mum's ESA-UC and repaying loan

[Guest]

Hi everyone, I am here doing this for my mum as we are baffled. 

There was a crossover from esa to uc when we moved home, the esa wasn't cancelled until after the uc was in process. 

The over payment of esa was taken from the first uc payment. That was fine. 

The advance uc payment is coming off monthly, fine.

 

There was a esa budget loan remaining and it was arranged with debt management over the phone to pay an agreed amount monthly, fine. 

In September mum had a letter as her 6 month agreement was nearing its end and they wanted to speak with her about the balance,

I sat with her while she was on the phone with loudspeaker and we asked them to take the last £168 in 3 payments sept/oct/nov.  Fine. 

 

We have just seen her November payment on uc and its for £10 extra to the £168.  No letters have arrived.  It just seems odd. 

There should be no more payments now for that but whats worrying her is the esa overpayment was taken in her first uc, and it shows on her statement but the debt management couldn't see it before and thought uc maybe hadn't sent it over. 

 

Dread ringing any of them tbh.

Is it usual for the overpayments not to be sent over to esa?

[unclebulgaria67]

Sounds like an error if they have taken a deduction of £178, when they have already had the overlapping ESA/UC amount from the first statement.  Maximum deduction amount is now 30% of standard allowance, with the only exceptions being if current water or energy bills are being paid via a U.C deduction

 

Best course of action is for your Mum to raise a complaint, either by phone to UC or there is a complaints section on the DWP website. If a complaint is not made, it is possible that you your Mum is going to passed back and forward between UC and Debt Management.  At least with a complaint, it will be looked into properly and any error will be corrected.

 

[Guest]

I may not have explained this clearly...the overlap of esa and uc was paid in the first uc payment, that was £199. This is the payment that the debt management team couldn't see on their system, but its shown as paid on mums statement.

 

A separate outstanding amount of £288 was for an esa budget loan, mum spoke with the dwp debt management team when they wrote to her, they agreed £30 per month, mum paid a total of £120 over may june and july and august  the 6 month period ended in October, so to make sure, we rang them to see what they would be taking, it was agreed then that they could take £56 in sept oct and nov. …. sept and oct were fine but this months payment is showing £66.13, which was the original amount they were going to take until we rang and got it reduced to £30.  Mum just thought pay three at £56 and that will be finished.  just seems odd the amount, I was of the impression the last 3 payments were set up automatically so why the last one is different jusr doesn't add up.

Edited November 5, 2019 by Ruby_Tuesday
missed out something

[unclebulgaria67]

It apparently takes at least 2 weeks, before any UC deduction appears on the Debt Management systems.

 

Why an extra £10 has been taken, your Mum will have to ask Debt Management what is currently showing on her records, to see  if there is any reason.  The Debt Management telephone number will be shown  the UC statements next to the deduction.

 

 

[Guest]

Thank you unclebulgaria I will sit with her tomorrow until we get through.

[Guest]

Just to update unclebulgaria67, I sat with mum this morning and managed to get through to the dwp debt management office, spoke to a lovely lady who was so helpful.  She is going to wait for the payment to be sent to them via UC, which is at the same time as mums payment is released, so she expects it to go through during the night of mums pay date, then she will refund to mums bank any overpayment.  She is going to try and get it changed before mums pay date but its only a few days away and she can't say for definite, its not really a problem as it will only take a few hours any way.

They were baffled why the last payment was higher, as that wasn't what they had on their info, they had the same as we did, bit of a mystery, but at least its going to be made right.

[Guest]

Hi

I log in for mum every day to the online uc account and check it all including the journal. 

They used the journal to show a letter re a new uc50 on way,

 

the entry was a few days before the form arrived,

she had a warning and not just the form fetching up on the mat. 

 

I have or she does, 4 weeks to complete and return it,

I am going to do a bit each day with her, write most of it for her probably, I have sectioned it out to do in parts for that reason. 

 

I have no idea how she would now do this without help, not many questions on it either, so I or we have more answers to less questions if that makes sense,

I am studying it and will get all the necessary things down on the how it all affects her daily,

I feel for anyone who has to do this on their own, with backlog of appointments with advisors etc. 

 

It will probably take even me best part of 3 weeks to do it with her. 

But the uc letter in journal did give me advance warning to prepare her for its arrival.

[unclebulgaria67]

If this is to review current Limited capability for work, perhaps it might be worth your Mum asking her Doctors for their current assessment in writing. Explain that DWP/UC assessment will be due at some point shortly and assessment company may contact them for up to date information.

 

Depending on health conditions, if enough information is provided on paper, the assessment company may decide not to carry out face to face assessment. So it is worth spending time completing the form with as much accurate detail as possible.

[Guest]

Hi unclebulgaria67,  yes this is a review,  she doesn't really see the GP much as such, its only med reviews and if she is unwell apart from the diagnosed illnesses, she sees nurses for the diabetes checks etc, there is nothing new they can offer her so its a matter of managing and getting through the best she can, which is where I come in as her carer.  She had 12 months cbt for bipolar back in 2009, there are no new things added to cbt so there is nothing they can teach her there, her fibromyalgia is treated with pain relief, there is no nhs physical treatment as only a specialised massage is thought to help but the relief is short lived so the nhs don't provide it (understandably) there is no cure for the condition and we have tried everything.  I will just do my usual best and be there for any assessment which I will request is recorded and hope for the best. Thank you for replying.

