Charities and human rights campaigners have warned that thousands of asylum seekers are at risk of going hungry for 10 days or more after multiple reports of problems with cash cards provided by the Home Office. The Home Office gives £39.63 a week to asylum seekers in the form of a debit card called an Aspen card. Until Friday 21 May these were administered by the facilities management company Sodexo. But this week the contract has been taken over by a new company, Prepaid Financial Services, which is replacing the old Aspen cards with new ones. Asylum seekers and charities across the UK supporting them are reporting problems including new cards not arriving, people receiving cards with other people’s names on or no money showing up on the new cards once asylum seekers have activated them. The Home Office has acknowledged that there are teething problems with the new cards but says that asylum seekers do not need to go hungry if their cards aren’t working because a system of emergency payments is available. A document from UK Visas & Immigration seen by the Guardian stated: “We acknowledge that some cards have not reached service users since they were dispatched.” It added: “Due to the bank holiday most replacement cards should arrive on or by Tuesday June 1st”. This is 10 days after the contractor changed. It said that “once the action is processed” the aim is for emergency cash payments to be issued within the next 24 hours. These payments have been increased from £20 to £40. However, the asylum seekers are asked to contact the helpline operated by Home Office contractor, Migrant Help, and the document admits that due to the volume of calls relating to this issue not all calls are answered immediately and so people should call back “at another time” if they can’t get through. “We understand that this is challenging and potentially frustrating for individuals.” According to the document one of the problems is that some of the transactions made under Sodexo need to be married up with transactions made with the new contractor. “We are currently in the process of reconciling such transactions with both providers,” it said. Gemma Driver, development and communications coordinator at the charity Sanctuary in Chichester, said: “We know a family with a toddler and a month-old baby who have just arrived in our area. When we explained about the gap in service during the card switch, they said they hadn’t received their new cards but some had been sent to them in other people’s names. Migrant Help told the family they would have to wait 10 days for new cards to be issued.” Robina Qureshi of Positive Action In Housing which is based in Glasgow, said that the charity was providing emergency food and money to asylum seekers left hungry following the card changeover. “There is a tsunami of suffering coming to these families because of this shambolic change,” she said. Since Monday Positive Action In Housing say they have received more than 250 complaints from asylum seekers in Glasgow about problems with the new Aspen cards and more than 100 complaints from asylum seekers in other parts of the UK. A Home Office spokesperson said: “A new service to provide asylum seekers with financial support went live on Monday and we are assisting everyone affected to ensure they get access to their payments swiftly. We provided clear advice to asylum seekers that they must activate their new cards prior to the service going live and the vast majority of individuals have done so. Those who have issues or are unsure how they can activate their cards are able to contact the 24/7 Migrant Help helpline. Accommodation providers can facilitate emergency cash payments in the meantime.” Prepaid Financial Services has been approached for comment.