Putting things right: complaints and learning from DWP - the ...

On 10 May 2007 the Agency sent a letter to Mr T
requesting maintenance of £135 (there was no
indication for which period or for which parent
with care this payment related to). Mr T made
the payment on 11 May. On 29 May he emailed
the Agency asking why they had not replied to
his correspondence or sent him a new payment
schedule. Ms A telephoned the Agency on 9 June
and was told that they had not received any
maintenance from Mr T. Mr T told us that Ms A
accused him of failing to pay and reduced his
contact with his daughter that week.
Mr T telephoned the Agency four times on
15 June 2007. In summary, he complained that the
Agency were demanding payment, not giving him
a payment schedule and not returning his calls.
His requests to speak to a supervisor during these
calls were refused. On 17 June Mr T sent an email
of complaint to the Agency’s Senior Resolutions
Manager. He said his calls had not been returned
and that staff had been obstructive. On 25 July
Mr T wrote a letter of complaint to the Agency. He
said they had not replied to his emails, and that the
£135 payment had all been paid to Ms A and had
not been split with Ms B. On 27 July Mr T received
a letter from the Agency requesting payments
for 18 June and 19 July, which did not make clear
which parent with care the payments related to.
Mr T telephoned the Agency, and was told that
the letter was wrong and a new payment schedule
would be sent out.
On 10 August 2007 Mr T sent another email, further
to a telephone call from the Agency informing
him that they had sent his payroll details to an
unknown party. He complained that the officer
had refused to give further details. He asked what
information had been released, and whether the
Agency were trying to enforce a deduction from
earnings order on his employer. On 13 August the
Agency confirmed to Mr T that they had been
trying to place a deduction from earnings order,
and were investigating the data protection breach.
On 14 August the Agency sent Mr T a revised
payment schedule. He owed arrears to Ms A,
which he paid, but on 5 September the Agency
telephoned him chasing the payment. (During
the call the Agency realised that Mr T had paid
the arrears but that they had incorrectly split the
payment between Ms A and Ms B.) Mr T emailed
the Senior Resolutions Manager to complain. On
7 September the Agency told Mr T that as the
mistake was theirs, they would pay the remaining
arrears to Ms A.
On 10 September 2007 the Agency told Mr T
that an error by Royal Mail had led to the
disclosure of his personal details and that the
Information Commissioner had been informed. On
21 November Mr T sent the Agency what was his
eighth email of complaint, having been telephoned
about a maintenance payment that he had in fact
already paid. He also complained that he had not
received any information about the investigation
of the data protection breach. On 7 December the
Senior Resolutions Manager apologised to Mr T
for the poor service he had received. He said the
Agency were investigating his complaints and the
allocation of his payments. On 12 December Mr T
emailed the Senior Resolutions Manager to say
he was unhappy with the letter of 10 September
and to ask why the Agency had been pursuing a
deduction from earnings order.
What we investigated
Mr T complained to the Ombudsman in July 2007.
We investigated his complaints that:
• the Agency had tried to enforce a deduction
from earnings order when there were no arrears;
80 Putting things right: complaints and learning from DWP | March 2009