DWP Income Support Appeal won

[jojopo000]

Hi,

I have a question for you all. I was accused last year of living with my ex, on monday the decision was set aside and I have won the appeal. The stress it created for me was unimaginable as I was single and still am and all the evidence DWP had seemed to be wrong so thankfully I have won. The question I have is do income support now have to pay me for the money they had stopped and also I would of been eligable for the weekly back to work payment but because of the initial decision I didnt get it. Am I able to ask for this all to be backdated now? I only ask as this created massive financial hardship for me.

Hope to hear

[leemack]

Yes you will be entitled to the money they stopped.

 

Did you apply for return to work credit and get turned down? If so you may be able to challenge it, but this is managed by jobcentreplus so I'm not familiar with the appeals process.

[jojopo000]

thanks for replying will they pay what they owe me automatically or will I have to ask? Also the back to work payments I was unable to claim for it as they had already stopped my income support. once again thankyou for your help

[Nystagmite]

It may take a few weeks for you to get back dated payments.

[jojopo000]

Thank you. Do I have to ask for them and also inform them that I won?

[leemack]

Yes, you should have applied for the return to work credit anyway and been turned down. Whether or not you can apply late, I don't know.

[jojopo000]

HI and thanks for replying. I was told I couldnt apply for the back to work credit as wasnt entitled to it as they had at that point decided I wasnt entitled to the income support, which in turn stopped my Housing Benefit and made me unable to claim the back to work payment.

[jojopo000]

Am so cross, I called IS today to ask about outstanding monies and back to work credit and as they dont yet have the information from the tribunal they couldnt help me and refused to comment on it. Made a semi accussation on the phone to me that I was lying and the investigation on me was a very long one! Made me feel awful, thought all the last 18 months were now behind me

[Nystagmite]

It can take a while for the decision to reach DWP, they then decide whether they agree with the decision (rarely it's disagreed with) and then DWP write to you.

[jojopo000]

Hiya, me again! DWP tried to take back the overpayment which had I been found guilty would of created so I got in touch with them and they saud they hadnt received any notification from the tribunal so I had to foward a copy of my paperwork to them on receipt of if they stopped taking money from me and wrote me a letter to confirm this. Other than this I have heard nothing from anyone. Do you think its been long enough to write to them now and ask for the money owed? It has been 6 weeks since the tribunal was heard and other than what I say above I've heard nothing from them.

[Webranger]

Of course it's long enough - too long. Write to them demanding that they put the tribunal decision into operation. The keep up the pressure every few days; don't let them forget it.

[Tash188]

Hiya,

 

I won my tribunal a few weeks back, they stopped my income support last october. I sent them my decision letter from the tribunal but they are still claiming they've not got anything. They like to take their time and they still treat you like you're guilty even when you've been cleared. Keep calling them, that's what i've been doing. I've had a year of little money with two small kids to raise so could really do with it being reinstated. Good luck, hope they hurry it up for you x

[mwest]

Sorry but I don't know if I am on right topic never used before but would like some help I recieved a letter out of the blue from from dwp stating I owed 641.00 this regarding is suppose to be from 2002 9 years later which in that year I wasn't claiming I was claiming upto 2001when I had children with me tax credits as I was working to moved out of this property end of 2001 never claimed anything after,then now I recieved this letter stating I should pay this or they will take further,cannot understand why it has taken 9years when they have my national insurance number,I phoned them regarding this n they said it's from 2002 I said wasn't claiming then they said will get file n send paperwork to appeal which I will do n I said if it was true which u know it isn't it's been longer than 6years I don't have to pay they said doesn't matter government debt please can you help

[Webranger]

It's certain that income tax cannot be claimed after six years and I would have thought that it is the same with tax credit overpayments, but I could be wrong.

 

You must appeal as soon as you get the form, but also demand that they spell out exactly what their case is. If you did not claim in that year then you could not have been over-paid. It will probably end up being a mistake on their part over NI no. My wife at one stage discovered that she was sharing a number with another person. Imagine the confusion that led to.

[jojopo000]

Well it will be 3 months this month since the tribunal which I won and I have heard nothing from DWP other than what they posted to me. How do I go about asking for the money which they stopped? As I am owed IS from between when they stopped it to when I started my job (which was arranged months before the decision came through), HB and Return to Work credit as because they stopped IS I couldnt claim for RTW credit. I guess I will have to write to them but what do I say in the letter as would like to do this all correctly.

[Nystagmite]

You need to complain to them about this.

[jojopo000]

You need to complain to them about this.

 

Thanks for replying where would I start? So so need this money and dont want to do this wrong

[ErikaPNP]

Totally ridiculous. I can't believe you have been so patient. Something along the lines of the letter below ought to be sufficient. The text in red is for guidance - just amend the letter to suit yourself.

