A A Claim Form Not Received By Dwp

[dunnitall]

The DWP says it did not receive an application for Attendance Allowance, no record of it even though sent in envelope they provided it (though no guarantee I know). This is a second application btw. Having read a bit on line about them allegedly "losing correspondence and forms" as though it is part and parcel of how things go with them, they want to send another form to start again yet the date for the "lost" form has expired now for over a week so a new one would make it even a longer period for a decision to be made if starting from scratch.

Would it be feasible to send them a copy of the original form that has been lost and for them to carry on as though it's the original one or would a completely new application have to be made? I wonder if anyone else has experienced them losing claim forms and if so what experience they have of it.

[woofgang]

yes, when i was widowed, two departments needed the same original documents and I was told to send them to the department that needed them first with all the other docs. The first department would confirm the original docs were valid, return the docs to me and pass everything else on to the second department. I did this and the second department denied all knowledge. To be fair, they went to a lot of trouble to sort it out and get me what I was entitled to.
I think you will have to ask them about whether a copy of the original form is acceptable.

[black_cat51]

i don't think they will accept the first date. If you download the online forms they will take the date as today

[Dee Sa]

always, always send anything from the govt by recorded delivery then you have proper proof you sent it, and when they say you have not and you send them a photocopy of your recorded delivery receipt, you will be surprised how quickly they find it ! this is from experience.

[flump1]

I too had problems with their provided envelopes , inasmuch as when I returned a form in the said envelope , they had provided the wrong one! This only came to light a few weeks later.

[Canary42]

I totally endorse Dee Sa's advice. Sometimes you can get away with typing Recorded Delivery at the top of the letter as the envelope gets destroyed by the mailing department and the recipient department is fooled into thinking they can't "lose" it - but this is a bit risky as you won't be able to produce any evidence if it is really lost.

[postmanthe]

Further to Dee Sa's advice if you use Recorded Delivery you can use Royal Mail's Track and Trace, to see who signed for any item. You get a reference number on your Post Office reciept. Simples

[Peter Pedant]

oh, I always print out the original which I have scanned of course

and write copy on it

and a cover note saying I am re-submitting

You may have to appeal (yawn ) once you have got the award to get it back dated.

[dunnitall]

Thanks for all your advice, recorded delivery it is then. It wasn't sent recorded delivery because the first application went straight through and they acknowledged it within five days, so there wasn't a problem with that and it was assumed the second one would be the same. Moral of the story is never assume things when it comes to government departments eh? Annoying that the date has gone on the latest form and things have to be started all over again which is gutting when you think about it.

[Peter Pedant]

Your view should be that it HAS been submitted
but may not have arrived over which you have no control

in which case of course the dates for submission....

[dunnitall]

PP, that's what view is taken really because IMO the form is still valid but lost in their system I think. However, from what I have since read, they call the tune and the onus is on the person sending to prove it was sent and there isn't any on this form unfortunately.

Martine, yes of course they receive countless numbers of items daily but with the nature of the forms and all of it very personal data there should be more protection in place to try to prevent loss. However, again what I've read there seems to be a high number of items going astray and them never recovering the items which to me is bad form for what they are dealing with. IMO it seems a like a good deterrent to people applying for benefits.

[dunnitall]

Been informed it is okay to send a copy of the lost AA form, however because original one was pre-paid envelope there's no idea which address to send the copy to. Having looked at their site and the online form for printing and communications from them previously, there are about 4 or 5 different named departments all with different postcodes!! How on earth do you know which is the correct one especially as their pre-paid self addressed envelope didn't make it? Does anyone have the correct address please?