Income Support Mass Confusion.

jaycoo

hello i wonder if anyone can help me please
.
with a particular question. In relation to Income Support.

Basically im on DLA and Incapacity Benefit, and have been for 12 years/. ( mental illness ) middle rate care , and lower rate mobility.

no one has ever claimed carers allowance for me.

I have only recently found out im entitled to Income Support (top up to my IB) as an addon.. as i was only getting 108.00 per week.
my award was for about 40 pounds.

My issue is i was missinformed twice last year, once at the job centre and once on the benefits helpline when i asked if i could claim for IS, both times was told no. Hence why i didnt claim, and had no idea i could claim this for 10 years.

when i was awarded IS i asked for the IS to be backdated for 9 months.

I received a letter back stating that the DM cannot backdate my claim because

'' you have not shown good cause for the delay in making your claim as defined in the social security act 1987''

should i give up, as to be honest i dont have the massive energy to keep asking for things from the dwp. im grateful for there help, and dont want anymore angry staff , like the woman at the job centre who said ' you are on enough money''



am i being unrealistic?

i suppose 9 months is better than 10 years they have not paid me ,?

do you have any advice for me, how to approach them, or , shall i give up?

thanks

Jay

nannytone_2

what made you claim IS after being told twice that you couldnt?

unless you have it in writing, it would be almost impossible to prove that you were advised wrongly.

they would assume that as you have made a claim now, you had the samee option to claim then.

as i said previously ... with only 'hearsay' evidence, uoure unlikely to sicceed.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

I was told they would only backdate 3 months for new claims.

I'm in a similar boat. Been on IB & get DLA. I only found out I could claim IS yesterday. Never crossed my mind that I could put a claim in for IS.

jaycoo

nannytone wrote: »

what made you claim IS after being told twice that you couldnt?

unless you have it in writing, it would be almost impossible to prove that you were advised wrongly.

they would assume that as you have made a claim now, you had the samee option to claim then.

as i said previously ... with only 'hearsay' evidence, uoure unlikely to sicceed.

i phoned the benefit helpline to enquier about a loan from the social fund and they informed me i should be on IS

nannytone_2

however unfair it seems. the onus is on the claimant to make sure they are receiving the correct benefit.

without proof that they told you that you werent entitled, you really have no chance of getting any back dated payment

the_devil_made_me_do_it

nannytone....if people are anything like me, I have never actively sought out any benefits. I have been told about them by care workers or in this case an assessor from the council.

Only just claimed DLA a year ago, as I didn't even know about it & I have been ill for 15 years.

wiccanlou

Its the annoying thing about benefits regardless of who you are or what your abilities are with getting information about benefits the DWP still expect the individual to claim. Even a person who has had a stroke, has difficulty talking, filling in forms and using computers would be expected to find out about their own entitlement and claim themselves its only through organisations like CAB, Dial and etc that they get the help they need to do this.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

Does everyone who claims Income Support have to have an interview with a personal advisor from Jobcentre plus?

jaycoo

the_devil_made_me_do_it wrote: »

Does everyone who claims Income Support have to have an interview with a personal advisor from Jobcentre plus?

basically no, .

the_devil_made_me_do_it

jaycoo wrote: »

basically no, .

Ok..how do you know?

When I spoke to job center plus today for help to go through the claim form, the advisor said that I may have to have an interview with a personal advisor.

To be honest, this worries me as I really can't face the prospect of it & am seriously considering not signing the form when they send it through the post.

nannytone_2

when you are transferred from IB to ESA, the chances are that you will have to attend a medical... and then periodically attend the job centre for work focused interbiew. ( only the most severely disabled/sick get into the support group)

its becoming harder and harder to make a successful claim for benefits.

i understand they want to stop people that arent entitled from trcrovomh brmrgoys that they arent entitled to.
but it does make3 life an awful lot harder/more stressful for the genuinely ill/disabled