AIBU - free school meals application against my wishes.

[GlitterSand]

Two years ago I became eligible to claim free school meals,
I do not need the assistance so declined the offer.
The local council sent me a silly amount of letters about being entitled to claim, I phoned them and asked them to stop, explained that I didn't need to claim and asked them to make a note on my 'file' not to contact me again.
However, within a few months it started again I ignored them until I received a letter that basically said 'you are entitled to claim this so we are going to put in a claim on your behalf'
This annoyed me and I sent them a letter telling them that I do not give them permission to ever make a claim for FSMs on my behalf, that I wanted it marked on my file that I never want a claim for FSMs to be made in my name.
Someone from the council called me and apologised he said he made a note on my file and I would not be contacted again.

My DC has just started secondary school and for the second day in a row, his student account was not charged for the meal he had.
I just called the school and they have told me that his account has not been charged because he is in receipt of FSM, I told her this is a mistake and she is going to look into it and call me back.

I'm currently on hold to the council.

I'm so angry, how dare they put in a claim without my knowledge or permission and against my explicit request not to.
AIBU to be so annoyed?

I'm just posting to vent really, to try to calm down before I speak to anyone, but I'm just so angry that they can go against my wishes and put in a claim for a benefit that I do not want.

I thought your reasoning would be either dietary needs better suited to taking a packed lunch or you'd rather your DC didn't have the access to school canteen junk food, but as he's eating the anyway I don't see what the issue is. It's not like when I was at school and FSM pupils were given meal tickets each week (raffle tickets), so you could see who wasn't paying. He still swipes his card, no one knows if you're paying the bill or not. The school get extra funding, you clearly meet criteria for FSM. This seems to be a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

Obviously it depends on what the interventions consist of but I don't see why more individualised sessions with a SENCO wouldn't be of benefit to a more able child, as well as trips etc. Same principle as paying for tutoring. Obviously if they're just making the child join in a group that isn't geared towards their particular learning needs that's not usefl.

You aren’t taking money from someone else. The money won’t just go to someone who needs it. I wish I could get FSM, as I’ve no income currently (off work sick for over a year so no more sick pay, but employed so no benefits) but that isn’t how it works.