Done with Centerlink

Brenda5

That's it, I am done fighting with Centerlink. They have cut me off even though I am under both income and assets threshold and they must have made some sort of error. I need to think of my own health and the stress and depression is too much for me to bother going back to them again. Hubby is going to sell some shares and give me a fortnightly payment instead. It means we will go further in debt but eventually hubbys superannuation will cancel that out. I will be able to save it and get myself a bedroom air con so my arm doesn't give me so much curry in Summer.

melclarity

I agree @Brenda5 unless things are clear cut for you to get a benefit it isnt worth the heartache and stress. I don't have a choice of anything having to support myself, I have to work full time and it is hard going absolutely. x

onemargie

That just sucks @Brenda5. As if you haven’t had enough shit from them already and I get @melclarity why you and others give up on it all. If it’s any help and you get the energy here is the complaints/feedback  number for Centrelink   1800 132 468. I spoke to a lovely lady today about an awesome lady I spoke to about trying to claim my super for my recon who was great but it Might be worth a try if you’re up to it love or the ombudsman  could help you too.

I think if you contacted your local federal member they could represent you lovely. I know it’s a lot of stuffing around and requires energy you just don’t have and I felt the same way about the issues I had with the income protection component being cancelled with my super with no knowledge but I persisted and someone listened and at least now it’s being investigated with the super ombudsman. Will be a win for the little guy if we pull it off. 

Otherwise I have a contact at Channel 10 if you want to get really stuck into them. I bet they jump through hoops if you go public with it. Or you can email today tonight etc. I wish I was closer to help you out. Big hugs Margie xx

melclarity

I tried it all at the time with Centrelink, theyre view was I had to spend at least $8-10,000 of my own money before I could get sickness allowance. Whats the point? by then I was going back to work anyway. A Joke! Superannuation a no go on all fronts, I exhausted everything financially. Thankfully I found inbuilt income protection in 1 of my supers and that helped slightly. Unless you have a severe circumstances or are terminal you cannot get on the disability. Unfortunately mental health is one of the hardest things to get it for and you have to have a long history and documentation from Specialists going way back when. I don't think I gave up on any of it, I just didnt meet the criteria on any front and have had to support myself through it all. I spoke with my Accountant even at the time, literally no help anywhere. I am grateful for the very least of income protection although it was only for 2 days a week taxed doubly and now I owe the tax dept $1285 yippee because they STUFFED up the backbay originally. Money I dont have...aaaah BC the gift that keeps giving hmmm. Good luck to anyone who can get assistance I never gave up, they gave up on me. I dont care anymore, Im working full time now but my savings have gone and I cannot recover financially. All because of treatment really LOL, thats the only thing that caused it all. Aaaaah have to laugh at all...onward we go because we are so much better than all this! x

onemargie

Bloody hell @melclarity. That’s bullshit!  I couldn’t get anything either and we used all our savings up too. And I didn’t have income protection as you know so we do know the financial struggles this shitty disease can do to us.  I was pissed off as the wait time in qld is so bloody long if I want a recon I have to claim my super for it now (even though the lady I spoke to was lovely)  or wait another 3 years.

 The system does suck and I’d actually forgetten about how you already fought til the death with your circumstances. It’s just so bloody hard and shouldn’t be. No wonder @Brenda5 can’t be snagged anymore.  I’ve written to my local member about the ridiculous thresholds to claim for any benefit and the mountains you have to climb to get a DSP and the upfront costs for prosthetics and the fact the bank l must be about to take your home and you must have practically a zero bank balance before you can claim your super for your mortgage too, amongst other things.

 At least she was proactive about my concerns but nothing is going to change in a hurry is it. I also recently wrote to the minister for human services about the same issues and he referred my complaints to the treasury dept so I’ll let you know if I hear back but I’m not holding my breath. If you work hard and pay tax your whole life you do t get shit not even a health care card to help with your meds. It’s all pretty unfair isn’t it. 

