniti Paymaster complaints procedure
and Hooray the extra Internal Dispute resolution
and then and then the Pensions Ombudsman

and advice is available from the Pensions advisory Service TPAS at their website www.pensionsadvisoryservice.org.uk

EquinitiPaymaster is at Sutherland Hse, Russell Way Crawley
W Sx RH10 1 UH

Pensions Ombudsman is 11 Belgrave RD., London SW1V 1RB

Remember it is hierarchical so you should do Equiniti first, IDR, and then the Pension Ombudsman - well that should keep you off the streets of Prague for a few weeks !

[fiction-factory]

Good detective work there, PeterPedant, although it's the beaches of the Caribbean though rather than the streets of Prague that he'll be kept off for a while

[ro2124]

thanks for the extra info. And it will take more than a few "jobsworth" bureaucrats to keep me off the beach :-)

Actually had another explanation from them apparently doing what I ask may incur "additional processing costs and administration", oh dear, we cant have that.
Which I suspected all along, its not they cant provide the service but they wont!
So my guess is the old Paymaster General has been privatised and is now run by Equinity. That is UK of today- service and helping people forget it! Its about profit for the shareholders and screw everyone else.
Guess the Veterans Agency is still a public service then, as they had no problems with the matter.

[themas]

If it wasn't for the fact that you've had no trouble getting the Vet Agency to do it, I would be inclined to agree with the people who are saying you should accept whatever Equiniti say they can do. But I agree with you - if one organisation can do it then the other should be able to.

Have you told Equiniti the Vet Agency has done it without any problem? If not I suggest you do so and ask them to contact the Vet Agency to find out how to do it. If you have and they are still adamant, I can only suggest going to your MP.

[bednobs]

i would guess that he doesn't have an MP if he is not a uk resident?

[ro2124]

Well thought we finally got there. They said OK we cant do an electronic transfer, but we can send a cheque every month- Yes I thought, very modern in the electronic age!
So, thought OK as long as I get the money no problem.Ha, ha, I should have known better!
So bank gets cheque and says sorry we cant accept that cheque you have to be here to sign it into account. Yeah great, I’ll just jump on the next bus from Carribean to Prague then, shall I !
So back to Eqinty- Well bank should be able to accept cheque.
Bank- Oh No, we cant
Equiniti- Oh Yes, you can
Bank- Oh No, we cant

For F*** sake, its like a bloody pantomime!!

None of these dimwits seem to have clue what the hell they are doing.

In the end I just had enough and give them each others Email address and said right, you bloody sort it out amongst yourselves.

So at the moment they are arguing among themselves as to who is right- whilst chummy here still has no prospect getting paid after months and months.
Christ, its a good thing the military is not run by such fools, we would have lost every war without a doubt!!

[fiction-factory]

Thanks for the update.
I can't help feeling there must be ways round this which either involving changing bank, having the money paid to somewhere other than Prague or maybe just living with having the money in a Czech bank account in the local currency, but you clearly like a challenge and are very determined so I hope you keep us informed of your progress

[ro2124]

>I can't help feeling there must be ways round this

With reasonable people yeah, with bureaucrats,.. Nope, not so easy.

>which either involving changing bank,

Easier said than done these days, actually tried opening account in Caribbean, but another bureaucrat nightmare, all kinds of references, local sponsor who must be citizen here,etc.

>having the money paid to somewhere other than Prague or maybe just living >with having the money in a Czech bank account in the local currency,

As I said not possible, its Pound account. Many banks now offer various currency accounts and opted for pounds at the time, as pension was in pounds which seemed logical, little realising the bureaucratic nightmare about to descend upon one. Also have one in Dollars, but its not local currency so thats out.

>But you clearly like a challenge and are very determined so I hope you keep >us informed of your progress

Yeah challenges are OK, but rather not with mindless "rules are rules" Jobsworths, thats not a challenge just a frustrating pain in the ass.

All this crap could have been avoided, if they behaved like the Veterans agency who solved the problem in a couple of days. As for their reasoning it may incur costs,etc- Well with all the man hours spent trying to screw around with this for weeks and sending cheques by post abroad, etc, one would have thought sending an electronic transfer would have been far cheaper ...but then reasoning and common sense dont work with these types- Just rigid Rules!

Or in the words of the brilliant John Cleese as Basil in The Germans episode "Orders, Orders which must be obeyed at all times without question" :-)

[whiskeryron]

ro2124. I think most of us on here are on your side mate. Sorry if you've tried this but worth a try . Ron.

http://www.bcbtci.com/personal_international.html

[ro2124]

yeah thanks for that. In fact had considered opening International account in places like Jersey,etc.
But as I said its not as easy as it used to be, still searching around for best option. Shall look into that link you mentioned, thanks.

