Maddening unknown ERROR prevents me from getting on BTHomeEssentials

[LumiRusu]

I have been trying REPEATEDLY since LAST YEAR (yes, you read that right) to apply for BT Home Essentials, as I qualify for it ( I've been in receipt of Universal Credit for over a year, with no other source of income).

The problem is, every time I get to the verification page, the system returns an error message reading "There is a problem with the info you entered. Check your details below and try again". Well, I did check them, COUNTLESS times, they are CORRECT!

I called the BT Customer Service repeatedly, and they checked themselves. Everything appears accurate on the file. Everyone puzzled.

I then also called a few times DWP, to check if my name, my date of birth, my National Insurance Number are correct, and they are!

I have kept hitting the same wall since March 2022! I've been sent from pillar to post to no avail. During this period, I had months when I got exhausted by getting nowhere with my application for BT HE and sort of 'accepted defeat', continuing to pay £50-60/month for my BT bill, whilst I should have been paying only £20/ month or so if on a HE contract!

I have now reached the end of my patience, and the bottom of my savings pot. I can no longer afford to pay each month three times more than I could possibly afford, and nobody seems able to help me get to the bottom of it, and find out WHAT THE PROBLEM is.

I offered BT to provide all the necessary evidence that I am a Universal Credit recipient and have no other source of income, but they responded that only if the system verification went through and showed me as qualifying for BT H E, I could switch to it.

I told them I was disposed to terminate earlier the current contract (which ends in Jan. 2024) without having to pay the high early termination fee (I could not afford that), and to start clean slate with a new BT contract if that helps. Again, was told that the system might still throw the error if the underlying cause (which nobody seems to know what is) does not get fixed.

The point is I DO QUALIFY. Yet the computer says 'No!'

What details exactly are being cross-checked with DWP, so we can look AGAIN at those and see what - if anything - does not match?

PLEASE HELP!

I can provide all the necessary info to the BT moderators who can help look into this totally unfair, and utterly frustrating situation.

Many thanks!

[gg30340]

One thing you have not mentioned/confirmed is are you the BT Broadband account holder as named on the bill and is it spelt correctly on the BT account/bill.

[LumiRusu]

Thank you for your prompt reply, Distiguished Sage!

YES, I am the BT Broadband account holder, and my name is spelled correctly on the BT account & bill, exactly the same as it is on the DWP records.

[gg30340]

I have notified the moderators of the forum about your problem. Once they have read this they may be able to help. They will advise you by posting on this thread.

[LumiRusu]

I just checked again... on the bill, only my first name's initial appears next to my full surname. I am guessing that is a standard, right?
On the BT account details and personal info details on the website, my name appears in full and correctly spelled.

[LumiRusu]

Thank you very much!

[Les-Gibson]

Try entering your personal details exactly as they are on your BT bill, including your postcode if for some reason it is shown wrongly 

[DanielS]

Hi @LumiRusu,

When we submit our request to the DWP we send across your National Insurance number, name and date of birth.

They need to match the DWP's database exactly. That includes any special characters such as '-'.

I'm going to send you a private message so we can try and work out what's causing the rejection for you.

Thank you

DanielS

[LumiRusu]

Thank you, Mr LesGibson!

I already did what you suggest..., to no avail!

I think there is something wrong at the back end of my file on the DWP system..., probably a minor difference that causes all this trouble!

[LumiRusu]

Thank you, Daniel!
I replied to your private message with all the info you requested.
Indeed, the dash in my double-barrelled surname may cause trouble on various technology systems, because they 'translate' it differently (and some of these systems, such as certain airlines etc., did not even recognise the dash, they just joined together the two surnames, as I experienced in the past).