Interminable forms

Dad died back in January.  His estate is sorted and the money distributed.  Then just a couple of weeks ago (you can see that it is dated 19/10) this form plopped through our door.  Most of his income was from private pensions - they all sorted themselves out very quickly, and either demanded money back that was overpaid, or paid out what they owed.  The DWP has taken 9 months!

5 sides of A4 to complete, many of the questions seeming unnecessary and "odd" - one of the first questions about dad was "what date did he die and where?"  Fair enough.  Then - is this a hospital? - yes.  When did he go into hospital? - I can't remember, a couple of weeks before he died? - luckily blip came to the rescue in researching that.  Next question - were all hospital charges, except for treatment, paid for privately?  Do you understand this question?  We do still treat most people in this country via the NHS - or are the DWP already gearing up for privatisation?

At this point I was losing the will to live, and I still had 4 more sides to go.  I capitulated and rang the helpline - which you will note is an 0345 number.  I thought there must be an "online" version that would be easier to complete, and in any case, if all they owed him was a couple of squid, it wasn't worth the angst.

No, there's no online version, and the amount was enough to make me grit my teeth and just complete the form.

I had to put my name and address into three different places, and my brother's into 2!  But it's done, and I await the payment with baited breath.  I now need the rest of the day to recover.