Recently, we received a copy of a letter from a Deaf mother to HMRC which made for difficult reading.
Melanie Morris’s letter, which we have published extracts from below, explains how her child tax credits were stopped and her struggle to get payments started again.
After the tax credits were stopped, Melanie faced a delay before she could contact HMRC by phone because she needed to find someone who understood sign language to make the phone call – only to find that HMRC wouldn’t accept the call from a third party.
Things then became farcical when she went with a hearing person to the tax office – which the website hadn’t mentioned had already been closed. On the window of the tax office was – surprise surprise – a phone number they could call…
Ultimately, it took her months to resolve her problem, which resulted in huge stress and exasperation for her and her family.
At the end of her letter, Melanie shows how this has made her feel when she asks HMRC to “Please, please, please STOP. STOP asking Deaf people to use their voice. STOP, sending complicated letters. STOP and think about how you treat DEAF customers badly. STOP AND THINK NOW.”
Further extracts from her letter are below but we’ve since found out (thanks to Linda Parkin at RAD, one of our supporters) that HMRC have made arrangements for Deaf people, and Deaf people can go to their web page and book an appointment with an interpreter.
However, HMRC haven’t been very good at publicising this. RAD have filmed the information in BSL and it can be found on this page of their website:http://royaldeaf.org.uk/information_advice_and_guidance/How_to_contact_HMRC/134
You can read extracts from the letter (divided into sections by asterisks *) which shows just how frustrating HMRC can be to deal with for a Deaf person, below…
Extracts from Melanie’s letter
On the 28th July, you sent me an eight page letter to tell me that my child tax credit had stopped.
When I received the letter I was very upset. It took me until the 12th September to find one hearing person that understood sign language to help me phone you to find out why my payments stopped.
My beautiful daughter Maura is 16 years old. She is severely disabled. She cannot read, write or walk but we love her dearly and want the best for her. It is not easy find people to care for her the way she understands. Maura is in full time education until she is 19 years old. She cannot undertake mainstream educational qualifications.
*
The hearing person agreed to meet me at the HMRC Tax Office in Leicester City on Friday morning. It was her day off.
The last time I was in Leicester City was a few years ago. The City is too busy and scary for a person like me. I do not like it but I made the journey because my daughter welfare is very important to me.
I got to the Tax Office first. It was closed down. I had checked on the internet to find out where is the office. The hearing person did the same. There was nothing on the internet to say the Tax Office had closed down since last June. What a waste of a journey.
On the Tax Office window, there was only telephone numbers given to call. So, here we go again, the TELEPHONE barrier again. No other options were given.
*
I was very embarrassed but I had to use my voice in the street to answer the security questions.
If I did not use my voice, the phone call would not be accepted.
*
Finally, finally, finally after an hour, HMRC agreed to backdate the credits to the date it was stopped and said they will not ask me to go through this again until my daughter is 19 years old.
When I said if I needed to contact them again, they said I could ask a friend, family, neighbor or CAB to make the phone call on my behalf.
How stupid is this after I spent an hour trying to explain about someone needing to understand sign language, HMRC not accepting third party phone calls. I wanted to SCREAM but had to keep my mouth shut because I was afraid they would stop my daughter’s payments.
HMRC please wake up. This is 2014.
You should not be discriminating people like me. You are embarrassing me. I am trying my best as a mother to take care of my daughter.
Instead you make me feel small and I hate having to beg hearing people who know sign language to do something I could do myself if you had a Tax Office with Advisors so people like me can visit or an email address or a video relay system.
*
This took nearly a year to sort out. It causes a lot of tears and fears for me, my partner because our daughter relies on us.
This phone call was the last straw. I am not dealing with this on my own anymore.
I am sending this letter to the Leicester Mercury, Citizen Eye, BBC Leicester and Deaf Opinions.
I am sure I am not the only Deaf person to experience this kind of embarrassing frustration.
Finally, after the phone call on Friday, the hearing person agreed to write this letter before she went home. I signed what I wanted to say and she typed it into written English for me.
Please remember, this hearing person was off duty. Her full time job is a freelance registered qualified BSL/English Interpreter. She did not ask for payment to do this job. I think she should send an invoice to you HMRC for doing your job for you.
So, this letter is a BIG HUGE COMPLAINT.
Please, please, please STOP.
STOP asking Deaf people to use their voice.
STOP, sending complicated letters.
STOP and think about how you treat DEAF customers badly.
STOP AND THINK NOW.
Please use modern technology so Deaf people can contact you directly.
But, one thing, thank you for being sensible and continuing the tax credits. Out of all this frustration, it was a HUGE RELIEF to know I can continue to provide for my daughter.
Regards.
Melanie Morris
PROUD MOTHER
EMBARRASSED DEAF USER OF HMRC SERVICES
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Oh Dear
September 29, 2014
It’s not just the HRMC, practically all public organisations and many private companies are the same. There is a strange belief among hearing people that one’s voice is a proof of identity.
