I have continued to be busy throughout February helping constituents resolve problems they have experienced with Local Authority and Government services. ( Summary of the most common cases can be found by clicking on the pie chart below. )
Here are just a few of the cases where I have achieved a positive result:
I was contacted by a constituent who has a mortgage on a leasehold flat. She received a letter from a South London company which owns the leasehold on her flat saying there were (minor) discrepancies on her insurance policy. She immediately put them right and e-mailed the company and told them everything was correct. The company referred the matter to a tribunal which decided there were a few discrepancies, but nothing serious. The company then demanded £1,500, which my constituent did not pay. Another bill for £3,200 arrived. I was disgusted by this unwarranted claim and raised the matter with the Housing Minister in the House of Commons in the hope that such companies would be properly regulated and follow proper procedures. After a while the money they were asking for dropped back to £1,500. Then just before Christmas my constituent received a letter stating the company would be willing to forget the episode. My constituent thanked me for being very approachable and for intervening on her behalf. She said that I “took this injustice as high as you can get” and “I, for one, am convinced she will prove to be an excellent MP for South Shields”.
A constituent and her former partner recently separated and as she had never been married and was currently homeless, she was unable to provide the normal documents the Student Loans Company requested as evidence of her marital status. My constituent felt she had nowhere else to turn and found herself in a difficult position both financially and psychologically. Following my intervention on her behalf, the Chief Executive of the Student Loans Company was happy to accept the evidence she had provided and her daughter received her student finance award. My constituent wrote: “I am overjoyed and relieved at the outcome. I would like to thank you again for your help and involvement in this matter as I believe without it, I would still be in the same stressful situation. I can’t put into words how grateful I am to you for taking the time to help me as I know you must be very busy”. Her parents also wrote: “Just to say a tremendous thank you for sorting out a very stressful situation for our granddaughter’s student grant nightmare. It had our daughter at rock bottom as she seemed to be banging her head against a brick wall and getting nowhere. Once again a million thanks.”
