Pay with Dict8

[Chrissols]

Looking for people from the previous thread that closed as must of been full?

@Gally123 - same as, this month been the worst month since lockdown !!!! it's definitely going to put me on catch up with my bills if next week is going to be the same :(

Have a good weekend everyone x

@meha5: Luckily I have managed to get my bills sorted for this month (but it has been extremely difficult) - after much to'ing and fro'ing - need a good typing week next week to start things in motion for the bills next month - hopefully some work will come through sharpish from Dict8 [and I have agreed to have my grand-daughter again on Wednesday, so I won't be logging in that day] ... everything is conspiring again me/us right now. I'll put my smiley face on ready for Monday.

Don't suppose anyone has seen a task today?

@danblack87 sounds like you're having a rough time 😥😥 hope all improves for you soon......bet your grand-daughter cheers you up though. Re: work from Dict8, it really does seem to be getting less and less and it is very confusing as to why? Hospital are running clinics, albeit a lot are virtual, but these clinics still need typing up. I have noticed a lot of consultants that were here a few weeks ago, even as recent as three weeks, seem to be not here at the moment.....they cannot have all left at the same time

I think despite some of the emails we have had from DICT8 to the contrary (and emails about the situation have been few) I am worried about whether the typing will pick up; one of the reasons that I don't really want to apply for the second SEISS grant as I am not sure, if asked, that I could prove that the current COVID situation is still severely affecting my work, (ie lack of work is not the pandemic's fault but down to DICT8) as if DICT8 work had not been thin on the ground I would not have been looking around for other sources and applied to T-Pro. I do think with every system upgrade that they undertake they lose customers, not sure why, possibly they increase their prices, but it is worrying.

Plus when they loaned equipment out to hospitals to enable secretaries to work from home cannot possibly have helped as they will now see secretaries can do a large percent of their work from home permanently

@Gally123 When did you apply to T-Pro? Was it before or after the pandemic hit? Wouldn't Dict8's letters would stand you in good stead though, because as far as they have told us, our downturn in work IS due to coronavirus and they haven't mentioned any other factors that could be affecting the availability of work. Plus they've told us that they expect the work to pick up as the NHS starts to open up again - although we're still waiting! Perhaps you're worrying unnecessarily.
@Chrissols I wonder if the equipment is still on loan or whether, having seen the merits, hospital Trusts are now investing in it?

@Poppy379 - I applied to T-Pro as mentioned before the pandemic as work with DICT8 was getting less and less.

For the SEISS you have to prove you have been severely affected, not just affected, and they look at your income; as I have been able to earn some money, I am not sure that counts as severely affected, esp as income was decreasing before the lockdown.

@Gally123 Sorry, I had forgotten your T-Pro status. Didn't mean to offend with my input. I see now what you're saying about the interpretation of having been 'severely affected'.

@Poppy379 I know that people are allowed to earn some money and still claim but it is a question as to how much. If a person normally earns £1,000 a month but with COVID/lockdown that went down to £500 a month, I would say that was severely affected, but with lockdown easing if someone earns now £750 a month, that is not severely affected being 75% (three-quarters) of earnings, even if bills may not all be covered. The government seems to be tightening up on grants and I would rather not apply than apply, then have to justify it, have the stress of the tax man going through my accounts and possibly having to repay it; I would rather work on and hope that the typing picks up. But that is just how I see it, having attended their webinars. Other people might think differently.

I couldn't get the grant due to a very small pension income, hence taking on T-pro work. It has been a very tough few months, as it has for a lot of people, but sadly things with Dict8 still seem to be getting worse even though hospital clinics are slowly re-opening.

@Gally123: I have been thinking long and hard about the second round of SEISS and I think I am just going to apply anyway (they can only say "not applicable")? At this point in time (this morning), I think I am going to apply ... I had a legit e-mail last week so I just need to log-in. I don't want to pass up on an opportunity for some form of security if it is available to me ?
Besides, so far DICT tasks are a little scanty for me this morning .

@danblack87 - yes tasks are few today, it is hard to know what to do - still I know the grant is there if I need it, I just don't want to fall foul of the tax man with all the emphasis on them checking accounts for fraudulent claims and claims needed to be "severely" affected, not just "affected". I had the email as well last week.

Last month I did okay in the end, but presumably it was just hospital backlog and now possibly back to normal - which may or may not be COVID related as DICT8 was dropping off months before the pandemic started, in which case I cannot prove COVID is still severely affecting my work.

I really wish Dict8 work would pick up as I really love working for them. I just wish they would be straight with us and tell us what is happening, this continual drop in work cannot now be down to the pandemic

I am not sure why there is such a dramatic drop; however, being a 'glass 1/2 full' type of person I am tending to veer towards the fact that there have been more regional lock-downs in large areas such as Manchester, ?Birmingham, Leicester, Oldham, etc.??? Just thinking . I am a creature of habit and worry about changing system with another company as I am a complete technophobe !!!

