what does ESA with the work related activity component

[ThePain]

Hi I think i have won my tribunal appeal but not sure what ESA with the work related activity component

means

[pedro4]

same result for me today,think it means an increase of payment of approx £25 per week,but we have to attend the job centre and do work focused classes....what i would like to know is this payment backdated since it has taken nearly 6 months to get the blody medical.....

[ThePain]

So where do we go from here,do we have to apply for esa or will the contact us

[maroondevo52]

Hi, ThePain.

 

I'll move this thread to the appropriate Forum.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[honeybee13]

Hi guys. ThePain, you have two threads running with the same OP. You could ask the site team to delete the other one that has no replies at the moment. If you click on the black triangle at the bottom of the other post, you can 'report' it to the site team and ask them to delete it. That way, you'll only have one set of replies and we won't get confused.

 

I'll have a look to see if I can find anything online about your question.

 

HB x

[honeybee13]

Hi Pedro. I think the payments are backdated. I can't remember the detail, but I have a sticky in the yellow messages above all the Benefits thread titles and I think the answer is in there. If not, please shout.

 

Well done on winning.

 

ThePain, I don't think you need to contact them, but we have guys here who know more than I do and hopefully they will comment.

 

HB x

[maroondevo52]

Hi, ThePain.

 

I have unapproved your other thread on this subject, please continue to post on this one.

 

Regards.

 

Scott.

[honeybee13]

Hi guys. The DWP has plenty on the Work Related Activity Group [WRAG], but it reads a bit like propaganda and I didn't find anything I thought might be worth posting here. But you could trawl the website.

 

I do know that originally, the Atos 'medical' assessment was meant to include a work-related assessment, but because of Atos backlogs, most assessments don't include the work-related part. You may be asked to see Atos again as someone here was the other day. I hope I'm not mixing up people who gained more than 15 points with other parts of the system.

 

I'm sure one of our gurus will be along soon to correct me if I need it.

 

HB x

[Two4Tuesday]

I was in the work related activity group between November 2009 and June 2010, while I was appealing the decision (I should have been in the Support Group).

 

I had to attend 6 work focussed interviews. During the first one, I was asked about my health, what I did before, and did a very basic reading/comprehension test.

 

The next 5 interviews were over in less than 5 minutes each. During each one, I was asked how I was getting on with my appeal (each time I was still waiting to hear from the tribunals service), and I signed a piece of paper to say I would let them know if my situation changed. That's basically all that was done.

 

In the end, I did win my appeal (decision was changed on reconsideration) and was put onto the Support Group and paid £150 in compensation, as well as receiving my backdated arrears of over £800.

Edited November 16, 2010 by Two4Tuesday
Potential confusion between compensation and arrears

[HadEnough]

Hi well done to both posters on your wins

 

I'm almost certain it gets back dated from the 13th week of your claim so theres money coming your way.

 

I won my appeal 3 weeks ago but still not recieved my back pay, i've heard it takes about 6 weeks so you should get it in time for christmas.

 

The Pain, wow only six months, mine took 9 and i felt lucky, i've heard of 11 or 12 being about normal now.

 

Congratz again to you both:whoo:

[antone]

Hi Pedro. I think the payments are backdated. I can't remember the detail, but I have a sticky in the yellow messages above all the Benefits thread titles and I think the answer is in there. If not, please shout.

 

Well done on winning.

 

ThePain, I don't think you need to contact them, but we have guys here who know more than I do and hopefully they will comment.

 

HB x

 

Yep, payments should be backdated to week 13 of the claim, so the extra £25 approx Work-Related Activity Component will be due. As already mentioned, people in the WRAG are required to attend 6 work-focused interviews at either the Jobcentre or a private agency known as a Pathways Provider. The interviews should not be more frequent than one per month. Although people have reported feeling harassed and pressured by the interviewer, the WFI can't be used to adversely affect your benefit as long as the customer attends as required and "participates". The thing about "participating" is to ensure that one can't just show up and maintain a sullen silence , as long as the customer goes through the motions all should be well.

 

In theory, it shouldn't be necessary to contact them, but my experience in ESA processing leads me to suggest that it's a good idea to call the BDC after a couple of weeks. Appeal results have to go to a DM at first, then to the processors, so that's at least two places where they can sit untouched in a pile of paperwork.

[furnitman2003]

Quote

As already mentioned, people in the WRAG are required to attend 6 work-focused interviews at either the Jobcentre or a private agency known as a Pathways Provider. The interviews should not be more frequent than one per month. Although people have reported feeling harassed and pressured by the interviewer,

 

These interviews where a complete waste of time, I did'nt even have all six before the following occurred:

 

She then said ok, this is your last session, if your still on ESA we will see you again in three years.

 

I then asked her what exactly was the point of all this, nothing has been achieved, its been a complete waste of time, she said the government are trying to get everybody off benefits, as there is not the money in the pot, there is always something people can do, I then said some people are just not physicaly or mentaly able to work, she then said well they are put in the support group.

 

I then argued that to be in the support group you have to be dead or dieing, Atos vary rarely assess people for the support group, they just assess as many as they can as fit for work, so they come off of benefits, she did agree that Atos were'nt very good, but then said their is always something people can do, there is no reason for anyone to be out of work.

 

That really wound me up.

 

She went on to say she has people on her books in wheelchairs who are doing some form of work, there is no excuse.

I was begining to loose it at this point.

 

so I then said we will have to agree to disagree, but as I see it the government don't give a damn, just so long as they save money.

