ESA stopped for nothing ...

System

It say roughly

We have looked at your claim again following a recent change ..

Your appeal has been heard by an independant appeal tribunal

The tribunal has confirmed the DM opinion that your do not have limited capability for work.

Therefore your ESA stops 4/7/2013. looked like they have mixed the appeals up ... ????

First appeal WRAG appeal for support. second appeal was against fit for work decision

I do not understand this they seem to be wrong.....

epitome

What benefits were you claiming before August 2012? or were you working?

Since Aug 2012 what has been your ESA award rate? and what was the amount made up of...i.e. £111.45 couple rate + £?? ??? + £?? ????

Did your rate change in January 2013? to what?

What does your wife do? any benefits in her name?

You already said you and your partner do not have savings above £6000? or above £16,000?

wildwestfan

Perhaps you would be better off claiming carers allowance plus perhaps income support top up as your wife has HR DLA? Then you wouldn't have to be concerned about ESA.

System

Working 1979 - 2012

ESA since April 2013 - till now

Was on couple rate 111.45 which went up till February 2013 - I w was reassessed again and put on assessment rate I have been getting £175.00per fortnight since February

Wife does not work no benefits in her name save for her onen DLA

thanks

System

Wildwest fan - Had thought of that ... but I would in my own mind at least not put myself on the scrap heap just yet. I suffer various illnesses but with their help i would like to go back perhaps one day but thank you may have to re consider .. cheers

and NO savings at all .. zero balances . thanks

epitome

apollokid, you are making a lot of errors in your posts you say #4 Wrag since August 2012, reassessment in Jan 2013 now you say ESA since April 13.

I need you to be careful what you type, make sure it is all correct..

I need dates of claim, rates paid, dates when changes occurred, dates when events happened (like assessments) dates when you submitted an appeal and what the appeal was for and dates of changes to your rates paid. and breakdowns of your award at each change. ALL in chronological order please.

When we have everything laid out I can start to make sense of what has happened so far, because what you have said so far, makes no sense.

System

Hi Im sorry in a bit of a state ...

1st assessment: July 2012 - Atos 6 points - made up by DWP DM to put me in WRAG in August 2012. £111.45 (1st appeal for support group)

Then ATOS reassessed me in January 2013

February 2013, 6 points from ATOS - DWP told me fit for work - (2nd appeal made). My money dropped to £175.00 per fortnight (Reassessment rate ??? and I think they taking loan out)


My first appeal was heard on 1/7/2013 I was denied support group and tribunal said entitled to ESA.

I then get a letter dated 9/7/2013 that my claim was being closed. as of the 4/7/2013 not entitled to ESA ???? I dont understand why when I half won my first tribunal ...

I had clearly lost the support group - but won ESA.

The second appeal has not yet even been heard. will be in about 8 weeks

So I have been in ESA since April 2012 when I lost my job due to illnesses....

I was in WRAG till reassessed in January 2013, and February money was cut ... tis probably DWP error perhaps ..???

and thank you

rogerblack

Several issues.
If you ticked 'I want to attend the tribunal in person' - on the letter from the tribunal service - then they did not send you notice of the tribunal, or if it was unfair to you for them to proceed and not request you turned up in person - then you can request the tribunals verdict is setaside.
First step would be to write to the tribunal, within one month, and get a written statement of reasons.

My best guess at what's happening now would be a data entry error.
That is - someones gotten hold of the tribunal verdict, and pressed 'fit for work' - not 'work related activity group'.

Second guess would be that the tribunal decision was that you were entitled to ESA for one year - and that this ran from the _ORIGINAL_DECISION_DATE_ - so your ESA award from the tribunal ran out one year after that award - which was meant that the tribunal was effectively saying 'The award placing you in the WRAG is correct - but you are not entitled from one year after the initial decision'.

You need to carefully read the letter from the tribunal - does it mention any time-period that you are eligible for ESA for?

However, even if the tribunal did decide this, my understanding is that your payments should continue at the assessment rate, as you still have a live appeal.

Even if the above has happened (and the tribunal awarded for a limited period) you should have been paid backpay of the work-related component for the entire period you were at assessment rate so far.

epitome

apollokid wrote: »

Hi Im sorry in a bit of a state ...

I assume you started claiming April 2012

1st assessment: July 2012 - Atos 6 points - made up by DWP DM to put me in WRAG in August 2012. £111.45 (1st appeal for support group)

This bit here ^ does not make sense, I assume you are mistaken on the amount you were paid, because WRAG should have paid you £111.45 + £28.15 = £139.60 per week (less any deductions). That's £279.20 per fortnight. However, if I read you correctly your partner is on high rate DLA care, you might get an extra £23 EDP per week but as it is your partner who is DLA HRC I don't think it would qualify but you should get this checked.

Then ATOS reassessed me in January 2013

This makes sense if you were in WRAG on a WRAG appeal.

February 2013, 6 points from ATOS - DWP told me fit for work - (2nd appeal made). My money dropped to £175.00 per fortnight (Reassessment rate ??? and I think they taking loan out

Your money would have dropped to £111.45 per week / £222.90 per fortnight, with deductions taken out for loans.

My first appeal was heard on 1/7/2013 I was denied support group and tribunal said entitled to ESA.

I assume you think the tribunal letter says entitled to WRAG? Do you still have the tribunal letter can you type it out for us?

I then get a letter dated 9/7/2013 that my claim was being closed. as of the 4/7/2013 not entitled to ESA ???? I dont understand why when I half won my first tribunal ...

On the information you provide, it seems they (DWP) have made an error... or you have.

I had clearly lost the support group - but won ESA.

The second appeal has not yet even been heard. will be in about 8 weeks

So I have been in ESA since April 2012 when I lost my job due to illnesses....

I was in WRAG till reassessed in January 2013, and February money was cut ... tis probably DWP error perhaps ..???

The February reduction was correct because you had been failed and were now on assessment rate but the rate is what I said above £222 (previous rate) What this all comes down to, is, what does the tribunal letter say...word for word please.....

• If you are right that the tribunal put you in WRAG, then your claim should still be open at assessment rate £224 (todays rate) pending the result of the next appeal. What you should do is phone and ask for a callback from appeals section asking them to look at the TAS decision again as you think they have made an error.
• If DWP are right, then the tribunal will have kicked you out of WRAG and found you fit for work very rare to happen like this but it is theoretically possible and your claim is correctly closed. What you should do is make a new claim from 04/07/2013

and thank you

you're welcome, thank you

epitome

I edited the above, so you should re-read the second paragraph. I tend to edit & re-edit a lot of my posts.

By the way, it is usually the case, that when there is a couple one of whom gets DLA High rate care, then the carer partner can claim Carers Allowance and Income Support, the disability premiums will make this benefit pay more overall than if you claimed ESA. CA&IS even pays more than the ESA Support Group. The rate of IS is something like £211 per week like this:

£112.55
£44.20 DP
£21.75 EDP
£33.30 CP
Total £211.80 per week.

It makes your life easier as you are not jumping through hoops for ESA. and your CA should pay your National Insurance, however your partner should take advice on how to get her NI paid.

And you should be aware that DLA is changing to PIP so she may lose her high rate care in the changeover, but if that happens you just claim ESA again.... you can still look for work for yourself whilst on CA&IS as long as you declare it when you do some work.

The advantage of staying on ESA is that you can work and earn upto £99.50 a week and your income won't affect your ESA rate for 1 year.