esa help please - late sicknote payments stopped etc

helloey

hello,

i recently applied for and have been awarded esa, i got a backdated payment and then my first "regular" payment on the 20th august (two weeks ago today).

today i didn't receive a payment - i attribute this to not having sent off a sick note in time (i was sent a reminder letter that my last sick note ran out on the 30th of august).

although my last sicknote covered up until 4 days ago, it would appear the policy is to withhold the whole fortnightly payment as opposed to sending money for the 10 days i was covered?

as getting sicknotes is difficult and will take time, i may not be able to get a backdated sicknote to them until maybe late next week, should i ring and tell them this ?

also, when they receive said sick note, will they backdate the money of the withheld two weeks (20th aug-3rd sep)? and will my payments continue, or will i receive no money whatsoever for this fortnight gone, despite being covered until 4 days ago ?

THANKS!

rogerblack

They will backdate.
If you phone up, and explain, they may be willing to pay you in the interim.

sniggings

you can also ask for an appointment at your local jobcentre, they will scan the sicknote in for you so they get it a lot sooner, you can also ask them to post the sicknote for you, they will put it in their mail which also should get there a bit sooner.

I was told a letter can take 4-7 days just to get processed but the scanning at the jobcentre cuts that right down.

helloey

thanks for the help, that's a relief!, getting to a job centre would provide problems, but thanks for mentioning to take into account the processing time.

nannytone_2

i had a similar situation while i was waiting for my medocal.

my sick note ran out on a saturday, and my doctor wouldnt give a pre dated one, so i couldnt get a new sick note until the monday.

i took it into the job centre and they faxed it over for me.

i didnt have any delay in my benefit