BAS Newsletter: March 2017

BAS Update

Kia Ora, we are still open every weekday from 9:30am to 2/2:30pm. It is best to call us first if you are able or you can email us if you prefer (or contact us via facebook, but this generally has a slower turn-around time). You can find us in CCH, 301 Tuam St. We do our best to help everyone who comes to us. Please let us know how we did; we have a survey monkey link we can send to our clients to report back about our service.

In this newsletter we include a personal story about a client to give an example of the work we do and show a reality of life on a benefit.

We look at how to proceed if you don’t like a decision of or treatment by Work and Income and we print here, for your convenience, their Service Charter (this has been popular information in the past and so we are including it again this month).

We would like to know: how are you finding myMSD? If you are having problems, please let us know the specifics of what is wrong (preferably by email), as we are then more likely to be able to resolve these issues. Are you being told you have to apply for benefits online? This is not true. They would prefer that, but paper applications can still be taken.

Please feel free to let us know if your casemanager (and office) is good or bad, and/or whether you have been turned away by a security guard

Jessica’s Story

Jess moved to Christchurch after getting away from her violent ex-partner. This was an extremely scary process for her, as she had to initially leave her children there and it took help from the police to get them out.

Once settled in a house, Jess went in to Work and Income to sort out her benefits. She was accompanied by a police officer, representative from Women’s Refuge and her three children. She was given many forms to fill in and was told that this was everything she needed to do to go on the sole parent benefit and re-establish her supplementary benefits as they had been previously (she had lost these in the process of getting her children away from her ex). She obviously believed what she had been told and assumed she was getting all the benefits she was entitled to. These included main benefit, accommodation supplement, disability allowance (DA) for herself and her son Tristan*, Child Disability Allowance for Tristan and Temporary Additional Support. However, she was eligible for child disability allowance (CDA) and disability allowance for one of her daughters (Hannah*) too. This information would have been clear from her file and we can only assume it was an oversight that these forms were missed out (or lost). Jessica was stressed out and distraught on this day and does not remember the details of which forms she filled in.

Over the next few years, Jess had battles in the family courts with her ex trying to make life more difficult for her. Work and Income were aware that these matters were going on as she kept them informed at her appointments. When asked to bring in information or renew a benefit, she dealt with them, but didn’t look for excuses to do so. Jess suffered with anxiety and found going into WINZ very stressful. She applied for a couple of foodgrants a year, but only when she really needed to.

She was still struggling with trying to pay all her costs, even with the Temporary Additional Support (TAS) payments as the medical costs of her children were very high (including special food costs due to allergies). One day when she saw her doctor, she recommended that Jess get a breakdown of her benefit to ensure she was receiving all her entitlements. It was at this point that the fact she was not receiving CDA or DA for her daughter Hannah was picked up. Finding it hard to cope with dealing with WINZ, she found beneficiary advocates on facebook and was referred to the local agency: Beneficiary Advisory Service (BAS) in Christchurch.

When she applied for the CDA & DA for Hannah, BAS advised her to review the startdate of these benefits. Given they had not been granted 2 years earlier with her other benefits, this was treated as an Out Of Time (OOT) Review. This means the Benefit Review Committee (BRC) meet to look at the issue of timing ONLY and not the substantive issue. Reviews are supposed to be applied for within 3 months of a decision (for example, a review to not grant a particular benefit). To hear the issue when it has been raised after this, the Committee look at whether there has been a good reason for the delay. A good reason is generally out of the control of the client rather than just they can’t be bothered! It has been known to include cases where the client was not fully informed of their rights, when they were out of the country, when they were sick or bereaved. In Jessica’s case, she reviewed this decision as soon as she knew there had been a mistake. This omission on behalf of Work and Income to not grant her CDA and DA for Hannah in 2014 was not picked up earlier due to the fact that Jessica’s life was so hectic with court and high-needs children (and her own health needs). With the help of Beneficiary Advisory staff, Jessica won this OOT Review. After that, instead of proceeding to the substantive review, Work and Income agreed to sort out the original issue and backdate the CDA. Jess received a lump sum payment of $5400, which really helped with the debts that had accrued from not having enough for her needs. BAS is still helping her with the DA issue.

* clients name and some identifying details have been changed to protect her privacy.