Recently I’d emailed my insurance company to change my home address and they wanted me to phone up as a matter of ‘security’ to prove my identity. Emailed them back and told the blithering idiot I’m deaf, DOB, previous address, new address, past insurance policy number, the date the money was taken from my bank account, the exact fee and my online account. The email had more proofs of identity than simple phoning up.
For Melanie and Brian to go through this for nearly a year is simply a disgrace. Recently immigrants found in the back of the lorry were promptly given hotel rooms, 3 meals a day, money and numerous staffs bending over backwards to find them new accommodations, all at taxpayers’ expense.
This country has ‘gone to the dogs.’
pennybsl
September 29, 2014
“Hear, Hear”, Oh Dear (readers, that is the previous comment author’s username! – very apt ).
It makes sickening reading and deserves wider attention.
I have lost thousands of pounds this year due to lack of CAB in my area, closed down last year, and clack of genuine prodding by people who are aware of certain benefits for bereaved partners.
I’ll tell my story another time in the year, but For now I and many other Deaf people in challenging situations do fully emphasise with you, Melanie. It is being at the mercy of FACELESS bureaucracy.
All public bodies must realise that processes without any thought of alternative channels of communication for diverse customers / clients cause real anxiety, paranoia, stress and confidence crashes.
Natalya
September 29, 2014
Thank you for publicising this. This should be on every HMRC letter sent to everyone.
I sued HMRC last year for “disability discrimination” and they had to settle in my favour, apologise and pay me a pay out. They resisted changing their telephonic obsession, ADMITTED they treat the textphone (which never worked) less favourably than voice phones and refused to make their incomprehensible letters clearer.
To read more about my case see my blogs tagged HMRC at http://natalyad.dreamwidth.org/tag/hmrc
If anyone has issues with HMRC I can highly recommend my lawyers Unity Law although changes to the law mean that we can no longer affordably insure against personal financial ruin if we lose a discrimination case 🙁
If anyone uses the online appointment booking, let the deaf world know if it works or not please so we can support one another. I’m lucky I don’t have to have anything to do with them until next year (tax returns beckon) so I can’t test it for myself!
albertjenkins
September 29, 2014
I work for HMRC and am ashamed of the way my employer has treated you and others. My Union resisted the closures of every Enquiry Centre, I am a Union rep and I wish things were different for you. The staff who lost their jobs or were moved to other work were dedicated and committed to helping the public but unfortunately this was not taken into account by HMRC.
I hope the new system improves and you don’t face the same again, my Union the PCS continue to argue for a proper system and a walk in facility for all customers but I fear it is a losing battle.
Thank you for sharing your experience.
Editor
September 30, 2014
Thank you for this comment. Ed
deaflinguist
September 29, 2014
I quite agree. In this day and age of multiple channels of communication (e-mail, SMS, video-based services such as Skype, Text Relay, minicom) I do not understand why organisations insist on telephone and telephone only. If they did proper equality impact assessments in each area of their business they would understand this, but they don’t.
All hearing people use e-mail and SMS at the least, and often Skype too, so they are well versed in using alternative technologies in both business and personal environments. It is time they changed their mindset, keeping the requirement to make reasonable adjustments under EA firmly in mind, and stopped making providing a telephone number mandatory, especially when filling out online forms – of all things!
What they should do is have multiple fields for different communications technologies and make it mandatory to tick one or more: so long as you have filled in your preferred method(s) so that they can make contact with you, that should be all that is necessary.
Cathy Alexandeŕ
September 30, 2014
What a shocking tale!! I certainly feel for this mother! I have recently won a discrimination case but the energy company still have not coughed up yet!! Anyone with a disability is treated with contempt!
I know Iam fortunate to be able to use my voice but it does not help as I cant hear back n companies expect me to after using my voice! Why companies put so much emphasise on voices I have no idea, but it is time to pack it in and start using other modes of communication.
Texting is now widespread so it could be used very easily indeed. I know companies maybe reluctant as there is no proof who is texting back, but in this day n age it is high time to put “thinking caps” on and work out effective means of communicating with deaf people.
It is contemptable and unfair to treat us as 2nd class citizens and moreover a companies chance of being sued for discrimination, heightens. So all you companies out there take note!!!
Jules
September 30, 2014
Even a deaf person who is confident using typetalk/text relay has problems with contacting HMRC. Back when I was claiming tax credits and they made some serious mistakes, they refused (yes, REFUSED) to accept calls from me through typetalk. They constantly told me the only way I could deal with them was to write in even though I was contacting them urgently as we had imminent financial concerns due to their mistakes, which a hearing person would have been able to resolve immediately, avoiding the threat of family poverty.
I am thankful I no longer have dealings with them but sadly not surprised to see that some years on they continue to discriminate against deaf people by refusing to accept alternative methods of communication.