[Guest]

We know there is no set time scale on the outcome of the uc50 form,

but due to mum's anxiety level because of the uc50 form and the way the dwp have treated her,

I am thinking to email the health and disability people who sent it. 

 

She had 4 weeks to return it but at 3 they had sent a reminder, so it was posted that day. 

I am thinking that as it will be 3 weeks since they would have received it, I

will email them and ask if they have a time scale for her form,

and also put a message in her uc journal,

as I always sign in and check it daily,

even though she is in the lcwra group, as they have made "errors" before in telling her / not telling her things, so I want to cover all angles.

 

The dwp know I sign in for her and I remind them of it. 

I am genuinely concerned about her and how this hits her full on. 

 

She has long term illnesses with no hope of improvement, will be the pension age in two years, yet still they put her through this.

I guess if I have email sent and screen shot, same with journal at least they should reply?

[unclebulgaria67]

Is this reviewing current LCW or LCWRA entitlement ?

 

Or is this a new work capability assessment ?

 

Yes your Mum could contact the assessment centre and ask them for the current position. They could be in the process of contacting your Mum for a date/time of assessment. 

 

However, depending on the health condition (s), they might contact your Mums Doctors for information and if this is sufficient to avoid a face to face assessment, they may produce their report based on this.  This is usually where the information is available to support making recommendations without it being necessary to attend an assessment centre.

 

 

[Guest]

Hi unclebulgaria67  its a review of current lcwra, they  have never contacted her doctor before, its been face to face appts, apart from 2016 when i think the dwp stopped them for a while.  I will email them and put it in her journal too.  Thanks.

[unclebulgaria67]

New company  Maximus that does the assessments does appear to  look to do paper based assessments where this is possible, rather than face to face.  But it depends on what information is available from the UC50 and Doctors.

 

 Some claimants Doctors are not able to provide much information, if the patient has not been seen much recently and they cannot really confirm current health position.  So if your Mums Doctors have been unable to provide much, if they were asked, then it makes a face to face assessment more likely.

[Guest]

Yes i see what you mean....its more the waiting time i think, dreading the post but then wanting the news, is how she is. I will email and see what happens. Whichever way i will if i need to, again fight her corner.  Since 2005 she was in esa support group, won a tribunal in 2009 and in uc lcwra this past year.  two years time she will be pension age and all this will be done thank goodness

[unclebulgaria67]

Hot of the DWP press, you can read the  WCA assessment guide that is used.

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/work-capability-assessment-handbook-for-healthcare-professionals

[Guest]

Hi everyone, so i logged in for mum as her statement should be on there today, but it isnt. It was saying on her account that the statement would be up on the 7th, today. Its not there and there is no other note on there re her payment. 

Also as her payment day would be Saturday and Friday is the start of the Easter weekend, the dwp have online that payments during that time will be made on the 9th. But with no statement up does this mean her payment hasnt been released or cleared for the month yet?.

[unclebulgaria67]

When it says the statement should appear on 7th of April, it does not mean that it will appear first thing on that date. 

 

It could be in the process of being issued or require some manual processing. 

 

If it does not appear by tomorrow morning, send a journal message.  As long as the statement is issued by Thurs 9th ( including 9th), they will process the payment to the account, so it is received before Bank Holiday weekend.. Payments that are processed on the payment due date are done as same day faster payments to make sure received on time.

 

 

 

[Guest]

Ah right. Her March payment was the last one that took £25 for paying off her advance payment. So this April one will be £25 more, maybe that is why, and its done manually and not preset. I have no idea how it works. But that sounds like it fits with what your saying. I know your information is always correct. Thankyou.

[Guest]

Hi, So it's not up there yet. Have sent message in her journal but they dont answer very quickly at normal times so am a bit concerned now. I will try and ring them at 930 when the phone lines are now on,reduced hours due to the coronavirus. 

[unclebulgaria67]

Just make sure there are no to-do actions showing on the home page when you log in.  If there are any such as review your details, then these will block a payment statement being added.

 

 

[Guest]

What is worrying me now is that we had a notice up on the account on the 6th to update housing details, ie april increase in rent, which we did, we had the letter from our landlord previously but couldnt update until the 6th, checked via journal and were told to do on the 6th, and it was up on the account when i checked in for mum on the 6th telling us to do it.  I think now that may be holding it up?  Previously told if notices go up you have to do it.  

[Guest]

If it isnt sorted out by or on 9th tomorrow, will it just mean its likely to be a bit late or should i still keep trying via phone if no reply in journal? sorry if obvious answer am just concerned for mum who is high anxiety over it all. Direct debits for rent etc will have to be temp cancelled if the money doesnt go in by a certain date, which include rent...

[unclebulgaria67]

The housing change to-do just means that it might stop an automatic payment statement being added. They may have to process it manually.

 

Hopefully this will be resolved by Thursday. 

[Guest]

Just to update. I had to try 6 times to get on the call waiting list, got cut off about 6 times as they couldnt take any more calls. Got through on lucky number 7, a free call with a 30 minute wait and I got through, impressed to be honest. All done and sorted within a few minutes. Statement up confirmed that the payment will go in tomorrow.  Have had some rude operators in the past but by and large most of them are lovely people and so apologetic today even though we all know the current situation is not their fault. I thanked them for being there. Mum is coming down now from her high anxiety, I am going to get the spare armchair into the garden for her, and sit with her there for a while.  

[honeybee13]

Well done for persevering, I'm pleased it's sorted. Thank you for updating us, this will help other people.

 

Enjoy the sunshine.

 

HB