Employment Support Allowance

stephen09

Hi,am new to the forum.

I have a few questions about a esa claim that I applied for.My doctor put me on the sick due to depression and anxiety.So I sent the e.s.a form away with 2 sick-lines that covers me from the 24th of April till the end of May.I have called them for the last 2 weeks about what's happening and keep getting told lies from them.

I phoned up again today and they told me that:the claim only covers me from the 17th of May when they apparantly recieved it.My sick-line states that I am on sick leave from the 24th of April.So if he is correct what happens to my housing and council tax benefit for the 23 days before that? I was also told that I would be paid today,and there isn't a penny in my bank account.He said I will be payed next week.Will they pay me from when I put the sick line in or from when they recieved then esa forms?


Any help would be muchly appreciated.Thanks.

MrsManda

When did you send the forms? Your claim usually starts from the day they receive your application or if you call them to make the initial claim it starts from then though you don't get paid for the first 4 days of a claim. It may be possible to get it backdated but I'm not sure what the rules are.

So if he is correct what happens to my housing and council tax benefit for the 23 days before that?

You don't have to be claiming ESA in order to get HB/CTB as they're low income benefits - you can claim them while working, jobhunting or whatever providing your income is low enough so you should still receive them if you're on a low income regardless of when your ESA claim starts. Though you probably should talk to the council as they may require more information.

stephen09

MrsManda wrote: »

When did you send the forms? Your claim usually starts from the day they receive your application or if you call them to make the initial claim it starts from then though you don't get paid for the first 4 days of a claim. It may be possible to get it backdated but I'm not sure what the rules are.



You don't have to be claiming ESA in order to get HB/CTB as they're low income benefits - you can claim them while working, jobhunting or whatever providing your income is low enough so you should still receive them if you're on a low income regardless of when your ESA claim starts. Though you probably should talk to the council as they may require more information.

Hi,I got the sick-lines on the 24th of April and sent them on the 04th of May.The person I spoke on the phone said that: I would be paid from the 17th of May when they recieved the forms.Thought that sounded odd.They did tell me it could take another week,but couldn't tell me anything else.Thanks,the information is useful.I really was in limbo with them.

epitome

The person on the phone was probably wrong.

My understanding:
A claim is made to ESA & if there is any missing information this must be receivd within 1 month for the claim to be valid from the claim date. If the missing information is not recv'd within one month then the claim starts from the date the information is recv'd

If they told you the money would be in your account today they meant "usually by 5pm today, however, some banks will not show it before 12noon the following day" So check tomorrow after 12:00 and if it's not there, phone up and tell them. Also you should ask "what dates this payment covers"

When did you make the phonecall to make the claim?
When did you send the claim form and sick notes (May 4th?)
What date did you claim from on the form? 24th April?

From what I can see here they will pay you from the date you put as your date of claim on the claim form.

You can backdate an ESA claim aswell, I'm not sure on the backdating rules but it should be fairly straight forward.

You don't get paid for the first 3 days of a claim from the date of claim.