 

Address

 

National Insurance number

Tribunal reference

 

date

 

Dear Sir/Madam

 

I am writing in regard to my appeal against the decision to stop my award of Income Support.

 

On (date), I attended the tribunal at (place). The tribunal decided in my favour.

 

On (date) I sent the Department of Work and Pensions a copy of the tribunal's decision, however to date I have received no correspondance from the Department of Work and Pensions in response and have yet to receive the backdated monies that I am entitled to as a result of the decision of the tribunal.

 

As it has been in excess of three months since the tribunal, I find this delay combined with the lack of any communication to explain it to be unacceptable. I request that my backdated entitlement be issued to me without further delay in addition to a full explanation.

If you have suffered financial loss - and you have - the back to work payment (it can also be any number of other things such as arrears, charges etc as a result of their delay), also put this part in:

 

Owing to the delay of the Department of Work and Pensions in issuing me the monies due (or 'owing to the incorrect decision to stop my income support'), I have suffered financial loss. (explain the loss and how it came about and what effect it has had). I would therefore seek to be placed back into the financial position I would have been in, had the Department of Work and Pensions not caused such a delay in issuing the funds due. In view of this, I wish to apply for financial redress for maladministration. Please pass a copy of this letter to the relevant team who would deal with financial redress.

 

yours sincerely

 

name

There are many other things you can get financial redress for, not only financial loss - though that is the most common. Have a look through the link at the end of my post before you send the letter because you may wish to seek redress for other issues the delay has caused. If you find something, slot it into the letter. The team that deal with financial redress would get in touch with you and ask for further information they may need in support of your claim.

 

The back to work payment: you cannot insist on the back to work payment from the I.S team because you did not actually apply for it. You cannot receive payment for something for which there was no claim, nor can you appeal against something for which there was no decision. What you can do, is state that you were told you could not apply as you were not eligible after losing your I.S (which you would not have been but you still have a right to apply though no right to entitlement at the time). Because their decision has been found to be incorrect, you would have been eligible for the back to work payment. Financial redress could result in you getting the same amount as the back to work payment as recompense.

 

Financial redress for injustice arising from maladministration

[jojopo000]

Thank you so much for your help ErikaPNP. I look into this and send it off tomorrow. I will of course come back and let you know how I got on. Once again many thanks.

[ErikaPNP]

Anytime - hope you get it sorted soon.

 

Don't be patient any longer. If you don't have a response within a satisfactory time frame - go to your MP.

 

And whilst I remember, put the words 'Official complaint' in bold at the top of that letter.

[jojopo000]

One more question Do I send it to the branch of DWP who deal with my area of the country?

You have helped me so so much and I am really grateful

[ErikaPNP]

I'd send two copies.

 

One to the income support section

 

One to the place who stopped your benefit. This may be the same address that processes your I.S or it may be a different address.

 

Both addresses will be on letters you have received from them.

[jojopo000]

An update - I sent the letter of complaint off recorded delivery last week and today I had a phone call from Income Support apologising for the delay and saying she has ordered a payment of the owing income support and another back to work payment of £250 and she has forwarded to the back to work credit team and the maladministration team along with housinng and council tax benefit so that they can also pay me what they owe. She also said the maladmistration team would look at paying me compensation. I asked her to confirm all of this in a letter and she said she has to as I've made an official complaint. More importantly though she apologised for how I have treated on the phone and for the delay in all of this and said that on many occasion they dont always get the outcome of the tribunals until the customer calls in. I said they had had mine for ages and why would the tribunal send it when they sent it to me and not to them. She couldn't answer this. I will continue to update as and when I get any more information and will also continue to say thank you as all of you who help are total stars.

[jojopo000]

Hi ErikaPNP and thank you for your advice so far with all this. DWP have now paid what they said they would but to date havent heard from Housing Benefit or Back to Work Credit Team, however I have today had a letter from the Special Payments Team who have said the following...............

 

A special payment can be made if either you have incurred costs which you would not have done if your claim had been dealt with correctly, (eg telephone costs etc) and/or what is known as a consilatory payment in recognition of your life having been adversely affected by what has happened.

 

Accordibgly you are invited to give full details of all costs incurred, stating what, when and how much and why.

 

Sounds daft but my whole head is now mush with all of this so am hoping you or someone can advise me what I need to reply. I have started to make a list of stuff and the effect the whole episode had on my life but I also feel very lost as was a very stressful time in my life and having 3 children see their mother go into meltdown is a memory I am trying to forget Hope someone can advise me. Thanks

[ErikaPNP]

I can't help you write a reply for that as I don't know what your costs are. You need to provide them with a list of costs you have incurred which you would not have incurred if they had dealt with your case appropriately.

 

In relation to how it affected you, you need to tell them what effect it had on you, how it impacted on your life.

 

The only person who can tell them that is you.