Every letter from DWP or JCP carry the same dire warnings of the consequences of not doing what they have decided you must do, whether what they are asking is reasonable or legal or not. This is the ‘culture of fear’ that IDS used to rant on about years ago. I thought most people had got wise to that one years age.
Yesterday I posted a link to a statement from The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions (Ms Esther McVey) no less, which says (among other things):
“The process of migrating claimants on legacy benefits will begin in July 2019 as previously announced”.
The letter of which you speak, threatening dire consequences unless the recipient began migrating or transferring within a week is, in my view, a direct contradiction of that statement.
They can’t both be right, can they?
Despite it being suggested that he contact his coach for clarification the recipient proceeded to initiate the transfer, which, as it turned out required him to see his coach in the end after all.
His coach, according to himself, appeared to be unaware of what the hell was going on, as was the JCP manager. It didn’t take them long, however, to be put in the picture and to fall in with the ‘con’.
They soon encouraged him to go on and to complete a process not dissimilar to the one undertaken when making his initial claim.
By this time he was persuaded that his circumstances had now changed and that, to all intents and purposes, he was now starting a new claim, which is, in fact, what happened.
The only thing that changed was the chain of events set in motion by changes initiated by himself to his benefit status by foul means and in total contravention of the law as it stands.
Please be advised that this is my interpretation of what has transpired in the example you quoted. The claimant referenced in your example has indicated his satisfaction with the outcome and the consequences of his actions from his point of view and I would not even attempt to persuade him otherwise.
From my point of view, I would have opted for a different course of action. Others, as always, will decide for themselves, after all, they will have to live with it.