Service Records application - MOD response timescale

Discussion in 'Service Records' started by DanMorris1989, May 25, 2015.

  1. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Nanette I hope all goes well but if it doesnt and the wait is longer than 6 months and the international order gets cancelled let me know on here and we can try to sort payment out from this end

    regards
    Clive
     
    Tricky Dicky, 4jonboy and Tony56 like this.
  2. Reid

    Reid Historian & Architectural Photographer

    Oh Clive. That is so very kind of you - thanks so much!
    My fingers are crossed it will all go smoothly, but I'll certainly touch base, should it expire.
     
    CL1 likes this.
  3. MongoUK

    MongoUK Junior Member

    Hi Nanette,

    Just as a heads up, I sent mine off at the end of July and haven't heard anything yet, neither acknowledgement nor returned cheques. I even tried emailing for further instructions and have yet to receive a reply.

    Good luck with it though!

    Mongo
     
    Reid likes this.
  4. RobM

    RobM Active Member

    Yes, there must still be a long wait. Has anyone received records lately and how long was the process ?
    I applied for my grandad's last year (mid April). I did get told when I chased up it had been opened and I got a reference number in mid-October. Been waiting almost 13 months now.
    Fortunately I have photos, his release book and have been to Kew to read and copy a war diary. Also recently his RE tracer card went online too so I have, with help from people on here pieced much of his movements together. It has been like a jigsaw and would be good to finally get his military record to close the final gaps. Rob
     
    MongoUK likes this.
  5. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Give them a chase gov departments and companies are now being lazy arsed using the covid excuse and need a kick up their pants
     
    Wobbler, RobM, Owen and 2 others like this.
  6. Giberville

    Giberville Junior Member

    Emailed them last month (April) about my application, sent in January 2020, and got this:

    At the moment, I am afraid that no further action can be taken on your application, furthermore we are unable to provide a definitive date when a response will be issued to you. I sincerely regret to have to send you a disappointing response and ask for your patience and understanding in this matter.

    After months and months of patient waiting, I feel this is now a bit poor.
     
    RobM likes this.
  7. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    You are being very polite me old mate
    As I stated before the gov departments were very poor before this pandemic and now they use this as an excuse for their civil service incompetence if you behaved like this in the private sector you would be booted out.I have had the same lazy nonsense from IWM and Heritage.
    Drop a line Complaints procedure

    Get back in the office and earn your work and retirement benefits

    Regards
    Clive his/him/her/she/it/me/maybe
     
  8. AB64

    AB64 Senior Member

    It has crossed my mind that with the records at some point in the not too distant future moving over to the National Archives there may be an element of "kicking the ball into the long grass" and hope that by the time it gets raised as an issue they can fob people off as the process has started so they can't be accessed until they can finally claim the records are nothing to do with them go annoy someone else - I could be wrong though.
     
    Wobbler likes this.
  9. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    I helped a lady apply for her fathers records in October 2019 they arrived this morning 8th May 2021. 1 year 7months approx but she was given an update into the delay after 11 months.

    Additional:-

    Just heard another Gentleman whom applied for his fathers records on 6th March 2020 also received his records this morning 8th May 2021 ,1 year and 3 months approx he too was given an update after 7 months (both cases notification/update by email)

    Kyle
     
    Last edited: May 8, 2021
  10. Reid

    Reid Historian & Architectural Photographer

    The cheque thing is the worst part - last time I sent an international postal order which didn't expire, so the long wait wasn't at all concerning. Sadly, that has been taken over by WU, which is great if you're paying an individual, but utterly useless if you're paying a department like the MOD.:banghead:

    I'm thinking the cheque will expire well before they get to my application, given the experiences of members throughout this thread. My fingers are crossed that I'll at least get a nod it's been received, but your experience with this seems to infer even that is going to be a long shot.o_O

    Onwards and upwards and if it goes pear-shaped, I'll touch base with Clive to see if we can get the ball rolling again from the UK end. :)
     
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  11. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Please do no problem
     
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  12. I sent in my application for my father's records at the end of July 2020. Over six months have elapsed so the cheque will now be expired. Last month I sent an email to the address suggested on the previous page asking what happens in this instance. However, that question was not specifically answered in the reply, which was as follows:

    "Thank you for your email.


