Refused Incapacity benefit after lost forms!

nicnoo

My mum has been on incapacity benefit for about 6 years now and before christmas was asked to resubmit her forms to be assessed. The forms were sent in around the 17th December and no other correspondence was received from DWP. This morning my mum received a letter saying that as of next week her benefits will be cancelled due to the fact they didnt receive any forms! How can they just stop the benefits on this basis without even contacting her beforehand??? When my mum spoke to them this morning they said there was nothing they could do about it and feel free to appeal but this could take some time!! Does anybody know a way this can be resolved without having to wait months due to there mistake??

tazwhoever

OP - send all your paperwork by special delivery, and keep a copy for yourself too.

Cpt.Scarlet

OP - They aren't doing IB assessments any more, haven't for over a year, so what did your mother actually send to the DWP?

Torry_Quine

tazwhoever wrote: »

OP - send all your paperwork by special delivery, and keep a copy for yourself too.

Cpt.Scarlet wrote: »

OP - They aren't doing IB assessments any more, haven't for over a year, so what did your mother actually send to the DWP?

Have to agree with both comments. I always take copies and it would most likely have been an ESA 50 form for the change to ESA.

Hope you get it sorted.

nicnoo

Thanks for your comments and I am aware that the forms should have copied but this still doesnt explain why they think they can just stop all payments due to missing forms. They should have contacted her before this letter was sent out to say no papers had been received.

rogerblack

nicnoo wrote: »

Thanks for your comments and I am aware that the forms should have copied but this still doesnt explain why they think they can just stop all payments due to missing forms. They should have contacted her before this letter was sent out to say no papers had been received.

There should have been a warning letter sent over a week before the form was due, if it was received.
If there wasn't, the decision to terminate benefit has no legal effect.

First thing to do - phone them up and say that the form was sent on x/x/x, and request benefit is resumed.
This will probably be initially refused, but this decision may be reconsidered.
If the form is lost in the post, but has been sent, you are still entitled.
Any evidence of posting is useful - from recorded delivery onto you saying that you saw it posted.

Download a copy of the ESA50, and fill it in, dating it as the original form.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@money/documents/digitalasset/dg_195544.pdf
Send this ASAP.

You also want to get confirmation that a reminder letter was sent, if this is not the case, they can't terminate benefit.

Good luck - and as you've probably decided, send everything recorded or special delivery in the future!

uponahill

rogerblack wrote: »

There should have been a warning letter sent over a week before the form was due, if it was received.
If there wasn't, the decision to terminate benefit has no legal effect.

First thing to do - phone them up and say that the form was sent on x/x/x, and request benefit is resumed.
This will probably be initially refused, but this decision may be reconsidered.
If the form is lost in the post, but has been sent, you are still entitled.
Any evidence of posting is useful - from recorded delivery onto you saying that you saw it posted.

Download a copy of the ESA50, and fill it in, dating it as the original form.
http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@money/documents/digitalasset/dg_195544.pdf
Send this ASAP.

You also want to get confirmation that a reminder letter was sent, if this is not the case, they can't terminate benefit.

Good luck - and as you've probably decided, send everything recorded or special delivery in the future!

This seems to be happening quite a lot.
DWP stating that forms and documents not being received = failure to comply = loss of benefit.

At the end of the day it is for the claimant to show with evidence that it was posted and that they have carried out every request asked of them.

More that likely the DWP will state that the reminder was sent and that they did everything by the book.

I personally lost an appeal in a similar situation in that I posted them information which they said was never received and that I was not proactive enough to ensure that the DWP didn't have it. It was held at the Tribunal that the onus is on the claimant to show that posting and completion of forms is not just done but can be proven to be done and that the forms etc were received by the DWP.

That is all encompassed in The Social Security (Claims and Payments) Regulations 1987 regs 7 & 32.

I couldn't prove that I sent it, I know I did, but there was no evidence of posting and that I also failed to contact the DWP to ensure that they had in fact received the information.