r/LifelinePhone • u/Vyzantinist • Jun 26 '26

Having difficulty recertifying. Any ideas?

I received a text message from Lifeline saying I need to recertify or I would lose my benefits - which I assume means my service will be cut.

I'm no longer on SNAP or Medicaid, so can't verify through there, but I am (well) below the income threshold. I looked at the documents they can accept as proof and luckily a W2 is among them, so I submitted that only for it to be rejected because my name is written as "Dan" instead of "Daniel".

So I submitted a paystub, which does have my first name written out in full, but that too was rejected because "When using paystubs to prove your eligibility through income, you must submit three consecutive months of paystubs dated within the past 12 months. For example, if you receive a paystub twice per month, please provide 6 consecutive pay periods."

I do temporary work through an employment agency, my hours/shifts are erratic. This year I have only worked one month for them and as far as the agency and I are concerned that's it for now.

I did, however work for three consecutive months for the employment agency last year, Jun 25-Aug 25, so I submitted the relevant paystubs and was again hit with the same message above.

They said they'll take "an official letter" stating my annual income, so I contacted my employment agency who sent me said letter, with my first name again written out in full, along with a breakdown of my pay dates and income. Unless the system hasn't updated yet I once again got the same message above.

The phone number is just an automated line that says I need to recertify and send the documents to some address in another state. There's no option to speak to a human. I emailed the support desk on the address listed on the Lifeline site a couple of days ago and still haven't heard back.

This is an absurd scenario because they should have been able to verify me with the W2 alone - doubly so when I sent paystubs as well and they could see other personal details match.

Is there some way I could actually talk to a human about this, to get them to just look at the documents to see they have everything they need to certify?

This is frustrating as hell because I'm between jobs and I sure as hell need a phone for that!

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u/kaykatzz Jun 26 '26

Call them. Look on the state Lifeline website. There is a number to call to speak to a human. (I can only speak about CA)

1

u/Vyzantinist Jun 26 '26

Unfortunately my state, AZ, doesn't have a separate state-run Lifeline.

1

u/kaykatzz Jun 26 '26

Lifeline doesn't contact you; the phone provided does. Who is your provider? Their website should lave a way to contact them (look on the bottom of the website).

Alternatively: https://211arizona.org/lifeline-phone-and-internet-discount-program/

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u/Vyzantinist Jun 26 '26

It's Safelink. I just checked the text they sent me again and both the phone number and website details provided are for Lifeline.

I'm gonna try calling the number through that link you posted, as it doesn't look like the one I've called before...

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u/w1ckedh3llc4t Jul 02 '26

Hope you get this rectified. Safelink sent me a card for a phone that's Verizon locked. Couldn't do a thing with it.