ESA dis-belief

[jocabade84]

Hi there,

 

I have been on ESA since August 2009. In January 2011 I attended the medical and scored zero points, the medical person simply did not listen to anything I was saying, evidenced by the fact he put down i could deal with my post etc myself (which considering I had missed the previous medical in December 2010 due to not opening post is quite ridiculous). I asked them o look at the decision again imemdiately,they claimed this was received late despite proof by recorded delivery stating not - eventually they looked at it again and said wasn't overturning decision. I then appealed (continued to send in sick notes etc) in march (within 28days from their letter) and again in april 2011 - had an acknowledgement of my letter dated 1st april 2011 and saying would look at again (3 days after a letter saying had looked at again and no change and that I had four weeks to appeal) and if not changed would go to tribunal. So i again wrote to them setting out reasons asking why ignoring my letters. Been writing about every 3 weeks, sending in evidenc etc. My partner called 2 weeks ago and was told my claim was closed in April 2011. They deny all sick notes (despite me holding the proof). We were called back and said reason not gone to appeal was there was a query did I have a partner and there was a sick note missing (the sick note they said they had was actually backdated to include the period they said it wasnt). They were informed in january 2010 that I had moved in with my partner, again in April 2010 at a medical and again in October 2010. I never had to fill in anything in relation to steve. However when steve called they said I ahd to fill in a change of circ form. So when the form arrived i looked through it, there are no changes they are unaware of and I do not wish to switch from contrib to income related as the form says. The comp slip said tell us about any changes. I decided not to fill it in and drafted a letter to them. I was going to send this on monday explaining why I wasnt and giving them dates they were informed of changes etc and proof when I today received a letter (this time in responce to my appeal letter in march) saying they had changed their decision and placed me in work related group No mention of money, no mention of when payments or backdated money will be paid.

 

My question is this: Will the team hold off paying me pending this change of circs form and do i need to write to them or do I leave it, what happens now how long to they start paying me - I have not been paid anything since failing the medical. I cant believe it took them 5 months to look at the decision again (yet in the meantime closing my case). Will I get it backdated etc.

[leemack]

You do need to inform them you ave a partner, it is a notifiable change of circumstances. However, you won't be switched to income based ESA if you are on contribution based benefit. They do, however, have to enter your partner's details onto their computer system, and will need to take those details from you. And yes can withold payment until they get the info they want.

 

I suggest you put in an official complaint about all this, detailing everything, which hopefully should get someone senior to look at the matter. Include copies of all of your med certs and proofs of postage and partner's details.

 

Any monies will be backdated once the matter is sorted.

[jocabade84]

So it seems they have yet again (edit) ... I received a letter dated 1st august in reference to my march letter saying they had looked at it again and changed the decision i was entitled. Yet 2 weeks on I called today and guess what they have lost the leter and apparently it is all made up!! This is stupid. What details do i ned to put in writing about my partner as im writing to them again tomorrow - retelling them everything they already know - i cannot fill in the esa3 as theres been no change since my daughter was born (aug 2010) so am now at a total loss ... how do i put a complaint in

Edited August 17, 2011 by ErikaPNP
please do not circumvent the swear filter

[ErikaPNP]

For your partner, you should provide his full name, date of birth and National Insurance Number. If they need additional information they will ask for it.

 

To put in a complaint you write a letter to the office, with the subject line 'Complaint'. Tell them what you are complaining about, include as much information as possible, such as dates, and include any evidence you have in support of your complaint.

[jocabade84]

So we provided all of that information in january 2010, june 2010, october 2010, and again in a letter. I had a friend who is a qualified solicitor call and it seems the claim is now income based despite jcp telling me contrib based (my partner works more than 24 hours). They told her it was clsoed because i was not entitled to it, but i would state that even if not entitled to payments i am to the ni contribs. I also dispute not being entitled to payments, as of jan 2010 i had enough payments for the 2 years. My question tiday is as we told them in jan 2010 should they not have told us we were not entitled to income related esa in 2010 and allowed me to transfer to the contrib based esa as i had sufficient credits or would a new application have to be made?

 

I have today written to the jcp manager and hoepfully will hear back soon.

 

Any advice still greatefully appreciated.

[jocabade84]

I forgot to ask how would one go about getting onto contribution based esa .... i applied in aug 2009 , by jane 2010 i had enough ni contribs (without the esa credits) from my work the previous 2 tax years. My partner moved in jan 2010, jan 7th i received a letter amending the details of my original claim (same amounts) when queired I was told this was because my partner had moved in. So I thought it was contributions based. But obviously if my tax records are enough credits in 2010 should i have reapplied in 2010, should they have told me to reapply or will they automatically transfer me over to the contributions based esa.? The reason I ask is as my partner works 60+ hours (self employed) and still made a loss last year, and as I have the contributions to be on contributions based I will fight this if its something they should have done. Very confusing. Do they automatically transfer u between the two or is this something you need to apply.

[leemack]

Whether or not you can claim contribution based benefit is dependant on the national insurance contributions paid in the two tax years before the benefit year in which you claim.

 

Tax years run April to April, and the benefit year starts in January.

 

Therefore a claim starting in 2009 will be based on tax years 06-07 and 07-08.

 

The only way to change the tax years your claim is based on is to have a break in claim of (I think) 12 weeks, but that probably doesn't help you now.