    I am sorry to inform you that as a consequence of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic and direction from the Scottish Government, the department is once again in lockdown. I have been supplied with a laptop to enable me to manage the team’s mailbox from home. Unfortunately the files necessary to process your request are only held in paper format and are not available electronically. We are therefore unable to process genealogy requests at this time.


    Following Scottish Government guidelines, the department worked from home from Friday 20 March 2020. Under the Scottish Government’s Route Map to recovery and in compliance with social distancing guidelines the department was only able to fully return to the office in September 20. A significant backlog of work had built up during the lockdown period as postal applications continued to be sent to the office.


    Regrettably these unprecedented circumstances mean that applications sent in the last year may not yet have been opened. However additional staffing resources have been identified and these will be utilised when lockdown is ended.


    At the moment, I am afraid that no further action can be taken on your application, furthermore we are unable to provide a definitive date when a response will be issued to you. I sincerely regret to have to send you a disappointing response and ask for your patience and understanding in this matter."

    The MOD obviously knew that there was going to be a huge backlog as the pandemic unfolded but continued - and still continue - to accept applications on the Gov.co.uk site. It still says "applications may take several months to process" which it said when I applied, but it has not been updated to advise applicants of the likely real time delays following the pandemic. So thousands of family members are still sending off their applications with no prior knowledge of this massive log jam and the pile just continues to get bigger and bigger. The ironic thing is the site says "Urgent cases will be given priority" but how will they even know if an application is urgent if it's taking over a year before envelopes are even getting opened, never mind processed.

    Given that the applications are all paper based, these thousands of A4 envelopes must be taking up a huge amount of filing/ storage space, with dozens more arriving daily to start a further pile!

    It also seems ludicrous that whilst just about everything on the Government gateway site is processed electronically and paid for electronically (passports, driving licences, road tax, HMRC tax to name but a few) this particular department still only operates using handwritten forms and outdated methods of payment. If we had been obliged to submit an electronic payment a part of an online application they would have been sitting on an absolute fortune in banked payments now - enough to pay to hire in all the extra staff they need to process it all....:rolleyes:
     
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  13. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    Shona

    As I stated before the gov departments were very poor before this pandemic and now they use this as an excuse for their civil service incompetence if you behaved like this in the private sector you would be booted out.I have had the same lazy nonsense from IWM and Heritage.
    Drop a line Complaints procedure

    Get back in the office and earn your work and retirement benefits

    Regards
    Clive his/him/her/she/it/me/maybe
     
  14. Mr Jinks

    Mr Jinks Bit of a Cad

    Sorry but somethings amiss here . I have in the last week been made aware of 17 sets of records been received in that time . The earliest application May 2019 the latest July 2020 . Each application was accompanied not by a cheque but an old fashioned postal order? Someone is working and copying ?

    Kyle
     
  15. idler

    idler GeneralList

    That's easier said than done when you can't open the door because of all the post on the doormat.
     
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  16. CL1

    CL1 116th LAA and 92nd (Loyals) LAA,Royal Artillery

    That will be the next thing "not my job to pick up the post not been trained in that"
     
    Wobbler likes this.
  17. Wobbler

    Wobbler Well-Known Member

    I want to get my uncle’s records as well as the records for my two cousins, both named below. I’ve been hanging on for all this Covid chaos to end in case my applications got lost in the mess of it all, but now I wonder whether I should have thrown my applications into the ring long ago as God knows how far down the waiting list I’ll be now for having waited. I mean, is it ever going to be back to “normal” with them any time soon anyway?

    Clearly the one thing I have learned from all of the posts here is to send an undated cheque when I do finally take the plunge.
     
  18. Essie

    Essie New Member

    Hello,

    I'm new here and have a question.
    My husband and I are from the Netherlands and a few weeks ago we adopted a war grave on Venray War Cemetry.
    We now want to fill in the form on the gov.uk website, but we can't find how we can pay.
    In one chapter they say you can pay when you're overseas but how? Do you really must put money in the enveloppe and just send it?
     
    J Kubra likes this.
  19. Reid

    Reid Historian & Architectural Photographer

    I have just sent a bank cheque in British pounds for the amount required to obtain my great-uncle's service record (GBP30). The only issue this may have is that the actual cheque expires before the search is complete (from memory it's valid for 6 months from the purchase date.) They wouldn't issue it for longer, but maybe your bank could be more helpful. :)
     
  20. Essie

    Essie New Member

    Hi, thank you for your replay. For I know I think we don't have cheques anymore, but will look into it.
     

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