success at IB appeal but what now?

Cpt.Scarlet

He should remain on IB until he is transferred to ESA, which will only be after he has returned the ESA50 and possibly attended a medical. As he is receiving IB he will be transferred to Contribution Based ESA, his NI record will not affect this.

As part of the transfer, his income on ESA is guaranteed not to be less than what it was on IB, so he will be paid a top up to make up any difference if necessary.

The main thing to concentrate on is filling in his ESA50, he should have a look at http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/228/made/data.pdf as the questions on the ESA60 do not entirely match the actual criiteria he will be assessed om.

debbie_doo

hi again,

thanks for clearing that up, I'm going to ring them again now and see what they say, I read some info about ESA on here last night and it all seems very confusing compared to IB, in that they have different groups, different tests etc... nothing we can do about so ATM I'm just going to concentrate on getting the IB side sorted and getting all the money back that they wrongly took off him a year ago! thanks again :-) I have a better understanding now x

debbie_doo

well... the plot thickens!! I am due to call DWP in a couple of days for a further update on the situation, so in the meantime I have been doing some research on the migration from IB to ESA to be better informed when I speak to them (hopefully).

I thought I'd post this as may help others, it turns out that people who are on IB at the moment but due to reach state retirement age before 6th April 2014 are EXEMPT from the migration to the ESA process!!!! My family member is within this bracket!! unless I'm reading something wrong here then that makes the ESA element of all this totally irrelevant? surely DWP must have seen his age before they sent the ESA50 (checked with him today and it is ESA50 and not IB50). So, by my reckoning (or maybe wishful thinking) due to winning the appeal he should a). get his back money and b). continue to receive IB until he reaches state pension age? I am even more convinced now that the DWP are trying it on here and I still can't get my head around why they sent an ESA50 form when they knew he was waiting for an appeal date and he's exempt from migration anyway?? They are still paying IB to people until March 2014 and the DWP have told me previously that it is an obsolete benefit...exact words!

rogerblack

debbie_doo wrote: »

They are still paying IB to people until March 2014 and the DWP have told me previously that it is an obsolete benefit...exact words!

IB is an obsolete benefit.
There have been no new claims now for some years.
This means that the front line people don't see it regularly, and they assume that as the normal case is that you can't apply for IB, there is no circumstance under which a 'fresh' claim could be made for it.
(not understanding that it's not a fresh claim, but an existing claim)

debbie_doo

thank RB, yeah I know what you mean, it seems to me that they are trying to 'close' his existing IB file now and are just trying to move him to ESA - I really don't understand this urgency they seem to have to get us to forget about IB, anyway shall be ringing them bk next week for further convo, I am interested to hear what they have to say when I tell them he is exempt from the transfer to ESA anyway ! It's frustrating because we rely on these people to at least be trained to a level where they understand their own procedures and criterias!! everytime you ring you speak to someone else who tells you something different to what the last person you spoke to said!! Grrr lol...

SuziQ

It's frustrating because we rely on these people to at least be trained to a level where they understand their own procedures and criterias!!

You hit the nail on the head there, debbie. From what I have heard they have a high turnover of staff and often retraining is rushed through, which means we can't blame the advisors as they are effectively often working without the training they need. I hope you get it sorted next week-must be very stressful for you all.

debbie_doo

hi suziq,

thanks for that :-) it certainly gives someway to explaining why I am constantly being told different things, trouble is obviously we are the ones that are suffering due to the lack of knowledge, I don't blame the advisors although some of them have had a right attitude problem! lol. It is very stressful, I thought after the appeal the fog would be lifted but it's just one thing after another - it's great therapy getting things off my chest on here though!! ha... watch this space...x

debbie_doo

**update**

DWP have now confirmed, arrears are to be paid to fam member and IB reinstated (for the moment) whoo hoo!! Right so onto the next bit -

they still want the ESA50 completed so when I questioned why, I was told (predictably) that it was needed for ESA migration. However, when I advised that fam member is exempt from re-assessment due to retirement age there was a lot of erm oh erm um going on...was eventually put on hold for a few mins while they went to check, came back on the phone and said (without certainty) that it is still needed for up-to-date info.

So I said well you have UTD info as the appeal was less than 2 weeks ago and you have a report from the tribunal showing why/what points were awarded? So... more uming and ahhing, more holding!! Only to be then told.... well, I can't give you a reason but it needs to be filled in!! My fam member is very concerned about this as he still thinks it's an ESA claim form even though he's not being migrated!! As prev posts will show its only been a year since last IB50 was filled in and they certainly never needed updates annually before, it was more like every 3/5 years.

sorry for going on a bit here I'm still confused as they have confrimed IB is ok-ongoing, they have confirmed he is exempt from migration and therefore exempt from being reassessed, and cannot really give any reason as to why the ESA50 needs completing? can anyone shed some light on this?

Cpt.Scarlet

Escalate it to the Customer Services Manager, the only reason they need an ESA50 completed is so they can transfer him, it has got nothing to do with "up to date info".

debbie_doo

thanks C.S. will get onto this first thing, can you please follow my next update if I get stuck lol, the form (if needed) has to be in by the 11th so not much time left to get it sorted, do you have any tips on how to approach this with a CSM? I just have a feeling that they may just say the same thing again - fill it in - end of!! Obviously I don't want to get into a situation where the form is not returned and then they stop his IB for that reason then! ha...... I'm ripping my !!!!in hair out here aye...