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Leeds benefit claimants thwarted by costly phone calls
THE cost of calling expensive Government helplines is stopping consumers from claiming benefits to which they are entitled, a new report claims.
Mobile phone users on low incomes are being unfairly penalised and charged extortionate rates for essential services that should be low cost or free, according to Leeds Citizens Advice Bureau.
People who need help are going into debt rather than speaking to central authorities because of the cost of calls from mobile phones, it says.
The findings have been published in new report Hung Up that reveals that people without access to landlines are forced to pay up to 40p per minute to call '08' government numbers that would be low cost or even free to call from a landline.
Around half of clients seen at Leeds CAB do not have landlines.
Common complaints include being kept on hold for long periods of time and people racking up hugely expensive phone bills, which they then struggle to pay.
Dianne Lyons, chief executive of Leeds CAB, said: "While '08' numbers were fine a few years ago when almost everyone had a landline, they are unfair and cause hardship now that half of our clients don't have landlines, so depend on a mobile phone.
"We're joining other bureaux in the region to call on the Government to stop this injustice now, by making sure calls to Government helplines cost the same from mobile phones as from landlines."
John Battle MP (Lab, Leeds West) is campaigning on the issue in Parliament.
He said: "When government was made accessible by telephone in the 1990s we did not imagine that those who needed the most help would only have access to mobile telephones.
"The consequence is that today people are forking out huge sums of money simply to collect their benefits.
"We need to update our systems and ensure that the most vulnerable in society have the best access to the services and benefits."
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Wednesday 08 February 2012
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