Ingeus Harassment

[honeybee1233]

I'm a single parent of a wonderful 12yr old . I unfortunately became unwell & had to undergo the ordeal of claiming ESA. I failed the atos medical assessment, appealed & won only to have another atos medical assessment sent to me a few week later. Even though the GP & Medical professionals had written to say my recovery would take no less than a year the job centre was told by atos i would be better in less than 3mths! I was then referred to Ingeus.

 

Ingeus gave me forms to sign & I didn't sign any of them. The jobcentre gave Ingeus details of my address & phone numbers. I attended Ingeus only once every couple of months as they could see I was too unwell to work & two of the ingeus advisors kept deferring the work programme so i could get better.

 

Unfortunately those two advisors left & I was given a different advisor who has made my life hell. He has insisted that I have signed all the documents but I know i didn't as i have them in my possession unsigned. He called me 6 times a day every day (Mon-Fri) from September 2013 to Dec 2013 each time asking the same questions, even when i was in hospital he would call 6 times asking why i was still in hospital & sending me appointment letters & sanctioning me whilst I was in hospital.

 

I had had enough and asked my previous employer if he would give me some part time work & explained everything going on with Ingeus. He couldn't believe what i was going through so organised a lot i could do from home. Unfortunately due to my poor health i'm only earning £60 a week a lot less that what i was getting on ESA & sometimes I earnt nothing especially when in hospital & am now having to get prescription vitamins because In jan & feb I kept collapsing due to not eating properly as my son comes first for me to provide food. Thankfully I've been able to earn £60 a week every week from March so I'm making sure I eat as well now & its been 18mths since my first medical & slowly getting better yay!!!

 

I wrote to the Jobcentre to complain about Ingeus but no reply as yet & also cancelled ESA on 1st Dec, they cancelled it without asking me for any job details. I told Ingeus not to contact me again & stopped answering calls but since December 2013 to present they have called me several times during the week every week, I have blocked all the numbers I know belong to them from my mobile but still receive some calls & appointment texts every week & my landline number was changed for free as telephone provider classed it as Harassment calls. I am unable to change my mobile number it is on all my business cards & would cost me a fortune to replace them all.

 

2 weeks ago i received a letter stating that Ingeus has been unable to contact me & must keep in contact so would conduct a home visit. I ignored it & didnt think they would turn up but they did. I told them at my door "you have been harassing me with calls, texts & letters do not contact me by any means ever again & do not attempt to visit me again" I then closed the door not allowing them to speak. This didnt work & Im still getting calls & texts from them.

 

I know ive gone on a bit here but please please please can someone help me its making me very anxious & I jump out of my skin every time the door or phone rings!!! how do I stop Ingeus calling my mobile, texting me, sending me letters & coming to my house. I just don't know what to do

 

Thank you in advance

[time4change2]

did your claim stop due to being sanctioned or did you stop the claim for ESA yourself?

[honeybee1233]

did your claim stop due to being sanctioned or did you stop the claim for ESA yourself?

 

Thank you. I was sanctioned at end of Nov & had to write to jobcentre reason why I wasn't going to my appointments.But I cancelled esa myself on 1st Dec.

[Mr.P]

I told Ingeus not to contact me again & stopped answering calls but since December 2013 to present they have called me several times during the week every week,[...] my landline number was changed for free as telephone provider classed it as Harassment calls.

 

I told them at my door "you have been harassing me with calls, texts & letters do not contact me by any means ever again & do not attempt to visit me again" I then closed the door not allowing them to speak. This didnt work & Im still getting calls & texts from them.

 

Three things you can do:

 

 

• Lodge a formal written complaint with the DWP.
  
• Write to your local MP.
  
• Contact the police and file a harassment report.
  

The last one would be my favoured option as you have already had your phone provider changing the telephone number. If you have a diary showing what dates & times these calls have been made, even better. Calling once a month or so is bad enough, but when an individual makes six calls per day, that is definitely harassment.

 

When you contact the police, name the individuals concerned as well as the manager of that office - He/She is responsible for the activities of the staff, so should share in the blame (harassment is a criminal activity and would appear in their CRB reports).

[Nystagmite]

Have you spoken to the job centre? Nowhere near as extreme, thankfully. But when I had problems with being contacted by the work programme, I spoke to the job cnetre who said they'd talk to WP and the calls stopped.

[jasta11]

I've always found the JC to be totally disinterested in what happens at the WP. They'll readily agree with you that it's rubbish but then say they have no say in anything about it and you need to take the complaint to higher DWP..always assuming they're interested, that is.

 

The harassment mentioned is disgraceful, even by Ingeus' thick-skinned standards. Treat it as a personal civil matter and get the police involved.

[Mr.P]

The harassment mentioned is disgraceful, even by Ingeus' thick-skinned standards. Treat it as a personal civil matter and get the police involved.

 

Under section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, it is a criminal offence to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of a person.As the DWP has so far ignored the OP's complaint, it would be quite reasonable to involve the police.

[honeybee1233]

Have you spoken to the job centre? Nowhere near as extreme, thankfully. But when I had problems with being contacted by the work programme, I spoke to the job cnetre who said they'd talk to WP and the calls stopped.

 

Thanks for your reply, I have phoned the jobcentre today but unfortunately the Jobcentre said they couldn't help & told me to take it up with Ingeus & to follow the complaints procedure that they have in place. The Jobcentre did apologise that there was a problem closing my Esa claim because I'd been sanctioned so many times & each sanction had to be looked in by decision makers before my claim could be closed & my Esa claim was only closed a few week ago. They have however given me the phone number for my local admin department for Ingeus so not sure wether i want to phone them or not!

[Mr.P]

They have however given me the phone number for my local admin department for Ingeus so not sure wether i want to phone them or not!

 

It is important to have a paper trail in place should you need to escalate the complaint higher. I would strongly recommend writing a letter rather than using the telephone.

Treat companies like Ingeus the same as you would a DCA or double glazing salesman.

[honeybee1233]

Under section 2 of the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, it is a criminal offence to pursue a course of conduct which amounts to harassment of a person.As the DWP has so far ignored the OP's complaint, it would be quite reasonable to involve the police.

 

Thank you. Yes you are correct & I've made it clear they are Harassing me. Now i know that this is not right for them to behave in this way and that I dont have to give them any information Im not going to just keep quiet anymore hoping that they will go away. My local police are helpful so going to pop into see them to get some advice. I still can't believe they came to my house. Just want them to stop calling me

[honeybee1233]

It is important to have a paper trail in place should you need to escalate the complaint higher. I would strongly recommend writing a letter rather than using the telephone.

Treat companies like Ingeus the same as you would a DCA or double glazing salesman.

 

Yes exactly what i was thinking I will phone them & get an address. I'd rather write so I have evidence.