Pulaski

I can't help but wonder if it would make sense to take copies of the form and send an unsolicted, newly completed copy of the form to the DWP, say, every six months.

vikingsail

Just curious if said form included a provision to schedule a date at which you are dead? For convenience and administrative purposes.

I would love to know how many replies they get that say "No I'm dead." I'm fairly certain legally that would hold up as proof of life.

not2old

thats a good point, however when I asked 'will you be doing this again soon or how frequent will it be' his response was that he did not know but its random - just wait till we contact you again.

Next form though, I will call them first giving them my details that its me & the wife who we are, fill in the form, copy it without dating it, then date the original & fire it off to DWP.

Save the copy for next round or maybe send the duplicate signed copy in a separate envelope... double whammy on it & the postage just to make sure its done

mrken30

Couldn't any fraudster send pre signed letters every 6 months? Doesn't the random nature of the requests guard against fraud? I mean I could leave my wife couple dozen of pre signed letters to send every 6 months.

Do they have an option to verify online or fax?

Pulaski

If it has some serial number, bar code, or similar then yes, you couldn't just send a copy because it wouldn't be accepted. I would hope that they have some such control, but as the DWP is a government organization, I am sceptical that they would have such controls.

Surely allowing confirmation by internet or fax would be even less secure. A good solution would be establishing a "voice print" and then to prove that your alive you could dial in, key in your NI number then repeat a standard phrase, such as "My name is .... ", and the system automatically updates your record.

A determined fraudster could still keep a recording and use that I suppose, but it should be fairly easy to keep records and flag instances of the voice being identical, because like signatures, the key to proving a good match is that there are differences, not that the pattern is identical.

mrken30

Getting mail delivered to a dead person in the US is almost impossible. Other countries not so sure.

But just being able to confirm the date of the letter, would be a simple security feature.

If banks are able to use voice recognition, I'm sure it won't be long before the Government decide to spend vasts amount of money on some anti fraud scheme.

My online access to my council tax had a few hurdles, phone calls, letters, emails and complex password

MidAtlantic

What? Why?

Pulaski

Yeah, WTF?

mrken30

our mailman atleast won't deliver letters if he knows the person does not live at that address. I think it may also be a felony to interfere with the mail and fraudulently accept other people's mail.

MidAtlantic

So this from the USPS is completely wrong?

Manage Mail for the Deceased

Stopping or Redirecting Mail
After a loved one has passed away, accumulating mail can attract unwanted attention. To avoid this, as appointed executor or administrator, you can file a request at the Post Office™ to:

Redirect their mail.
Remove them from advertisers' mailing lists.
The Direct Marketing Association maintains a “Deceased Do Not Contact” list. Within 3 months of adding the deceased’s name to this list, the amount of advertising mail received should decrease.

Register on DMA.org

If You Shared an Address

If you shared a mailing address with someone who has since died and would normally receive their mail, you don't need to do anything. You can open and manage their mail.

scot47

Refusing to deliver mail to deceased citizens is clearly a violation of their civil rights.

mrken30

That's good to know. We just have had problems with our mailman in the past.

Pulaski

Maybe the problem is that you're dead?

mrken30

a deadbeat maybe

MidAtlantic

OK but best not to translate that to a nationwide principle which is clearly wrong!