Time for an update!
I’ve just realised how long it is since I updated my blog and I thought it was time I did something about it! A few things have happened since I last posted, so here goes!
My first panic was back in July - I got back from a damp holiday in Dorset (still a beautiful place though!) to find a letter waiting for me from Clarke Willmott, the firm of solicitors who collect my IPA payments. My first payment had gone out of my account on 2nd July, and the letter informed my they hadn’t received the payment and if I didn’t contact them to arrange payment they would inform my employer and the OR - what a nice welcome home! I dealt with it really rationally - I sat on the floor and cried! By Monday I had pulled myself together and I called CW and spoke to a very nice man who told me that not to worry, that the payment had probably been misallocated and apologised for the distress the letter caused me! Sure enough a couple of days later I got a letter from CW confirming that they had received the payment.
Everything then went quiet until August, when I had another panic - I read on another forum that people had been contacting the OR to inform them of a pay rise, whereas I had written to Clarke Willmott about mine back in May. I rang CW and they told me that I had done the right thing contacting them as they contact the OR on my behalf, but on this occasion they had not done it! A week or so later I received an IPOQ (Income Payments Order Questionnaire) from the OR’s office regarding my pay rise. As I am going to be moving I rang the OR’s office to ask what I should do, as the figures might change. They told me to that I could wait until I move (still waiting, grrr!), but after thinking about it I completed it and sent it with a covering letter explaining that the figures might change.
I heard no more from the OR until yesterday - why do nasty letters always arrive on a Saturday?!?! The letter informed me that they hadn’t received September’s payment which was made on 1st October due to the weekend, and the letter was dated 2nd October - impatient or what?!?! It also mentioned the IPOQ that I would be returning when I move, so it sounds as though they haven’t received that - silly me, not using Recorded Delivery, I’ve learnt my lesson! After getting upset and then cross I’ve got all my bank statements together and I’m going to ring CW and the OR tomorrow and try and sort this out. It almost seems like the system can’t cope if the 30th of the month falls at the weekend. Dave has offered to lend me one payment so the money can leave my account earlier and be with them by the 30th. Not ideal though as I’m borrowing money again! I’ll see what everyone has to say tomorrow and I’ll update you then!
