I was a long time Income Support / ESA claimant until I moved in with my partner four years ago, and because they work over 30 hrs it was stopped.

In that time of no longer being a claimant,

I have worked,

been a full time parent and thought I was free from the useless DWP,

but I have constantly been harassed by post and in person by them.

Despite moving various times across the country,

I am still getting letters as if I have I have reapplied for ESA and they are refusing my application

(I haven't applied),

telling me from a certain date in the future, my ESA will change to £0 (I don't receive ESA) or them making appointments for me to attend fit for work interviews.

I never give them my new address' which means they must get it from HMRC.

So if they know my new addresses, why can they not see I am not a claimant?!

The final straw has been in the last few weeks, when I have started having people from the DWP Visiting Team come to my home to check my benefits (that I don't receive and am not eligible for).

Luckily, I am never in when they turn up so just get a rescheduling letter (How many times until they give up and don't come back?)

At the start of all this I just ignored the letters,

thinking no-one could be that stupid,

then after about a year I started returning them all as RTS and writing on the envelope that I don't receive benefits, to check their records and to stop contacting me.

They haven't listened and them turning up at my home doesn't help my anxiety.

I do not want to talk or deal with these idiots anymore, so what should my next move be?

Legal action for harassment?

A long complaint letter to someone high up?

Is their plan just to grind people down until total compliance?

I shouldn't have to answer to them anymore.

Have you spoken to your MP?

Yes, speak to your MP. In a clear cut case like this (where it's quite obviously just institutional incompetence) contact from an MP can sort out a lot of problems.

It sounds as if you have never actually closed down your claim for sickness based income support or ESA and that your claim continues as 'credits only'' This means that you are being awarded a national insurance credit and still have to be assessed as being unfit for work.

Have you ever written to them and asked for your claim to be closed?

It sounds as if you have never actually closed down your claim for sickness based income support or ESA and that your claim continues as 'credits only'' This means that you are being awarded a national insurance credit and still have to be assessed as being unfit for work.

Have you ever written to them and asked for your claim to be closed?

That's a good point, actually - I must have been out the loop too long. Never thought of it.

Have you spoken to your MP?

No I didn't even think of that as an option.

It sounds as if you have never actually closed down your claim for sickness based income support or ESA and that your claim continues as 'credits only'' This means that you are being awarded a national insurance credit and still have to be assessed as being unfit for work.

Have you ever written to them and asked for your claim to be closed?

I have never heard of such a thing. Surely if you are no longer eligible then your account is automatically closed? None of the letters I received mentioned I have to close down something or 'credits' only ESA.

Hi, I might have some things wrong because I haven't worked on benefits for a while BUT - sorry for the bullet points but its better than rambling on.

*your benefit stopped being paid when you moved in with your partner.

*because you had been accepted as being unfit for work, moving in with your partner just stopped the payments and not the underlying entitlement to IS/ESA as you were still unfit for work but not entitled to any benefit because of your circumstances

*so the claim will still be open and you will be awarded national insurance credits

*if they had been aware that you had started work your claim could have been closed down

*you mention that the visiting team had been trying to contact you, that suggests to me that whatever your incapacity is/was meant that you were classed as being in a vulnerable group (ie, higher rate DLA etc) so they cannot just close down your claim without contacting you

*your address will have been updated on the computer system as it is shared with HMRC but that will not show the DWP when you started work

I would suggest that they best way to sort this out would be to write to them, or probably better to contact the visiting officer to tell them that you were not aware that your claim was still active and to give them the dates that you started work.

Thanks for the help.

I sent a long letter to the head office in London today asking what they are upto so hopefully I will hear back soon.

If I get any more home visits, I will either ignore or tell them to wait until I have heard back about my complaint.