@Gally123: One thing I was thinking regarding 'severely affecting'. There is a point to be made I think - let me know you thoughts:
We are severely affected by COVID as the situation is not changing any time soon - if Dict8 does not have the work available due to extenuating circumstances outside of COVID (i.e. they don't have the contracts) that surely leaves us to consider options outside of the 'working from home environment'. Given that I do not drive, and given that many companies are not hiring, it would be hard to get a job in what we do outside of the home. Going on a bus is an option which I do not wish to take (COVID risk and transport costs). Taxi's are not an option either. Furloughing is rapidly not going to help and would a company take you on when they may be considering, if they have not already done so, furloughing staff. Bar work is a no-no as is working in a supermarket due to certain health restrictions I have so ?YES I am severely, and adversely, affected by COVID and work not being available??
Again, it is a minefield and many considerations to be taken into account re. the Tax man. I have trepidation about applying but I still think it is worth a try --- I could try, but I am still wary .... AAAaaaarggghhhhh.

The only other option, I guess, is to apply for Benefits and they are already overloaded and the time to get any money ... well, we could be waiting for weeks if not months (not sure that is where I want to go either). I wouldn't survive on that.

Just a thought - I think HMRC would just ask for the money back through your tax code if they decided later you were not eligible, that would be the logical thing to do so you could look at it as an interest free loan and it will be a while before they want it back 2021/22? Trying to be optimistic.

Why is it when you get a task that looks quite long you end up typing at least 10 lines of it in the notes box?

@deewu - yes, that is what HMRC has said - fraudulent claims will have to be repaid and the did disallow claims previously (although I think that was as many of the claims were not made by the person but someone on their behalf, which was not allowed, or using someone else's name).
@danblack87 - I think you are interpreting their "severely affected" in too wide a context; it is purely whether you are earning money (or not) in the job you claim to be self-employed in, not whether you can earn money elsewhere.

Hi I thought I would just add my thoughts as I have interpreted them.
I have been awarded the two grants. I applied for neither of these, but was emailed by HMRC and told I was eligible. I assumed HMRC had done all their checks and due diligence and considered I was entitled to these. I received both grants.
I understood from the rules that you can also have other paid work through PAYE, which I do have a very small amount each month, as only the self employed part of your income was being looked at. It also said that you must continue to "trade" with your self employment, which we are doing.
I feel we have been impacted massively by this. We all know the NHS virtually shut down for four months, and is slow to recover. Dict8 may have their own issues, but I look at it from loss of earnings due to COVID principally. I do not see how HMRC would consider any of our claims "fraudulent" in any way. Our tax returns will reflect the downturn in income. At the end of the day, if they do consider it was paid erroneously you are right in that they will just reclaim if through taxable income down the line. It is going to be a minefield for them and I do think if they contacted us and said we were eligible, then we were eligible and had a right to claim.

Taking all of the comments onboard I think I will proceed to claim. I was accepted as eligible and again, asked to complete the SEISS application. I think LucyLizzy is right if it is 'a fraudulent claim' which none of us have done then the money can be readjusted to HMRC in the following tax year; given that I will probably get a refund in that particular tax year as I will not have met the target requirement earnings for tax? Just means struggling through the hard times same as everybody else.

On another note, I have just started working for Tpro. I considered myself a technophobe too but really it is a very easy system. They give you loads of feedback and encouragement. They have loads of work sitting there waiting to be typed. I too do not like change, but sometimes you need to push yourself. If I am completely honest I prefer working for dict8. Tpro do want you to cover lots of specialties, but given that dict8 seems to be going nowhere fast this seemed a good option to follow. As I have said before somewhere I have worked for dict8 for many years and feel disloyal working elsewhere, but I dont think they are being totally honest with us right now, and we have to look after ourselves.

@Deewu: I have had the same problem with all 4 tasks I have typed this morning. Hard to understand, distorted; so of 3/4 of the tasks I have had I have had to put a lot of comments in the Notes Box (so the whole thing takes longer to type and the time taken does not give you anywhere near the minimum wage) - I just keep going regardless.

@Lucylizzy123 thanks for your input re grants and also TPro as I am also a technophobe - my sister once wanted me to borrow a mobile phone when I went on holiday so I could contact her to let her know I was okay - and I told her I would never use it as I have no idea how to use one. (I have since got a tablet with email so I can use free hotel WIFI to get in contact).

I know from the Webinars that they said that one way they would check if people claimed grants unnecessarily is if the next tax return is higher than normal, ie earnings plus grant, and at the moment that looks unlikely.

I shall just add a story that made laugh as reported a while back on BBC news website (which often reports news stories a day or two later than everyone else, which gives them time to be checked out as true or not) anyway, this man in America was jailed for fraudulently claiming a grant during the pandemic as he gambled and lost in it a casino.

@danblack87 The problem with my longer task was that the doctor just dictated loads of instructions to his secretary then reiterated them at the end of the letter! He is a frequent offender.