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Alan and Jean Price
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The woman who 'does not exist'.
by Cheryl Latham9/ 7/2008
A 60-YEAR-old woman says her ‘whole life has been reduced to a blank page’ after a National Insurance identity blunder.
Jean Price, of Gawsworth Close, Bridgehall, had worked in a cotton mill, sweet factory and as a kitchen porter, and was looking forward to drawing her well-earned state pension and spending more time with her disabled husband, Alan.
However, the great-grandmother was horrified to learn a woman of the same name and same date of birth, living in Greater Manchester, has been allocated exactly the same National Insurance (NI) number - and has also been using it legitimately for years.
The other woman’s details are now the only ones the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and H M Revenue and Customs (HMRC) recognise.
Without her own NI record Jean has been told by both government bodies she is unable to be traced and has therefore not received her pension for the last five months.
Mum of six Jean said: "I had been claiming my pension for about two months when all of a sudden it just stopped. I was in complete shock. For some reason they decided the National Insurance number I have always used belonged to the other lady and now my whole life is just like a blank page. It’s like I never existed or I just don’t belong and I’m not entitled to anything."
She added: "It’s causing stress and we can’t cope financially. The phone has been cut off because we can’t manage and I’ve had to start taking tablets for my nerves."
Stockport MP Ann Coffey has now joined the search for Jean’s identity and has called for an immediate investigation into why the two women were allocated the same NI number.
"I was horrified to hear about the mix-up with Mrs Price’s national insurance number and I have asked the specialist team at the National Contributions Office in Newcastle to investigate my constituent’s contributions as a matter of priority," she said. "I have never come across anything like this before. At the moment Mrs Price is in limbo because without her national insurance record she can’t get her state pension. Mrs Price has worked throughout her life and brought up six children, and so has paid national insurance and should have home responsibilities credits to her record. I have taken this up with the Minister, so that Mrs Price’s case gets sorted out as soon as possible," she added.
Both the HMRC and the DWP said they were unable to comment on individual cases due to taxpayer confidentiality. But HM Revenue and Customs admitted that inevitably the system can go wrong.
"We are very sorry to hear of the problems your reader has experienced," said a spokesperson for HMRC. "There are tens of millions of national insurance numbers in existence, and unfortunately things will very occasionally go wrong.
A DWP spokesperson said: "Any dispute over National Insurance numbers and National Insurance contributions is taken seriously and investigated thoroughly. To resolve an enquiry quickly, we rely on the co-operation of the customer. Depending on the outcome, any entitlement would be backdated, however, the receipt of an existing means tested benefit can often reduce or extinguish payments."
Further details on National Insurance contributions and pensions can be found on the HMRC website at www.hmrc.gov.uk/pensioners/approaching-nino.
Alternatively, if anyone has a query about their NI contributions call the helpline on 0845 302 1479.
Most recent 2 of 3 user comments
I wouldnt hold out much hope in getting this sorted the DWP and HMRC could not find a claimform or a problem if it was staring them in the face they are the most inept organisation i have ever had the misfortune of dealing with
HMRC cancelled my CTC due to a technical fault 3 years ago now they admitted fault and just stopped paying us yet non of them seem to have the skill to re enter us back onto the system
Good luck with yours
13/07/2008 at 11:31
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