 

As I said, a complete waste of time, and you come away feeling like s..t

[antone]

Furnitman, yeah, plenty of people I encountered as an ESA processor said similar things. Although I did once encounter a customer who had been reassessed to the Support group and was worried that he wouldn't be able to go to WFIs any more. Obviously he felt they were of some value, but reactions like yours were far more common.

 

Incidentally, people in the Support group can attend WFIs voluntarily.

[frank_begbie]

She went on to say she has people on her books in wheelchairs who are doing some form of work, there is no excuse.

I was begining to loose it at this point.

 

so I then said we will have to agree to disagree, but as I see it the government don't give a damn, just so long as they save money.

 

 

 

Exactly, this is what its all about, they just won't admit it.

 

They just keep coming out with all the bull****.

 

"you're much better off in work, we want to help the people that want to work"

 

I'm sure all the employers can't wait to take a disabled person on.

[pedro4]

hi to all dont know if i am asking my questions in the right place ..ie should i start a new thread,pretty basic knowledge on the computer,( late developer)....posted above regarding succesful esa tribuneral...strange thing though,backdated esa paid into bank 4 days after esa tribuneral......now 4 days after that (today) ,recieved same amount into my bank account,am assuming this is a clerical mistake and i have been paid twice for same award period,can anyone enlighten me regarding this....many thanks..

[honeybee13]

Hello again. It may or may not be a mistake. Do you know what you were owed going back to day 91 of your claim I think it is, give or take a day or two? And have you had any letters from the DWP?

 

When I won my appeal for IB, which they had stopped completely, I received a series of letters and payments so they could catch up with what I should have received. From memory, they were all around 8 weeks' worth, but it was hard to work out what was going on.

 

If you can post anything that might tell us, please have a go.

 

My best, HB

[pedro4]

thank you for quick response HONEYBEE, 4 days ago £1146.88 paid into bank account....(4 days after appeal,which i thought was a bit quick)...and today £1146.89 paid into bank account....note their is a penny difference between the two amounts....personally i think it is some sort of clerical error on the part of whoever calculates the esa award amounts.....trying to get a bit of feedback before i contact DWP

[pedro4]

sorry ,both these awards arrived with letters from job centre plus/regarding claim for esa

[honeybee13]

Hello again. Just to do this in fairly simple maths, are you owed the difference between the assessment and your proper entitlement? If so, do you happen to know the difference [around £30 a week rings a bell] and how many weeks?

 

The letters from the DWP, do they make any mention of what dates they're paying you from and to? That's what mine said, but you may not be getting the same letter.

 

My best, HB

[pedro4]

hi Hb,both award letters cover the same period..from jan 2010 to nov 2010....and the increase is £25.90...for the work related activity group......I personally think it is a mistake made by the people who calculate the award....if so ,how do i give them it back....

[honeybee13]

Hi there. Yes, it does sound like a double payment. I hope someone with more in-depth knowledge will be along to comment, but you could send a letter to whichever department sent the cheques and query it. I don't think you intend to, but don't spend all the money until they reply about the second cheque.

 

My best, HB

[antone]

I did a double take on this one (for those who don't know, I used to process and pay ESA) because paying someone twice for the same period is actually quite an uncommon error. The system makes it somewhat difficult to do. But a "back of the envelope" calculation does suggest that you are right and they have overpaid you by issuing a duplicate payment.

 

I'd confirm that first: contact the Benefit Delivery Centre (not your local Jobcentre) that pays your claim. Their number will be on the letters. Don't expect the telephony adviser that you first speak to to be able to explain what's happening - he or she probably won't have access to the necessary information and systems - so you'll likely get a callback from the processing section.

 

First ask them to explain what the payments are for, and if they agree that it's a clerical error, tell them that you'd like to pay the whole overpayment back ASAP. It's their mistake, so they should do everything they can to fix it with minimum inconvenience to you. However, despite the way it appears, it's actually a lot easier for a processor to pay benefit than to take it back. It may take a while for your query to land on the desk (or email inbox) of someone who can help.

Edited November 25, 2010 by antone
Clarity

[pedro4]

thank you for your replies,it does look to me like it may be mistake and it is an overpayment,I suffer from sever anxiety and panic attacks and actually found this letter to be a very stressful and I am really worried how I am going to get this returned.who am I supposed to give it to ,will I get a reciept.in case they lose it....again thank you for your reply,could have phoned the job centre,but I dont trust them...they would probably say stick it in an envelope and send it to such and such....

[antone]

thank you for your replies,it does look to me like it may be mistake and it is an overpayment,I suffer from sever anxiety and panic attacks and actually found this letter to be a very stressful and I am really worried how I am going to get this returned.who am I supposed to give it to ,will I get a reciept.in case they lose it....again thank you for your reply,could have phoned the job centre,but I dont trust them...they would probably say stick it in an envelope and send it to such and such....

 

At no point should anyone say "just stick it in an envelope and send it to us" and if they do, refuse and ask to speak to that person's manager.

 

What happens is that there is a section dedicated to overpayments, and the matter will probably be passed to them. The telephony staff and payment processors are not trained in how to take payments, so shouldn't tell you how to return the money unless they are acting on direct advice from someone on the overpayments team.

 

Don't panic. It's their mistake, and you've spotted it early and haven't spent the money or anything. Just put it aside and wait for them to tell you how to repay. And you won't be expected to return it via any method that doesn't leave a paper trail.

[pedro4]

Thank you for your reply,I will phone tomorrow and let them know,but to be on the safe side will probably speak to my welfare advisor to see if they can deal with it on my behalf...again thank you for your advice...