UC Evidence Meeting

We got called to an evidence meeting 4 weeks ago. Our benefits had a payment blocker put on them. This meant we had no money. The reason given was because our total capital had reduced by £3000 over a period of one month. The money was spent on 3 appliances in the kitchen that failed and an additional payment to the mortgage company.

My wife attended on her own, as I am currently housebound.

The message we received in our journal said we needed to provide evidence of our savings and money for the last 3 months by providing bank statements.
I carefully prepared everything needed in digital form and downloaded them to my wife’s iPhone.

At the meeting the agent said digital files on a phone were not acceptable, as he could not view them effectively enough. Also, one of the statements did not show a running daily balance, so it was dismissed as unacceptable.

My wife was very upset and became over come with emotion. She called me after the meeting in a terrible state of anxiety and was hysterical . I was furious with the way in which the DWP agent had treated her. She felt belittled, embarrassed and vulnerable.

Another meeting was set up today. Now 23 days after we were supposed to have been paid. This time we were more prepared with paper copies of all or statements. I had to phone each bank and have them send these to us in the post.

At great effort, I managed to get into the car and struggle into the job centre with my wife. This time, after the agent had spent 30 minutes examining every statement with a host of questions, he said he was happy that the evidence provided showed that we had not deprived ourselves of capital.
We received our payment this afternoon, after much worry, anxiety and stress.

All of this could have been avoided if they had just asked us for receipts for the money spent. Very easily emailed across to them for an instant explanation of where and how the money had been spent.

I just hope we don’t have to go through this again.