To HATE NHS bursaries

[smurfgirl]

I am owed £4500 by NHS bursaries which by anyones standard is a HUGE amount of money, when I finally get it I will be able to pay off my credit card and my overdraft and start to sleep at night again.

They won't send it though because a form I was supposed to have sent in in 2006 has been lost somewhere along the way and so they won't process the 'new' (sent in May) application until its sent in.

Only they have the wrong address for me, and every time I send a form in to change my address the address change only starts from when I send it in, so the 2006 form is being sent to the address they have for me for 2006. Even though they are actually posting it in 2008.

I have just ranted at someone for twenty minutes and someone is supposed to be ringing me back to confirm the address change and to send me a form to the right address.

Its just so annoying, I have NO money but I know I have this money waiting to be sent to me but because they are so stupid its not getting sent.

ARGH.

Im my view definitely spend £10 here to do a subject access request under the Data Protection Act, to find out what's on your file, whether it's accurate, and whether they are reading it properly. If they have wrong information you can issue them with a correction notice (there's a technical name for this - Section something or other notice - I could find this out for you if you like) and demand they update your file properly, which they are then obliged to do. I bet they'll get things right from that point onwards. There are also legal time limits for the provision of the data and so on.

If you have been caused distress by the data being inaccurate, for example financial problems because your claim for payment was not met in a timely fashion, you might be able to claim compensation, but I think you have to take a complaint to the Information Commissioner in order to do this - I am not sure.

Information Commissioner's website on Data Protection can be found here:

www.ico.gov.uk/Home/what_we_cover/data_protection.aspx

No further advice, but sympathy, and think Boffin's advice is great.

BTW are Capita having anything to do with his data handling, by any chance? (Or mishandling?)

They rang me back and the guy said he was hand writing the envelope himself, we shall see...

I have no idea who is handling but just its just so frustrating because I thought I had had a breakthrough in September when I had sent another change of address in and the woman was very reassuring. But then no news. They won't ring or e-mail only post things and so its this huge cycle of miscommunication.

Hopefully when this form goes in (registered delivery!) they will process the other one and send me my money.

I would do a DP request anyway as you have been disappointed so often now. I would have no faith in these people at all any more.