ESA stopped without warning.

dgs2001

Hi All
My wife was on long term incapacity benefit before being moved a year ago to esa.
Although we did not really understand it at the time, it appears she was placed in a work group.
She was required to attend one interview with a job center plus agent, who was happy and told her she would not have to go back for further visits.

She has been paid ever since and we had recieved no other communication.

Friday 1st Feb she recieved a letter informing her that her ESA benefit stopped in January as she had been paid for 12 months.

Just like that we have lost £5076.00 of benefit income.

We have checked through every bit of paper and letter we have recieved and nowhere does it inform her that esa is only for a year.


Can it be right that this benefit can be stopped without any warning?

The Job Center are saying there seems to be a problem with her file as it is marked as not active, that's why we have never had any further communication from them?



What advice can anybody give please?
This is likely to place us in severe financial hardship.

Thanks

sammyjammy

Do you work yourself or was your wife's claim for both of you?

Unless she is entitled to means tested benefits (based on household income) the decision will stand regardless of whether you were properly informed or not.

Billy_two_speakers

dgs2001 wrote: »

Hi All
My wife was on long term incapacity benefit before being moved a year ago to esa.
Although we did not really understand it at the time, it appears she was placed in a work group.
She was required to attend one interview with a job center plus agent, who was happy and told her she would not have to go back for further visits.

She has been paid ever since and we had recieved no other communication.

Friday 1st Feb she recieved a letter informing her that her ESA benefit stopped in January as she had been paid for 12 months.

Just like that we have lost £5076.00 of benefit income.

We have checked through every bit of paper and letter we have recieved and nowhere does it inform her that esa is only for a year.


Can it be right that this benefit can be stopped without any warning?

The Job Center are saying there seems to be a problem with her file as it is marked as not active, that's why we have never had any further communication from them?



What advice can anybody give please?
This is likely to place us in severe financial hardship.

Thanks

your wifes claim was for esa contribution based which if not in the support group lasts for 12 months, she can now apply for esa income related BUT depending on your income and the hours you work you might not get it call dwp and ask for esa3 I think no harm in asking also you might be able to claim income support again depends on your income

dgs2001

Thanks for the quick reply
I am self employed which allows me to spend the time I need to helping at home when I need to, and able to work when she needs slighlty less support.

dgs2001

Just to complicate matters my wife was pensioned from her last employment on ill health grounds, and we are unsure if she can claim any thing else without jepordising her pension.

Again there is just a complete lack of information, and we dont know where to turn.

pmlindyloo

Put your details into the benefit calculator here to see if you are entitled to any other benefits:

http://www.turn2us.org.uk/benefits_search.aspx

Billy_two_speakers

dgs2001 wrote: »

Just to complicate matters my wife was pensioned from her last employment on ill health grounds, and we are unsure if she can claim any thing else without jepordising her pension.

Again there is just a complete lack of information, and we dont know where to turn.

there is no problem with having pension and esa be it cb or ir it just means that depending on the size of the pension esa might be cut or not paid even if not paid they still pay ni stamp so in some cases its still worth claiming even if you get no cash.