A Nottingham mum is in dispute with the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and says she is still waiting for her first cost of Living Payment months after it was due to be paid. The DWP claim that mum-of-two Sophie Dodsworth, 30, received the first payment in July, but a family bank statement appears to show that the payment was not made on or around the date stated by the Government department.
The payment was supposed to be paid to the same account as the family's Universal Credit payments, and Sophie fears she may not receive the second payment, which is due to be paid to recipients between November 8 and November 23, 2022.
Sophie said: "My partner has obviously put in the report for missing payment and they have not been back in touch, and it's stressing us out. I've got two kids under five and we should be entitled to something like these extra payments from the DWP but they are just not issuing it to us.
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"I've been phoning them and they are just sending me pillar to post and it's getting so stressful. We have been claiming benefits since 2019 and we have had no other missing payments through the Universal Credit.
"It's just getting to the point where I want someone to look into it." In a statement, a DWP spokesperson said: “We have confirmed to Ms Dodsworth that the cost of living payment was made on 18 July in to the same account Universal Credit is paid in to.
"We have contacted her to let her know that we will look in to her concerns and that to do so, we will need to see a full bank statement.” However, a digital bank statement which the family shared with Nottinghamshire Live appeared to show that they hadn't received the payment.
Sophie and her partner say they are currently in the process of receiving printed bank statements of the account, which she will be giving to Job Centre to send to the DWP. Sophie said: "I've spoken to DWP but my partner is still waiting for bank statements as his bank is still saying they have not received that payment. It's a waiting game as strikes have been happening with Royal Mail, so we are just waiting for his bank statements."
When asked about the DWP's next steps, Sophie added: "They say they will further investigate about why we have not received the payment." Sophie's mum, Jan Martin, added: "They have been passing her from pillar to post from HMRC, to DWP to the Job Centre.
"What I don't get is why hasn't she had it, why haven't they given it to her but given it to other people. She's been struggling, and me and my husband we are on low income ourselves and we have got our payment through no problems. This Universal Credit is a broken system, it is a broken system that does not work, especially when you have two young children."
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