Stopped my IS - Moved to ESA..

rogerblack

planetred wrote: »

Hi guys,

Thanks for all your helpful replies - I really do appreciate every last contribution made.

To summarise my understanding and questions:

- I believe I've been moved from IS (formerly IB) to ESA
- However, they are still determining whether or not I am actually eligible for ESA at all
- This means I'm receiving no support for this interim period (is that right?)
- Will this effect my housing benefit claim?
- What are the main differences between IS and ESA?

Thanks again all,

Mike

Not quite.
You at the moment have had your IS claim converted into an ESA claim - which has terminated, as you have failed the assessment.
Once they receive your appeal, until the outcome of the appeal (which may be the best part of a year), you are on the assessment rate of ESA (which is around 65/week for a single person over 25).
Your HB claim will be unaffected, as will council-tax benefit - you need to notify them that you have no income for the moment, and then notify them when you start getting paid assessment rate ESA.

ESA is based on passing the 'work capability assessment' - you either gain enough points to be found to have 'limited capacity for work', or meet one of the tests for the support group.

The support group has no requirements as to things you must do.
For those in the 'work related' group, they may be required to do various things with the aim of keeping them in touch with the world of work, and getting them back into work.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/m-06-11.pdf - is an overview of the descriptors.

If you were to post more about your problems, people may be able to advise on likely outcome.

As to the general points about IS that people have asked about.

IS on grounds of sickness or disability can no longer be claimed, all new claimants must make a claim for ESA (since 2008). All existing claimants will be migrated over to ESA in the next year or so.

lyndac40

IS on grounds of sickness or disability can no longer be claimed, all new claimants must make a claim for ESA (since 2008). All existing claimants will be migrated over to ESA in the next year or so.

We have only been claiming IS since Oct or Nov 2011 when I lost my ESA appeal. Will IS not still be available to us as my hubby claims CA for me.

planetred

rogerblack wrote: »

Not quite.
You at the moment have had your IS claim converted into an ESA claim - which has terminated, as you have failed the assessment.
Once they receive your appeal, until the outcome of the appeal (which may be the best part of a year), you are on the assessment rate of ESA (which is around 65/week for a single person over 25).
Your HB claim will be unaffected, as will council-tax benefit - you need to notify them that you have no income for the moment, and then notify them when you start getting paid assessment rate ESA.

ESA is based on passing the 'work capability assessment' - you either gain enough points to be found to have 'limited capacity for work', or meet one of the tests for the support group.

The support group has no requirements as to things you must do.
For those in the 'work related' group, they may be required to do various things with the aim of keeping them in touch with the world of work, and getting them back into work.

- is an overview of the descriptors.

If you were to post more about your problems, people may be able to advise on likely outcome.

As to the general points about IS that people have asked about.

IS on grounds of sickness or disability can no longer be claimed, all new claimants must make a claim for ESA (since 2008). All existing claimants will be migrated over to ESA in the next year or so.

Thanks this detailed response, very helpful indeed.

Couple of follow up questions:

I was not aware nor told by my advisor yesterday that there was any notion of an ESA "assessment phase". Is this a phase for which I receive cut-rate ESA support while the appeal I made is in progress?

Will this be automatic or do I have to apply for this assessment phase?

Thanks again,

Mike

HB58

Yes, the 'assessment rate' is a basic payment of £67.50 per week paid to people awaiting a decision on their initial ESA application, or awaiting the results of an appeal. This should be paid until you get the results of the tribunal (which, as rogerblack said, could take upwards of one year).

I think that the council would have been notified that you no longer get IS/IB and automatically stop your benefit on the grounds that you might now be working. Contact them and tell them that you have no income and it should be re-instated forthwith.

Please note the the criteria for claiming ESA are considerably different from those for IB. Familiarise yourself with them before you submit evidence for your appeal so that you can clearly state where/how you meet the descriptors.

ETA, I think the assessment rate will be paid automatically once your appeal has been accepted

planetred

HB58 wrote: »

Yes, the 'assessment rate' is a basic payment of £67.50 per week paid to people awaiting a decision on their initial ESA application, or awaiting the results of an appeal. This should be paid until you get the results of the tribunal (which, as rogerblack said, could take upwards of one year).

I think that the council would have been notified that you no longer get IS/IB and automatically stop your benefit on the grounds that you might now be working. Contact them and tell them that you have no income and it should be re-instated forthwith.

Please note the the criteria for claiming ESA are considerably different from those for IB. Familiarise yourself with them before you submit evidence for your appeal so that you can clearly state where/how you meet the descriptors.

ETA, I think the assessment rate will be paid automatically once your appeal has been accepted

You've actually touched on what was going to be my next question. I hurriedly filled out the G-something or other form yesterday in my local Job Centre with a sick not from my doctor, as advised by the gent in the Job Centre itself. To compliment, I then wrote about my constant pain, condition and inability to do simple activities.

In retrospect, there's a whole heap of evidence I could/should have attached to the appeal and I am now kicking myself that I did not include it.

So, my question is - is it too late to send further supporting evidence to bolster my claim?

Thanks again,

Mike

HB58

No, it is not too late to send in your evidence. The reconsideration will probably take a few weeks, then you have the wait until the tribunal if the reconsideration is not in your favour. You can submit evidence right up until the date of the tribunal (although they do prefer everything to have been received a couple of weeks beforehand). The more evidence you can gather, the better - especially anything that specifically refers to the descriptors and how your condition affects them.

Cpt.Scarlet

You should have a 3-4 week window to send additional information to the DWP. Send it to the DWP office reviewing your claim marked for the the attention of the Decision Maker (you don't need to know their name), the address should be on any correspondance related to the benefit. Make sure each page has your full name, National Insurance Number and some sort of reference number e.g. 2 of 5.

rogerblack

Cpt.Scarlet wrote: »

You should have a 3-4 week window to send additional information to the DWP. Send it to the DWP office reviewing your claim marked for the the attention of the Decision Maker (you don't need to know their name), the address should be on any correspondance related to the benefit. Make sure each page has your full name, National Insurance Number and some sort of reference number e.g. 2 of 5.

And as always - send it recorded or special delivery.
You can also phone them to say you're sending in more evidence, so the decision may be postponed till it arrives.

planetred

Okay thank you all very much for the help.

I will organise to send more formal and documented evidence as soon as possible.

One last question - I have a lot of evidence as you can probably imagine. So as to tailor what I provide to the claim for ESA, is there a document/website that details what the eligibility criteria is for the two ESA groups - Work Related Activity and Support?

millym

When sending extra evidence to the DWP, always write your name and National Insurance number on every bit of paper. I forgot to do this when renewing my DLA claim, and all my evidence was'lost'. Luckily, although I had sent the originals, I had scanned copies of everything that I could then forward to them.

I would send your evidence ASAP, as they may then be able to change the decision at reconsideration stage, rather than waiting for an appeal.