Left High and Dry by A2W

Arrived home to a letter from DWP Belfast. Confirmation of my A2W payment I guessed. After all A2W owes me over £1100 for October and just below £900 for November.

I guessed wrong. Instead a JCP form telling me that A2W cannot pay me as my funding ran out on 26/09/2014. The date they received the A2W support worker claim was 11/11/2014; yet the date the decided to send me this ‘reminder’ was almost a month later, 08/12/2014.

On September 26 I called A2W to enquire about a late payment and to ask how I would need to go about getting a three-yearly review. In the first instance I was told the late payment should arrive in my account the following week, and that my review had taken place in August and A2W would fund me for a further 3-years.

Today’s letter totally floored me. On calling A2W it was explained that my A2W funding had run out on 26/09/2014. According to A2W they had called my mobile phone twice on 08/10/2014 and once on 09/10/2014.

Yet they left no messages; try me on my landline; leave a message on my landline; phone me at work; leave a message on my work phone; email to either my work or home email addresses both of which they have.

No, instead they waited a further two months and then sent me a letter. Thanks A2W. Your efforts to contact me were absolutely heroic. The pains you went to contact me barely register on the ‘I-can’t-be-fucking-arsed-to-bother-ometer’, which believe me is a takes some fucking stooping to achieve.

The soulless person I spoke to could only inform me that an assessor would contact me sometime up to 22 December. Not a lot of leeway this side of Christmas if they miss the bus into work; or go under with stress.

So, I’m £2K+ short. Come the end of the month I have a wages bill in excess of £2200; by the middle of January HMRC will be sharpening its beak and looking in my direction for the best part of 3 grand!

Looks like I’m up to my chin in the doo-doos; and I can’t feel anything solid underfoot.