Bank’s Universal Credit delay means dilemma for single mum
This is the problem with a benefit that puts people too close to starvation.
When a fault at Clydesdale Bank meant her £410 Universal Credit payment was delayed by up to a week, single mum Megan Devine, of Glasgow, was left with no money to feed herself and her baby daughter Mairead, or to heat their home.
Her family can’t help as they don’t have any money to spare either.
It’s the kind of cock-up that puts lives at risk – for no reason.
Some might question how an 18-year-old woman has managed to get into such a situation in the first place – but it is not our place to sit in judgement on others. We don’t know the circumstances.
All we know is that the Tory-run system has failed another person in need, and the consequences could be catastrophic.
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I think it’s very easy for someone to get in that situation. When you are that poor, you really do live from one payment to the next. Every penny is accounted for, you know exactly how much you can spend on food etc, until the next payment comes through. There is rarely any wiggle room.
Exactly.
The DWP should be paying a penalty to the claimant for paying them late, credit card companies and other lenders do the same if you are late with payments. Personally I would like it to be £50 per week, or part of, so they are really hit where it hurts.
I have only ever had one late payment and told the DWP to issue it within 48 hours or it went to court, they tried the I had being paid routine but I replied with one sentence NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT OF PROSECUTION IN 24 HOURS. i WAS PAID THAT DAY. I got a letter saying that it had been an error on their system! BS more like someone had diverted my payment to their account.
I never let the DWP, or their third parties off the hook.
Why should the DWP pay a penalty for a Clydesdale Bank error?
Because it is the Tory-created system that caused the problem, by giving this woman too little on which to survive.
Had the bank dealt with the crediting of her payment correctly then she would not have had “too little on which to survive”. If my employer pays me by direct transfer into my bank account should they be held responsible if my bank fails to credit my account? No, and in this case the bank has admitted it is their error..
The point is that Universal Credit provides too little on which to survive – habitually. If a fault with one payment puts a person – and her baby! – close to starvation then it is not fit for purpose. That is the fault of the Conservative government as you know perfectly well.
Sorry Mike…I disagree. There may be cases of Universal Credit sometimes providing too little on which to survive but that is a different matter and it is not demonstrated here Had the Clydedale functioned properly then this issue would not have arisen.
No, this is not a different matter. The young lady concerned was left with too little on which to survive. State benefits should take unforeseen circumstances into account.
Are you saying everyone on state benefits should be paid more than they need each week just in case there is an unforseen circumstance?
People on state benefits are currently being paid less than they need. That is the problem. They should be paid enough.