Medical Card Application - Documents lost and no accountability?

ShaShaBear

My partner applied for a new medical card recently. He had one previously but was working a good job and only recently became entitled again.

He filled out all the information back in April, and it took until this August for them to finally admit that they needed even more paperwork as what he had submitted (which was word-for-word identical to what they requested through the letter) was not acceptable. He forwarded on this information which included our joint bank account details and our landlord's bank details circled in red to indicate rent paid as required, as well as a letter from our landlord with his personal information. It also has my information and our daughter's as we are his dependents.

They have finally admitted today, one month after receiving the documents, that they do not have them. They are refusing to make any effort to rectify the situation, insist blindly that they were never received despite them being signed for and their only solution is for my partner to re-acquire all of the documents and attempt to send them again if the application is to be processed. Our landlord is now less than co-operative and is genuinely concerned that he is now at risk of identity fraud with the amount of information that was contained in the application.

Is there anything we can do here? Anywhere higher we can go to get this looked at and taken seriously?

JohnBee

Im guessing the quickest way to rectify this will be to resubmit documents. Unfortunately it is a fact of life that things get lost. It could be the post, the mail room, a filing clerk, it can happen at any time.

I would suspect going "higher up" will just delay because if the documents are not there, then they cannot make them appear and you will just waste more time. Large organizations such as the HSE are prone to this. It sucks big time but complaining wont help you get your medical card.

Suggest using registered and signed for post, or hand delivering. Best of luck!

uck51js9zml2yt

I really doubt you have any comeback.
I've been there as well and send and write all documents enclosed either on the form or a letter and register it.

A photocopy of everything is a must as backup of what you've sent.

ShaShaBear

JohnBee wrote: »

Im guessing the quickest way to rectify this will be to resubmit documents. Unfortunately it is a fact of life that things get lost. It could be the post, the mail room, a filing clerk, it can happen at any time.

I would suspect going "higher up" will just delay because if the documents are not there, then they cannot make them appear and you will just waste more time. Large organizations such as the HSE are prone to this. It sucks big time but complaining wont help you get your medical card.

Suggest using registered and signed for post, or hand delivering. Best of luck!

It was registered and signed for. They do not allow hand-deliveries due to security. We have the name of the individual that signed for it and one member of staff informed us over the phone that he is the security guard that handles all incoming mail that has to be signed for. That's the problem we have - our landlord is refusing to submit any more information on our behalf, so we cannot get a letter from him to state that we do in fact rent here.

Jaylee Magnificent Tractor wrote: »

I really doubt you have any comeback.
I've been there as well and send and write all documents enclosed either on the form or a letter and register it.

A photocopy of everything is a must as backup of what you've sent.

We had a photocopy of everything we sent, we ended up having to send the photocopies of the originals as they claimed they had never arrived the first time around and it would have taken us weeks to get more paperwork together. It was sent by registered post and signed for.

ShaShaBear

Niaveee wrote: »

I actually believe the people processing the medical cards are encouraged to take as long as possible to process applications.

I've heard far too often about documents being lost or not received. All in the hopes to delay your application and hope you lose interest and give up,

I personally applied back in April too and I'm still fighting for it to this day. 3 additional information requests I received, twice my documents were lost and just last week I was told I didn't qualify only to receive the breakdown letter and find that they never took my rent into account.

They actually said over the phone as an apology for the loss of documents and subsequent delay in coming to a decision, they have extended mine and my daughter's medical cards until next month... even though neither of them expire until July 2016 and were acquired totally separate to my partner.

Niaveee

I actually believe the people processing the medical cards are encouraged to take as long as possible to process applications.

I've heard far too often about documents being lost or not received. All in the hopes to delay your application and hope you lose interest and give up,

I personally applied back in April too and I'm still fighting for it to this day. 3 additional information requests all for the same info, twice my documents were lost and just last week I was told I didn't qualify only to receive the breakdown letter and find that they never took my travel costs into account. Now I have to wait 5-7 weeks for them to reassess my application again as they are saying they never received my travel to work expenses. The whole thing is a nightmare to be honest. Nearly 5 months of this crap.

All I can recommend is resubmitting the documents again as there truly is no winning with them.
I'm sure your landlord will understand explain it to him and show him the letter you received

maryk123

Go to your local counsellor. It actually works they will probably get a faster reply. Seriously.

endofrainbow

I had a similar issue with them losing my documents, I got on to the Data Protection Agency. It may not turn up your documents but it will alert Data Protection that there is a serious breach in the Medical Renewal Section.

hdowney

endofrainbow wrote: »

I had a similar issue with them losing my documents, I got on to the Data Protection Agency. It may not turn up your documents but it will alert Data Protection that there is a serious breach in the Medical Renewal Section.

^^This. If everyone who's documents are 'lost' by the Medical Card section, ESPECIALLY if said documents were sent registered post and signed for by the person the mc section claims they should be signed for by then they will be shown up for the massive failure/con job/whatever you want to call it that they are.