Another reason it is difficult to open account outside are the postal services here in Caribbean which are quite appalling. if any documents need to be sent or received, in the process of setting up account, chances are the mail would not arrive.
The local post office I where I live (small beach resort town) is a standing joke among ExPats. In fact they do not do deliveries at all.
To get mail you have to go there in person, say the street you live in- and the woman there comes up with a pile of mail for the whole bloody street and you have to sift through the whole pack to see if there is one with your name on it.
I kid you not!
Estimate is 80% of mail never arrives and is lost- or quite likely stolen.
Way most of us get round it, is by using courier services. Mail gets delivered to PO Box in Miami, then sent by courier to here collected from courier office Is fairly reliable but horrendously expensive of course.

[bednobs]

well that's some progress at least - getting them to agree to payment by cheque, get it issued and sent to prague all in less that a week is very impressive!

[fiction-factory]

Good progress I agree. Once you've sorted this out maybe you could sort out the postal system in the Caribbean- it sounds dreadful

[whiskeryron]

If you don't mind me asking mate why did you opt to settle in the Caribbean ?

[ro2124]

@Fiction-factory
>Once you've sorted this out maybe you could sort out the postal system in >the Caribbean- it sounds dreadful

Dreadful? Non-existent more like :-)
When I say Caribbean its actually Dominican Republic dont know what the other Islands are like, Haiti next door which shares this Island, is probably worse.
Well, it’s the way things are in these places you just have to adapt. They have no concept of reliability or time, if you arrange to meet someone they are often 2-3 hours late or do not come at all, time means nothing in these places, everything is laid back and “tomorrow”.

It will take the Almighty to sort out this postal system and even he will probably fail :-)

Like I said no Expat uses the postal service here, we all use couriers, expensive but at least mail has a chance of arriving.
They can’t manage water or electric very well either, taps are often dry several times during day and most of the night after 10 PM, although power cuts have been getting better of late, usually once a week on a Tuesday now.
But on the plus side its sunny all year round, a nice beach 10 minutes walk away -and one thing I really appreciate, is the,absence of the “surveillance society” as in UK .
Still have a sense of freedom here, can leave the house without some bloody camera following my every move or car number plates being scanned to see where I drive.
And the local police force are most obliging, if you have a problem, give them some $ and they go away :-)

[ro2124]

@whiskeryron
>If you don't mind me asking mate why did you opt to settle in the Caribbean ?

Yeah sure, no problem.
As I said in other post to be more accurate, its actually Dominican Republic.
Well long story really, after leaving airborne forces could not settle down, which many ex-servicemen find.
Actually reading some UK newspapers on-line in the recent past, seems many Veterans end up in jail or homeless.
Well I took a different route, I missed the adventure so I thought what the hell. I packed my bags and went on one of these round the world trips, started in London-India-Sri Lanka-Thailand-New Zealand -Hawaii-San Francisco-London.
After that got hooked on travel and have not stopped since.Also lived in various countries and had business in a couple, like Prague .... and Bucharest, Romania not long after the fall of Ceausescu, when there were not many foreigners there... Now that was a crazy place, talk about the Wild East...but what an experience :-) Never a dull moment as they say :-)

Anyway back to present, main reason I ended up here, is the lifestyle, everything easy going and relaxed and as I said in other post, the absence of the crazy surveillance society being watched 24 hours a day like in UK.
That is not what I served for, we defended freedom -apparently- but now it’s all gone isn’t it.Big Brother is watching you ,as the old saying goes.

The place here with its nightlife can also be a bit naughty.. well you know beach resorts, especially when full of Gringos :-) I will leave it to your imagination :-)

But there is also another reason which is the main advantage of DR. It is probably the easiest place to stay for long term anywhere in the world. Most countries only give you three months or so, like for example Thailand you have to leave the country every couple of months or so to get a new Visa at an embassy in another country, which gets kind of expensive and time-consuming.
But in DR, completely different ..well officially you get 30 days, but after that they don’t really give a sh** how long you stay. Technically you will be illegal of course, but they don’t really care, I know people who have been here for 5 years without any hassle, in most countries they would put you in jail for that!

But of course when you eventually do leave DR there will be a problem at the airport...

"Well Mr.Smith you have a 30 day tourist card and you’ve been here 2 years!" ...Oops, Sorry officer, doesn’t time fly :-)

But they have a sensible solution here, they don’t arrest you or hassle you, they just calculate how much you have overstayed by and then fine you a certain amount of money on a sliding scale, depending on the time overstayed
Its not that much, for a year about 55 US Dollars, which is a damn sight cheaper than having to leave the country every few months for new Visa like most other places...so a pretty good deal all round.

So hope I have answered your question :-)