i am hoping you can help. i need the number for enquiries about income support in blackburn. i have this following number but obviously it is costly for me so i would appreciate a geographical number. the number is 08456088502. i have rang blackburn jobcentre but they have given me this number which is no good for me. :-[
~ Edited by Dave: Thread title amended

The only trace of that 0845 number I can find is in this PDF here on Twin Valley Home's website which identifies it as being "other benefits (existing claims)".

What numbers have you tried? What is the correspondence address on letters/forms? Please provide any other useful information you may have like this.

From the PDF file, Jobcentre in Penny Street is given as 01254 343600. Is this the number you tried?

THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR YOUR REPLY. AFTER DOING RESEARCH I HAVE FOUND OUT THAT FOR EXIXTING CLAIMS, YOU HAVE TO RING THE BURNLEY BENEFIT DELIVERY CENTRE ON THE NUMBER I GAVE YOU. FOR TEXTPHONE IT IS 08456088502.ON MY POST I HAVE THE ADDRESS FOR DEPARTMENT OF WORK AND PENSION.

What is the address for DWP you have? Please post it on the forum.

The address is :
Palatine House
Lancaster road
preston
PR1 1ZU

And putting the post code, in quotes, into Google like this reveals one result here which is dated 07/08/04.

The telephone number given is 01253 856123 which rings out now.

If there is any problem with the number Dave gave try the Benefit Delivery Centre in Bolton on 01204 367 000.

What telephone service do you normally use, BT, mobile, payphone, etc?

Dave wrote on Nov 3^rd, 2007 at 7:49pm:

alisha wrote on Nov 3rd, 2007 at 7:43pm: The address is : Palatine House Lancaster road preston PR1 1ZU And putting the post code, in quotes, into Google like this reveals one result here which is dated 07/08/04. The telephone number given is 01253 856123 which rings out now.

And that code,01253, is the Blackpool code?

01253 is the Blackpool code but DWP/Jobcentre/Benefits offices are regionally centralised (in this instance it is Lancashire), and telephone enquiries are dealt with by call centres -  this why addresses and phone codes don't necessarily tie up.

The number Dave gave, 01253 856123, is shown on various websites as being for claiming Carers' Allowance, but without talking to them there is no way of knowing what a particular office actually deals with.

That is also the reason why I gave the phone number for the Benefit Delivery Centre in Bolton - 01204 367 000 which may be the right place for income support.

Blackburn, Burnley, Bolton, Preston are all in the same area.

lompos wrote on Nov 4^th, 2007 at 11:59am:

01253 is the Blackpool code . . . Blackburn, Burnley, Bolton, Preston are all in the same area.

Yes I know that as I live in Preston, (and the 4 locations you have mentioned have 4 different codes), but it does seem a bit peculiar to give an address in the centre of Preston and end it with a Blackpool phone code.

Having said that, the main offices,(call centre?), are in Blackpool.  ;)

The Burnley Benefits Delivery Centre is located at Brun House, Kingsway, Burnley BB11 1AG. However, their postal address is Pittman Way, Preston PR11 2AL.

One can phone the Burnley Benefits Delivery Centre directly via 01282 473 200.  This is the number of the Job Centre Plus in Burnley but if you ask for the BDC they will put you through. Once connected there is a warning about the cost of calls from mobiles and service providers other than BT, so this must be the non-geographic number (0845 608 8502). Option 1 is for income support.

:)

Please note that if you are calling Monday-Friday daytime from a BT landline with BT Together Option 1, it is actually cheaper to use the 0845 number than the geographic number.

lompos wrote on Nov 5^th, 2007 at 10:06am:

Please note that if you are calling Monday-Friday daytime from a BT landline with BT Together Option 1, it is actually cheaper to use the 0845 number than the geographic number.

Not if you use a prefix 1889,1886,18185 etc, as the first minute to 0845 will cost you 8p,(6p conn + 2p per minute), increasing by 2p per minute, call an 01 number,(if it can be found), via a prefix will cost 5/6p for the duration of the call!

Have another look at this thread for more info;- http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1193999940

Why are you promoting 0845 numbers if/when 01 numbers are available?  :-?

Quote:

Why are you promoting 0845 numbers if/when 01 numbers are available?

This is not promotion, simply informing the requestor of the fact that if he/she is a BT Together Option 1 user (in common with hundreds of thousands if not millions of people) then in this instance calling the 0845 number would be cheaper than using the underlying 01/02 number, which I actually found and added to the database.

There are other service providers of course, and BT don't only have Option 1. Has it occurred to you that may be someone on income support, which this post was about, may not have a plastic card needed for registering for one of the cheaper services like 1899, 18866, etc.?

Why do you particularly want to increase BT's revenue when the requestor could get away with paying them less if she is a BT Together Option 1 user?

Don't you think that this site is about informing consumers about the best deal under their particular circumstances?

DAVE, PLEASE TRANSFER THIS POST AND THE PREVIOUS ONE TO GEOGRAPHICAL NUMBERS CHAT  "COST OF 0845 CALLS"

lompos wrote on Nov 5^th, 2007 at 10:05pm:

Has it occurred to you that may be someone on income support, which this post was about, may not have a plastic card needed for registering for one of the cheaper services like 1899, 18866, etc.?

Yes it had, but then they might have a plastic card,(or know someone who has), as I replied to you on this threads;- http://www.saynoto0870.com/cgi-bin/forum/YaBB.cgi?num=1193999940 ;-

"You could still mislead the requester if you do not give them ALL the info", and that includes the prefix numbers so that they can decide for themselves, you seem to be only promoting the 0845!

Quote:

You could still mislead the requester if you do not give them ALL the info", and that includes the prefix numbers so that they can decide for themselves, you seem to be only promoting the 0845!

So what would be a practical response to a simple request for the underlying geographic number to an 0845 number, as in this particular case when the requestor wanted to contact a BDC about his/her income support claim?

Would you deliberately conceal the fact that in this instance it might be cheaper to use 0845 rather than the geog number?

Whatever we say lots of people (probably millions) are and will continue to use BT Together Option 1.  Should they be denied advice on how to reduce their costs even if they are not prepared to change to a different provider?

Does dogma rule over common sense?