And you are right you have to laugh. And we are all DEFINATELY better than this, broke but definately better lol. I’m going to crack a Udl and order pizza. If I win the lotto this weekend love I’ll pay your tax bill!

melclarity

@onemargie well if you can get some super I think that would be fantastic to do your Reconstruction, what a joke the waiting time is??? seriously??? 

Yes so much needs to change, sounds like you addressed everything which is perfect! Be interesting to see what they say about it all. Ohhh a health care card now that would be helpful!!!! but ohhhh no I cant even get that, I earn crap and still can't get it. A JOKE!!! . 

Brenda5

I checked my shares and they are no where near being up to the threshold so I got centerlink to scan in the latest portfolio and spent 2 hours on hold on the phone to find out why.
Centerlink now has a crystal ball in their assessments. Apparently even tho my shares are well under the threshold, they are saying on the 20th of March the stock market WILL go up and I will then be over. They are cancelling my health card and New start from the 20th. WTF!!! I could just sell them and put it all back on the house mortgage leveraged to get said shares in the first place.

Afraser

I cannot see how this can be remotely legal let alone ethical. We should all start tapping into the information bsse Centrelink has about the stock market as obviously we are missing out. What total rubbish. 

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onemargie

That’s bullshit @brenda. What a bunch of bloody arseholes. How the fuck they can predict that shit is totally ridiculous. I’ll have the lotto numbers too and then I’ll share it with all the lovelies on here and we can all tell Centrelink and the government to go fuck themselves. 30 million tonight in the lotto I’ll be getting a ticket for sure. Margie. Xx 

Brenda5

By the shares I have (bought with a bank loan against our house mind you) I am still under the threshold. However, Centerlink seems to recognise shares bought, but not shares sold as in share trading one for another. They say I have over $202,000 in share assets! I wish! They will not let me clarify and if I want Newstart, I have to reapply and do the whole assets thing again. Hubby does not want me to pursue it. Not with my heart troubles lately and he has a blood clot in his leg which if it doesnt kill him in the next 3 weeks, he should be ok. Stuff Centerlink.

Mira

Do you have a mygov account Brenda?  I can change my shares via the centrelink part of mygov.  I change them, and then they automatically send me a letter to say they need evidence and I drop it in.    The people in the complaints section of that are really good too if you are having problems. 

Brenda5

I would love to find that mygov section as they will not sustantiate how the hell they got $202,000 when my shares are only $182,000 well under their threshold of $190,250. I gave them a physical printed out version of our portfolio and uploaded it myself in to my documents uploads but they totally ignore that. They are God and there is no questioning them.

Afraser

You can of course question them but you have to have the patience of a saint, the perspicacity of a lawyer and the aggressiveness of a badly trained Rottweiler. So it  depends on how much of your precious energy you want or can expend. Not right. Not easy to fix. 

Mira

Hi Brenda, if you have a mygov account with centrelink linked.  
Click on Centrelink so you go into their website.   On the top left of the centrelink page there are 3 lines (next to the word centrelink).  
Click on the three lines and a menu will drop down.
Click on "Income & Assets", then on "View/Update Income & Assets" and it will take you to the page with all your income and assets.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page to see what bank accounts and shares they have you as having.

At the very top and bottom of the page there is a link to update your assets if they have them wrongly listed.

If you want to change your assets click on that link and it will take you to a new page.
To change them, select the categories you want to update.  If you need to update two categories (ie bank accounts & shares) I would do them all at the same time as if you make a change over $2000 they will lock your account and send you a letter (or text however they contact you) asking for some details. 

I don't have anything to change so wont go further than that and tempt the centrelink gods, but you can follow the prompts.

If you want to make a complaint via their online portal, click on the 3 lines at the top again for the menu, and down the bottom is a link to the page where you can submit a complaint or suggestion. I found the complaints people to be incredibly helpful. 

I hope that helps you  

Brenda5

Thank you so much for your help and I did find the assets from October 2016. We don't own many of those any more and there is no update link at the top or bottom. There is an i for information saying I am assessed under the income test. 
Told ya, its talk to the hand.