Hi. New here with a question about backdating jsa.

Ballistic

Have come here specifically to ask this because im finding it hard to find this problem online. Anyway.

About 6 months ago my claim for esa got stopped for non attendence to another medical. I appealed this and a few months later a letter came back saying do i want to proceed with the appeal or do i want to end the claim. I ended the claim because this process was taking ages and was gettimg confusing. Anyway i was told i could re apply for esa and this would probably be quicker then going through with the appeal. So i reapplied on oct 2 nd 2011 and sent sick note and filled out application etc. Months later in december they contact me saying my esa will only start being paid once i attend and pass a medical ( bearing in mind its the christmas period i was told i would probably have to wait until late feb for a medical!) now i have had bad experiences with these medicals and they seem to do a bad job so this was really discouraging brcause im back at square 1 and probably wont pass the medical that ill have to wait another 3 months for ( i think its very hard to pass the medical when you have mental health issues as in my case)

Keep in mind im broke by now and have used to crisis loans (£40 for 2 weeks!!! Lol) so remember its around early december now, so with all this worry on my head i thought screw it ill just go the jsa route as im broke and phoned up, cancelled my esa claim and put in a new claim for jsa. Went to my first signing on thing today and im just basically trying to get back into the process of routines/ looking for work etc.

Anyway here is the question!!!! Can i backdate my jsa claim to start from october 2nd? Bearing in mind i had an esa application being processed at the time? Would it be strange if i did this? Would they say " well why did you make an esa claim instead of a jsa claim"? I did apply to a few jobs in this period aswell went to one interview aswell.

I know my post is really long and probably confusing but any advice is appreciated.

Thanx.

Ballistic

Any help would be highly appreciated because ive been told the fill and send the form back asap.

benefitbaby

Hi, you can always ask to backdate a claim (legislation dictates when/how far a claim can be backdated) however unless you can show that you were available for and actively seekign work then JSA cannot be backdated because this is the qualifying criteria - sorry.

You could always try to resurrect your original ESA appeal... this would not be easy however the absolute time limit is 13 months from the date of the decision and you would have to show continuing good cause for the lateness. It is arguable that the misleading advice that you could just re-claim ESA (technically true however you should have been advised that there would be no payment until medical attended) is what led you to withdraw your original appeal.
If the above were accepted and you were to win appeal your ESA (plus whatever component you were awarded) would be backdated to the original decision.

There is nothing stopping you claiming JSA whilst seeking the late ESA appeal.

The above is not straightforward and I strongly advise you seek specialist help from a legal aid benefit adviser, welfare rights unit or CAB.

missapril75

An excellent answer from BB.

All I'd add is that it sounds like you were "encouraged" (being diplomatic) to end the ESA claim (perhaps to save them and you some further work) and make a new one.

If you do as BB suggests, you may not be alone. If several unconnected people make the same case it might reveal a questionable practice that would help your appeal at least get heard.

Ballistic

benefitbaby wrote: »

Hi, you can always ask to backdate a claim (legislation dictates when/how far a claim can be backdated) however unless you can show that you were available for and actively seekign work then JSA cannot be backdated because this is the qualifying criteria - sorry.

You could always try to resurrect your original ESA appeal... this would not be easy however the absolute time limit is 13 months from the date of the decision and you would have to show continuing good cause for the lateness. It is arguable that the misleading advice that you could just re-claim ESA (technically true however you should have been advised that there would be no payment until medical attended) is what led you to withdraw your original appeal.
If the above were accepted and you were to win appeal your ESA (plus whatever component you were awarded) would be backdated to the original decision.

There is nothing stopping you claiming JSA whilst seeking the late ESA appeal.

The above is not straightforward and I strongly advise you seek specialist help from a legal aid benefit adviser, welfare rights unit or CAB.

Hi thanx for that. So are you saying i could claim jsa while i try and overturn the deccision on my original esa claim?

missapril75 wrote: »

An excellent answer from BB.

All I'd add is that it sounds like you were "encouraged" (being diplomatic) to end the ESA claim (perhaps to save them and you some further work) and make a new one.

If you do as BB suggests, you may not be alone. If several unconnected people make the same case it might reveal a questionable practice that would help your appeal at least get heard.

Again thsnx for the reply. Would there be any way of trying to gather ppl on here with similar experiences? I see how it would make a stronger case for my self and anyone else with the same problem.

missapril75

Ballistic wrote: »

Would there be any way of trying to gather ppl on here with similar experiences? I see how it would make a stronger case for my self and anyone else with the same problem.

Well there might be some already but you wouldn't know if they were in your area.

But maybe someone like the CAB or some other organisation in the area would be aware from people consulting them previously.

Ballistic

Hi. Anyone who could help me with info on how to go about doimg what bb suggested would be appreciated. Thanx.

miduck

I appealed this and a few months later a letter came back saying do i want to proceed with the appeal or do i want to end the claim.

If this is the letter I think it is, it is a standard letter - nothing that would give you grounds for a late appeal. Can you quote exactly what the letter said please?

Ballistic

Hi. I dont have the letter unfortunately but i remember i ticked a box saying i dont want to pursue it further and sent it back.

missapril75

miduck wrote: »

If this is the letter I think it is, it is a standard letter - nothing that would give you grounds for a late appeal.

@Ballistic...you originally said "I ended the claim because this process was taking ages and was gettimg confusing. Anyway i was told i could re apply for esa and this would probably be quicker then going through with the appeal."

So it's not the letter that's misleading you, it's that "advice" that reapplying would be quicker when it wouldn't actually achieve anything until a medical later. Presumably that came in a phone conversation.

If that's what made you believe it would be better to withdraw and reapply, that's what you should say.

Ballistic

Yes april. It was by phone, they actually phoned me and told me.