I.S Suspended (Change of address problem)

davey001

I have had carers allowance and income support for a long time.

Last september we moved to a different area (county) and i informed the benefits office. If i remember i informed them for Carer's Allowance via a gov website but i rang them about Income support and also sent a form in at the time (can't recall which one as it was a difficult move and lots going on etc etc).

Thought everything was sorted out as Carer's Allowance continued weekly (and still does with letters being sent to the new address) but noticed only recently that Income Support had stopped the middle of last Feb! (Wondered why my bank balance looked so bad.)

Rang a few different numbers eventually to be told Income Support was suspended due to moving address and NOT telling them.

What they have done is send a new form to fill in but it's a new claim?! (A1 form). Surely that's not right. And even if it is what about the missing 2+ months payments. I only have my word against theirs that i informed them at the time of moving.

Perhaps it will be easier than i think to sort out but feel i might have a battle on my hands?

Pinnacle_2

You can appeal the decision but this leaves you without full monies whilst they determine it, or you can lodge a new claim provided you know you are still eligible otherwise, and this will start on the date of submission. You can also ask at the same time in writing for a back date for the two plus months (you must give good reasons). You can then if you wish lodge an appeal/complaint against the original decision/action.

davey001

Ok thanks Pinnacle.. i'l add a letter to the claim form explaining the issues and ask for it to be back dated. We shall see what they say!

dmg24

Do you have proof of postage?

davey001

dmg24 wrote: »

Do you have proof of postage?

No im afraid not.

tcr_3

They don't just suspend your claim, then close it, for no good reason.

Normal office procedure is to send change of address forms to your new home. If they're not returned, a second set of forms is sent to you. If you don't return the reminder forms only at that point is your benefit suspended.

If you don't contact them within 28 days they then have the right to close your claim. And another letter is sent out to your new address to tell you that your claim has been closed.

All that happens because it's unreasonable for them to have to send out reminder after reminder for these forms, also because the onus is on you to contact them as soon as you notice your payments haven't arrived.

Most offices keep their paperwork on site for 4-6 weeks before it's sent off to a central location for filing. So if you think you sent the forms in, ask them to check their filing ... if they've made a mistake you can ask them to re-open the old claim & to pay any back money due.

But if they can't locate that change of address you say you sent them ... you're going to have to go through the new claims process and ask for backdating. And given that it's taken you 2 months to even notice you haven't been paid, the chances of getting it backdated aren't too good.

I find it hard to believe you didn't get a reminder about all this, to be honest.

davey001

tcr: I understand what you saying but i am not mis-stating the course of events and i have had the post re-directed from the old address until recently so should have received anything sent about this matter.

From past experience of the Benefits Depts in various parts of the country it's my view that the main goal of the benefits agencies (bar the odd decent individual that tries to actually help) is to get people off benefits where ever possible (if they have a job to go to or not).

I have also had, a few years ago, the 'we didn't receive your claim form' excuse when it was sent recorded delivery. Or the 'we got one form but not the other so didn't process it' reasoning when all forms were sent in the same envelope.

So a sceptical person would say that every so often they just drop some application forms in the rubbish bin and hope that person gives up or goes away.

I didn't notice the drop in account balance sooner due to home life and caring for my elderly mum which has been much more difficult lately due to mum's mental state fluctuating between cheery and unpleasantly depressive etc.

I am determined to see this as far as i can though as i did everything i was obliged to do and that extra money really makes a big difference.

dmg24

The fact is that your perception is wrong. One of the criteria that the Audit Commission measures the performance of the DWP on is their success in ensuring people are aware of their entitlement. They are not going to work against this criteria.

The DWP are far from perfect, nobody would dispute that (including the DWP!). However, I do think you are going to have difficulty proving your version of events.

anmarj

davey001 wrote: »

tcr: I understand what you saying but i am not mis-stating the course of events and i have had the post re-directed from the old address until recently so should have received anything sent about this matter.

from what I understand the royal mail will not redirect any dwp mail on a redirection if addressed to your old address, they will just send in back to the return address, this then can take two months to get back to the original office that issued it. but if carers allowance changed the address on the system then this should download to income support, the only think i can think of is that the new address did not push on the income support claim (sometimes happen) which is why they would of not known were you were

custardy

anmarj wrote: »

from what I understand the royal mail will not redirect any dwp mail on a redirection if addressed to your old address, they will just send in back to the return address, this then can take two months to get back to the original office that issued it. but if carers allowance changed the address on the system then this should download to income support, the only think i can think of is that the new address did not push on the income support claim (sometimes happen) which is why they would of not known were you were

depends on the mail,only mail specifically marked 'do not redirect' will not be redirected
i dont know if all mail from DWP is marked like this? i dont think so though
for the OP though,i would expect any returned mail to DWP to cause issues
i know when i moved and next sent statements to both addresses they closed my account when one set was returned

anmarj

from what I can tell it is not marked, but then again once it has left my hands in the works post box, who knows!