Help please! A 1 year JSA / ESA application delay - how best to appeal?

seven-day-weekend

If the Dr supplied her with sick notes, she would have been eligible to apply for ESA. Did the Dr give her sick notes and did she send them in?

Did she have a working partner and /or savings above £6k? This is a relevant question because if she did not qualify for the contributions-based ESA or JSA then the Income-based one is means-tested and a partner's wage and household savings will be counted. This may mean that, although eligible for the Benefit, the person will not actually get any money.

Why did it take eleven months? Do you know what caused the hold up?

dmg24

mandi wrote: »

dmg

I read your posts often , and you offer great advice. Are you tired tonight, or just ratty

I'm just a bit fed up of people making it as difficult as possible for you to help them - feel like I am hitting my head against a brick wall!

jimster99

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

If the Dr supplied her with sick notes, she would have been eligible to apply for ESA. Did the Dr give her sick notes and did she send them in?

Did she have a working partner and /or savings above £6k? This is a relevant question because if she did not qualify for the contributions-based ESA or JSA then the Income-based one is means-tested and a partner's wage and household savings will be counted. This may mean that, although eligible for the Benefit, the person will not actually get any money.

Why did it take eleven months? Do you know what caused the hold up?

OK, to give a little more colour to the facts here, since there is potentially a little confusion, my mother lost her job in May 2008 and is taking her former employer to an employment tribunal (a case which is still going on). She wants to go back to work and hopes to if and when she wins her employment tribunal case. She was also quite ill for a period in summer 2008, but not ill enough to need ESA. She does have some minor disabilities, but again not enough to prevent her working.

She phoned the benefits agency in December 2008 not knowing what benefit to apply for. The advisor she spoke to asked whether she had been ill and she gave as accurate an answer as she was able, namely that she had been quite ill and had some disabilities but was able to return to work. She also told them about the ongoing tribunal case and that she hoped to return to work if and when she wins.

After hearing this, the advisor advised her to apply for ESA. I now understand this was very bad advice and she should have been told to apply for JSA. My mother didn't know which to apply for and followed the advice given to her.

In the months that followed the benefits agency sent her something like 8 empty envelopes, and when she rang up to complain the agency said they didn't know what was supposed to be in the empty envelopes but that they would re-send them (but then failed to). They also asked her to provide her medical records and supporting evidence and any sick notes. She told them that her doctor couldn't give sick notes because she wasn't ill enough not to be able to work, and was relying on her doctor to give evidence in the tribunal case to support the fact that she could return to work. However, they told her to continue to wait for the outcome of the ESA appliaction, even though it should have been obvious that her ESA application was doomed.

In January 2008 she applied for, and was awarded, housing benefit, on the basis of nil income, without any problems. (The ESA claim was still outstanding).

Eventually the benefits agency asked her to attend some kind of medical assessment (not sure exactly what this involved), which she did promptly, and a few months after this the benefits agency got back in touch to tell her her case was still being decided. My mother had tried ringing on many occasions but it's very difficult to get through to someone who can actually answer questions, and she kept being fobbed off with unclear answers about what was happening or what she should do.

The key point is, my mother (who is not very good at looking after her own affairs at the best of times) did everything the benefits agency asked her to, promptly, and followed the advice given. If they had advised her to apply for JSA in December 2008, she would have got it almost immediately.

The delays arose because she was advised to, and did actually, apply for ESA even though she wasn't eligible for ESA, despite the fact she had told the benefits agency that she was sceptical she would qualify for ESA. Once she had submitted her application, they didn't help her to switch to JSA until November 2009, almost a year later, even though she was eligible for JSA from December 2008.

Is this enough? More information needed?

jimster99

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

If the Dr supplied her with sick notes, she would have been eligible to apply for ESA. Did the Dr give her sick notes and did she send them in?

Did she have a working partner and /or savings above £6k? This is a relevant question because if she did not qualify for the contributions-based ESA or JSA then the Income-based one is means-tested and a partner's wage and household savings will be counted. This may mean that, although eligible for the Benefit, the person will not actually get any money.

Why did it take eleven months? Do you know what caused the hold up?

To answer your other questions, she didn't have savings above £6k or a working partner.

The eleven month delay was caused by the benefits agency sending out something like 8 empty envelopes (which may have contained relevant info), as a result of which my mother wasn't clear what to do. Some envelopes weren't empty and for these my mother did reply promptly.

I don't think she ever got a sick note from her doctor. She wasn't ill enough to need a sick note. That was why the advice to apply for ESA (rather than JSA) was so poor.

mandi

dmg24 wrote: »

I'm just a bit fed up of people making it as difficult as possible for you to help them - feel like I am hitting my head against a brick wall!

No way . Keep doing what your doing , Your head looks fine to me

Great job,, Said in all honesty

Bamber19

jimster99 wrote: »

The eleven month delay was caused by the benefits agency sending out something like 8 empty envelopes (which may have contained relevant info), as a result of which my mother wasn't clear what to do. Some envelopes weren't empty and for these my mother did reply promptly.

Were the empty envelopespossibly the return ones for sicknotes, i.e they appear empty in terms of contents but they contain an envelope with the Jobcentre address and prepaid postage? I ask because I believe this to be standard practice with ESA claims since returning sick lines is a necessity.

Has she been chasing this up for the period, even in a case with problems 11 months is excessive and few people would have allowed it to go on without kicking up a fuss and/or contacting their MP.

jimster99

Bamber19 wrote: »

Has she been chasing this up for the period, even in a case with problems 11 months is excessive and few people would have allowed it to go on without kicking up a fuss and/or contacting their MP.

She has written to her MP, twice. The envelopes she received from the benefits agency were completely empty. Someone had forgotten to stick the letter inside.

System

jimster99 wrote: »

To answer your other questions, she didn't have savings above £6k or a working partner.

The eleven month delay was caused by the benefits agency sending out something like 8 empty envelopes (which may have contained relevant info), as a result of which my mother wasn't clear what to do. Some envelopes weren't empty and for these my mother did reply promptly.

I don't think she ever got a sick note from her doctor. She wasn't ill enough to need a sick note. That was why the advice to apply for ESA (rather than JSA) was so poor.

If she never sent in a sick note her claim for ESA would have been closed. Simple as. So how they dragged it out for 11 months i don't know.