We also try to keep our readers up to date on other community groups who can help our clients. If you want to tell us about your group for this purpose, please get in touch with us by email with “newsletter” in the subject line, as we want the best for our clients!

Reviews, Complaints & Rights

If you don’t like what Work and Income (WINZ) are doing, there are several options open to you. If you take an option that doesn’t suit the problem, you are less likely to have a positive result, so we will try to outline the main options here:

1) If you think the decision WINZ made about you is lawfully wrong, you can review this decision to the Benefits Review Committee (BRC) (or, in many medical cases, to the Medical Appeals Board (MAB)). You need to review a decision within 3 months of it being made, so if you think this is the correct decision, we recommend you review it as soon as possible and, if you change you mind, you can always withdraw the review.

2) If this is more about the way you have been treated or issues of access to the office or your file, you can make a complaint. Though, if they have e.g. stopped you from applying for a benefit, then both 1 and 2 could be right option for you.

3) If you don’t like the law, it is unlikely that reviewing the decision or making a complaint is going to change it. The laws are set down by the Government so lobbying to them regarding changes in law is the main option open to you here. A Government sympathetic to the realities of life on a benefit would help here! (If you don’t like the current Government, don’t forget to vote later this year!)

There is an important distinction here between rights (which is more about how you are treated as a person) and entitlements (which is more about what benefits you are eligible for) but these issues can also be related in that bad treatment can often lead to a lack of benefit. Please see below and over outlining how you should be treated by WINZ staff.

Remember to apply if you think you might be eligible for any benefit, and review any decision you don’t agree with.

We are keen to hear from you if your benefit has been sanctioned, you have been put on a 13-week standdown or been declined Supported Living Benefit.

We can usually help you with these issues!

Work and Income Service Charter

Work and Income states that their role is to help people find work and to provide income support when it’s needed. Their Service Charter tells you what you can expect from them. It also tells you about your rights and how you can help so you get the best service. These are printed on the next page and can be found at:

https://www.workandincome.govt.nz/on-a-benefit/your-rights-and-responsibilities/our-service-charter.html

What you can expect from us

We will:

give you prompt and efficient service
let you know about our services and how we can help
give you information that is correct and easy to understand
give you the assistance you are entitled to
explain your rights and obligations
explain why we ask you to do certain things
listen carefully so we understand what you are telling us
be understanding and caring about your needs
be respectful, friendly and professional in the way we serve you
tell you who may be able to help if we can’t.

You have the right to:

be treated with courtesy and respect
cultural sensitivity
use any of our services
be given information about the services we offer
be given correct information and entitlements
be listened to
be given fair, non-judgemental service
have your information kept private and confidential
have any decisions we make explained to you
have a support person there whenever you deal with us
make a complaint or ask for a review if you disagree with us.

So that we can help, you need to:

give us the information we need to assess your entitlements
make sure any information you give us is correct
tell us about any changes in your situation
keep any agreements you have made with us
attend and be prepared for our meetings
tell us if you’re unable to keep an appointment
treat our staff with courtesy and respect.

As you can see, this also outlines the client obligations. We help you have found this informative ☺

Issues & Awareness of homelessness are increasing around the country, especially in areas like Christchurch. We can’t help everyone, but if you are residentially challenged due to a benefit problem, we may be able to help sort that out!

BAS is grateful for the assistance of

Lottery Grants Board
The Rātā Foundation
United Way
Community Organised Grants Scheme
CCC: Discretionary Grant
The Trusts Community Foundation
Lion Foundation
Mainland Foundation
Pub Charity
First Sovereign Trust Limited
Donations from Community
Our Volunteers and Staff

If you need our help, BAS is keen to hear from you. Just give us a ring, email, or pop in for a visit.

♥ Kia Kaha ♥

If you want information on any issues raised in this newsletter or any matter relating to benefits or poverty, please feel free to call us ☺ If there are other issues you want to see in these newsletters, please let us know.

To Contact BAS:

Office and Postal Address:

Christchurch Community House

301 Tuam St, Christchurch Central 8011

Phone: 03 379 8787

Email: bas.cprc@gmail.com

Website: bas.org.nz

Facebook: @BeneficiaryAdvisoryService

Office Hours:

9.30 am—2.30 pm Monday to Thursday

9:30am—2pm Friday