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Help please! A 1 year JSA / ESA application delay - how best to appeal?
jimster99
Posts: 8 Forumite
Hello,
My mother tried to apply for benefits in December 2008 by telephone in Brighton. She was eligible for Job Seekers Allowance ('JSA') but the benefits helpline advisor she spoke to incorrectly advised her to apply for Employment and Support Allowance ('ESA'). My mother didn't think she was eligible for ESA (she was a bit ill, but not ill enough). However she took the advisor's advice and applied for ESA. Lengthy delays followed and she has just been rejected for ESA a month (minus 2 days) ago, and at the same time automatically moved onto JSA. Prior to this (i.e. between December 2008 and November 2009), she has had to live without any income.
Given the 12 month delay between applying for benefits and receiving them, she would like to apply to have any payments backdated by as much as possible.
However, she is quite disorganised and has only just begun to write an appeal against the decision to reject her ESA application and the associated delays. I understand that she has one month to submit the appeal, and this deadline will run out on Saturday, so she will be writing it tonight/tomorrow.
I understand that a decision about her application should have been made much more quickly and that, if her ESA application was delayed, she should have been temporarily put onto JSA (say, in January 2008) to ensure that she had some income in the meantime.
However I am not an expert on benefit regulations; and would be very grateful if any experts can advise what grounds of appeal she may have?
I consider her two best arguments will be:
(i) she relied on incorrect advice from the benefits helpline to apply for ESA when she should have been advised to apply for JSA (which she was eligible for), and doing so has caused an 11 month delay in beginning to receive benefits; and
(ii) as soon as the benefits people realised there would be a delay in completing her ESA application, they should have temporarily moved her onto JSA to ensure she received the benefits to which she was entitled.
Any help/advice gratefully received!!
My mother tried to apply for benefits in December 2008 by telephone in Brighton. She was eligible for Job Seekers Allowance ('JSA') but the benefits helpline advisor she spoke to incorrectly advised her to apply for Employment and Support Allowance ('ESA'). My mother didn't think she was eligible for ESA (she was a bit ill, but not ill enough). However she took the advisor's advice and applied for ESA. Lengthy delays followed and she has just been rejected for ESA a month (minus 2 days) ago, and at the same time automatically moved onto JSA. Prior to this (i.e. between December 2008 and November 2009), she has had to live without any income.
Given the 12 month delay between applying for benefits and receiving them, she would like to apply to have any payments backdated by as much as possible.
However, she is quite disorganised and has only just begun to write an appeal against the decision to reject her ESA application and the associated delays. I understand that she has one month to submit the appeal, and this deadline will run out on Saturday, so she will be writing it tonight/tomorrow.
I understand that a decision about her application should have been made much more quickly and that, if her ESA application was delayed, she should have been temporarily put onto JSA (say, in January 2008) to ensure that she had some income in the meantime.
However I am not an expert on benefit regulations; and would be very grateful if any experts can advise what grounds of appeal she may have?
I consider her two best arguments will be:
(i) she relied on incorrect advice from the benefits helpline to apply for ESA when she should have been advised to apply for JSA (which she was eligible for), and doing so has caused an 11 month delay in beginning to receive benefits; and
(ii) as soon as the benefits people realised there would be a delay in completing her ESA application, they should have temporarily moved her onto JSA to ensure she received the benefits to which she was entitled.
Any help/advice gratefully received!!
0
Comments
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I think there is more to this than you know. If the claimant provides the correct information, it does not take eleven months to process an ESA application.
Did she definitely receive nothing for the whole period? Did she submit sicknotes? What did she live on for the period in question?Gone ... or have I?0 -
I understand that a decision about her application should have been made much more quickly and that, if her ESA application was delayed, she should have been temporarily put onto JSA (say, in January 2008) to ensure that she had some income in the meantime.
No. I agree that the delay is very, very long. But it is never an option to pay JSA whilst processing ESA.
More generally - I think your mother needs to look at a compensation payment rather than (or as well as) appealing.
We're looking at a hefty period of backdating which the law simply won't allow, no matter whose fault it is. So compensation is the way to go.
Sadly I can't offer anything else, my 'thing' is the law and compensation is more procedural.0 -
I think there is more to this than you know. If the claimant provides the correct information, it does not take eleven months to process an ESA application.
Did she definitely receive nothing for the whole period? Did she submit sicknotes? What did she live on for the period in question?
I am very familiar with the situation and unfortunately it did take them 11 months to process the application and she received no money in the meantime. That is why she wishes to appeal to get the application backdated (given that it was finally approved, in JSA form, last month, and should have been approved in January 2008).
In the meantime she lived on her (minimal) savings (less than £5k, now almost entirely depleted) and a large stockpile of baked beans.
The key questions are: (i) if there is a delay in approving ESA, should she not have been put on JSA in the meantime, or at least given *something* to live on and (ii) did they do anything wrong when they told her to apply for ESA when really they should have told her to apply for JSA?0 -
For what reason was her claim declined? Did she submit sick notes for the relevant period?Gone ... or have I?0
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No. I agree that the delay is very, very long. But it is never an option to pay JSA whilst processing ESA.
More generally - I think your mother needs to look at a compensation payment rather than (or as well as) appealing.
We're looking at a hefty period of backdating which the law simply won't allow, no matter whose fault it is. So compensation is the way to go.
Sadly I can't offer anything else, my 'thing' is the law and compensation is more procedural.
My mother has spoken to the council and the CAB and they have given her inconsistent advice, but they did agree as a general theme that it was possible to backdate JSA claims up to a year or more in exceptional circumstances.
Do you use the word 'compensation' in a special technical sense related to JSA or is this just a general comment? If the former, please could you provide a link or further explanation? Thanks.0 -
For what reason was her claim declined? Did she submit sick notes for the relevant period?
Her ESA claim was declined because she isn't ill enough to claim ESA. She said this when she rang up to apply for benefits in December 2008 but the advisor incorrectly advised her to apply for ESA as, when my mother described her symptoms over the phone, the advisor thought my mother would qualify. My mother accepted this advice on face value and applied for ESA; and it was of course wrong advice which ultimately led to an 11 month delay.
However, the important point is: (i) even though my mother was eligible for JSA in December 2008, she didn't receive anything until November 2009, and (ii) shouldn't the benefits agency have re-assigned her claim to the JSA in light of the impressive delay?0 -
Can you not answer my question?
Did she supply sick notes? Was she asked to supply sick notes?Gone ... or have I?0 -
Can you not answer my question?
Did she supply sick notes? Was she asked to supply sick notes?
I don't think your question is that relevant, but yes, she did everything they asked, including supplying a letter from her doctor and answering some questions.
But the point is, she wasn't ill enough to claim ESA, and she told the benefits people that from the outset (i.e. on the call when she phoned to apply for benefits in December 2008), but they still advised her to apply for ESA, when they should have advised her to apply for JSA, or at least flipped her onto JSA after a few weeks.
In any event, I don't think they can justify an 11 month delay and I'm really looking for advice as to how to take this forward.0 -
You don't seem to understand the regs surrounding ESA. A letter from the GP would not be adequate, she would need sick notes.
For the first thirteen weeks, as long as the claimant meets the contributions/ income requirements of ESA, she only needs to supply sick notes in order to qualify for payment.
Did she have a medical with ATOS?
Your questions are not relevant until you fully understand the system.Gone ... or have I?0
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