esa suspension/stopped ??

tillywills_2

hi all hope someone can help
my daughter has been awarded esa £64.30 and also work related activity group allowance of £25.50 Total £89.90 she received the back payment and then one more payment
then a letter came saying they cannot pay esa following a recent change you are not getting anymore esa

she shares a house with a housemate(not related she pays her half of the rent direct to the landlord, and they split the bills when they come in)
my daughter was also getting housing benefit which is paid direct to the landlord. when we phoned the dwp they said that my daughter was getting £70.00 pw from her housemate which is wrong and they were told this on the phone but he just said send in an appeal form and that was it. we have since done this explaining that her housemate pays her rent money direct to the landlord and that my daughter is not so called sub letting or that the other girl is a lodger etc
her housing benefit has also stopped because of esa stopped the council are aware that she does not live alone this is a house share etc
we have today recieved a letter saying ..with regards to your appeal,it cannot be accepted whilst a suspension is in place awaiting a decision, once a decision is given then that decision may be appealable???
i just dont get it . do any of you whats the decision shes done her medical etc and has been awarded esa help!!!!!

dmg24

Do they have separate tenancy agreements?

jennilb

Hi

I was reading about a similar issue on benefitsandwork.co.uk forum today, so that's where my information is coming from if you want to check it out for yourself.

OK so it seems they are not supposed to tell you any decisions over the phone. Apparently letters have magical legal qualities that us mere mortals cannot understand.

This means you can't appeal the decision, because until they send you the letter telling you what the decision is they haven't legally actually made the decision. Yes I know, thats nuts. But there you are.

I'm assuming here, but they may have suspended the payments while they investigate. Their system seems to automatically tell the HB/CTB people when the claim is no longer in payment, and this then means the HB/CTB is also stopped. And yes I know, I had this - apparently what you're meant to live on is a crisis loan administered by the job centre. *sigh*

I suggest you deal directly with the HB/CTB people as well as the ESA people. Basically you can trust them to communicate when benefits stop but not when they re-start. Ask the HB people what evidence they will accept to show that the flatmate is just a 'courier' for your daughter to get her rent to the landlord. For example, rent reciepts? A letter from the landlord confirming rent paid? Then provide the evidence to both HB/CTB and ESA people (with a covering letter explaining why you are sending the evidence and what it shows). Hopefully the ESA decision maker will be able to use some common... no what am I talking about.... then when the ESA people send you a decision letter you can appeal it and refer to the evidence you have sent.

I hope this helps and I'm sorry your suffering this rubbish too.

Jenni

NASA_2

jennilb wrote: »

OK so it seems they are not supposed to tell you any decisions over the phone. Apparently letters have magical legal qualities that us mere mortals cannot understand.

This means you can't appeal the decision, because until they send you the letter telling you what the decision is they haven't legally actually made the decision. Yes I know, thats nuts. But there you are.

What you describe from the other forum is different to what the OP is describing.

It is true that you cannot appeal a decision that you have not legally been informed of (Usually through a letter).

In the OP case they have put a suspension on the claim while (I assume) they are doing some investigative work to ascertain exactly what is happening. As such a decision has not actually been taken that she is not entitled to the benefit - they have stopped payments going out because there is a doubt over entitlement. If they decide there is no entitlement then that is the decision that can be appealed.

tillywills_2

Thanks all,
Nasa you have made it a little clearer now, I assumed that because she got a letter saying we cannot pay you esa from 11th nov
you are not getting any more esa. it then reads we will credit your national insurance contributions while you are claiming esa.

its so confusing
the letter reads as if they have made a decision to not pay full stop
yet the secound letter from the appeal section tells us its just suspended until a decision is given
Its a just wait and see game, in the mean time my daughter has nothing to live on and no rent being paid, what a mess
the housing benefit have posted her a letter and when it comes we have got to go down and sign a statement saying she has no income coming in and that i am supporting her finacially but im not i am buying her food and putting her half of money on the electric meter blahhhh

sorry so frustrating she has aspergers syndrome and borderline personality disorder along with numerous other mental issues her medication is so much shes on another planet half the time im such a worrier

but thankyou everyone for you comments etc

and yes her housemate does have her own tennancy aggreement

and my daughter does not take the housemates money to the landlord housemate takes it there
reason being if my daughter took it, it would not get there, shes no good with money

she doesnt see the consiquencies of what her actions may do (if that makes sense to you)

but again thankyou