GAH! Fucking government...

[cerah]

Ok... so I got laid off at the end of April. Thankfully I knew it was coming so I had money saved up... enough to cover my ass for the nearly two months it took for my EI to go through after lots of bullshit and them wanting to deny my claim.

I've been trying to sort out my MSP for about the last year and all I've been getting is the run around. I never get bills only arrears notices. Then when I lost my job I tried to apply for temporary premium assistance. Basically if you get it it freezes your debt during times of hardship until you can pay it off. This is a once per lifetime deal though.

So I keep getting these arrears notices saying I owe this money and it's accumulating. I get my application sent back because they needed more information. I send it in again... more payments are accumulating.

Today I get a letter back saying I've been denied because my income exceeds basic living expenses.

After talking to a bunch of gov. people and their collection branch they want me to make payments on the $648 I now owe them AND the monthly $54 payment which was based on my 2003 net income.

This $54 puts me into more debt elsewhere and I said I could try n pay them $60 in total so I'd be paying off a measly $6/month on $648 until I get a job (which I'm trying to get for September).

Sure it's not HUGE debt... it's like $10 a month... but still the fact of the matter is the temp. premium assitance plan is put there to help you out in these kind of situations. Apparently they take into account the monthly MSP fee when they make a decision. What I don't get is if they did then why did they deny it to me?

This is so fucking frustrating.

Now I have to appeal their fucking decision and hopefully straighten this all out.

[iluvtechno]

i'd just pay the 650 off...... it's not a lot of money.....

[miss.myra]

Hey Cerah, you know who I work for right? If you needed help with this stuff you should have let me know earlier!

Anyways, the ministry of prov. revenue that administers the TPA program is really really tough with handing it out to people, I'd say that I see a good 80% of applicants rejected for this assistance. You're definitely not alone. Then again, I've seen people who are billed at a premium of only 10 bucks a month who've been granted this assistance for like 8 months (who can't afford 10 extra dollars a month)

I would very strongly advise you, if possible, to actually give the ministry a call (I can give you #'s) unless they insist of submitting a written appeal. Their paperwork is so backlogged that by the time a decision is made, you'll probably have accrued a much larger debt and it can only backdate to a certain point.

[miss.myra]

ps- if you'd like, with your permission I can look up your application and let you know what would help you...

[G-Style]

Myra you're wicked. Not many people are as helpful and giving as you are. And no I'm not being sarcastic!

[iluvtechno]

Originally Posted by G-Style

Myra you're wicked. Not many people are as helpful and giving as you are. And no I'm not being sarcastic!

G-Style, you are very helpfull when people come and want to spend money at your work right?

[cerah]

Originally Posted by iluvtechno

i'd just pay the 650 off...... it's not a lot of money.....

$650 may not be a lot of money to you but when you're only JUST making enough and you've had to move and change all sorts of shit in your life just to be able to pay your bills then maybe you should come and talk to me.

[cerah]

Originally Posted by miss.myra

ps- if you'd like, with your permission I can look up your application and let you know what would help you...

*cuddles teh myra*

It's because I totally forgot who you worked for. All they gave me was an address so I've written up a letter. I'll PM you my account number though.

*kisses*

[G-Style]

Yeha this is true!

[miss.myra]

Originally Posted by G-Style

Myra you're wicked. Not many people are as helpful and giving as you are. And no I'm not being sarcastic!

haha thanks, there's this crazy rumor going around that sometimes I can be a nice, helpful person....but not always ;)