Can We Take The Dwp To Court For Misleading Information On Their Website??

[COUNTMEIN]

HI

 

I'm going 'back to basics here, BUT...Just looked on DWP / DIRECT GOV website and this was taken from it...

''Who can get Employment and Support Allowance

 

You may be able to claim Employment and Support Allowance if any of the following apply to you:

• your Statutory Sick Pay has ended, or you cannot get it
  
• you are self employed or unemployed ( this applies to me)
  
• you have been getting Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP) and have not gone back to work for your employer because you have an illness or disability which affects your ability to work
  
• you are under State Pension age ( this applies to me)
  

You must also either:

• have had an illness or disability which affects your ability to work for at least four days in a row (including weekends and public holidays) ( this applies to me)
  
• be unable to work for two or more days out of seven consecutive days ( this applies to me)
  
• be getting special medical treatment ( this applies to me).....
  

' so why Don't we get it??' - ( without having to fight tooth and nail for it, that is)........ SURELY A CASE FOR MISREPRESENTATION??/MISLEADING INFORMATION BY THEM ??

best wishes

countmein X

[kk3852]

I think that you will find out that the same page goes on to say....

 

Contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance

 

You may be entitled to claim contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance if you have paid enough National Insurance contributions.

Income-based Employment and Support Allowance

 

You may be entitled to claim income-based Employment and Support Allowance if you do not have enough money coming in, or you have not paid enough National Insurance contributions, and you satisfy the entitlement conditions.

This means that you have savings of less than £16,000 and, if you have a partner or civil partner, they work for less than 24 hours a week on average.

[ErikaPNP]

I can't see how it is misleading.

 

It doesn't say you will be entitled, it says you may be entitled.

 

Same with DCA letters. "We may take you to court". They rarely say "will" because that implicates a certainty rather than a possibility.

[RaeUK]

Yep, 'may' is a very big word ... !

Best wishes

Rae

[antone]

What Erika said. Basically, the website is laying out what are called the "generic conditions of entitlement". People who don't satisfy these will find their claims rejected outright and without further consideration. People who do satisfy these conditions aren't automatically entitled to benefit, hence the word "may".

 

If you think of it in terms of JSA, one of its generic conditions is that you must be looking for work. But that doesn't mean that everyone who is looking for work is entitled to JSA.