Help please, ESA stopped.

kazzybee

If anyone could give me some advise, I would be obliged. I went from IB to ESA work group in nov 2012. I had face to face interview with ATOS dr and he put me on a 2yr award. I took out money on 3rd dec and today went to take some more out, knowing what was left & expecting another 2 weeks payment. There was no more money in my account only the amount I knew I had left in.

Having researched on this site, I read that ESACB is only payable for 365 days but what happens when you have a 2 year award. What do I or can I do? If anyone can help please do so in easy instruction, I was declared incapable/disabled in 1990 and was on IB until these changes. I really find this situation very stressful and not expected & then there is DLA to follow.

Please help.

rogerblack

kazzybee wrote: »

Having researched on this site, I read that ESACB is only payable for 365 days but what happens when you have a 2 year award.

If your household has no other source of income (other than DLA) then you need to contact them, and you can be switched without problem over to ESA-income-related.

If you have other significant household income, then you may still be entitled to some of the benefits - for example, you get your NI stamp paid towards your pension - but you will not be paid.
You still have an active claim for ESA - it's just you won't be paid.

It is _URGENT_ that if you have other income, and you believe that at the time of the assessment you may have met the criteria for the support group that you appeal in writing the original decision to place you in the work-related group.

You have at most another week or so - the absolute limit is thirteen months since the decision.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/248826/esa214-rev-oct2013.pdf

This is an idea of the regulations - the 'support group' descriptors are towards the end.
These are the ones that applied post Oct 2013 - they are somewhat more stringent in many areas than the ones you will have been assessed against.
Hopefully someone will link the applicable ones.

To appeal - you need to write to them - giving NI, address, the date of the decision, and why you're appealing (you believe you were entitled to the support group because you meet whatever descriptor).

Morglin

kazzybee wrote: »

If anyone could give me some advise, I would be obliged. I went from IB to ESA work group in nov 2012. I had face to face interview with ATOS dr and he put me on a 2yr award. I took out money on 3rd dec and today went to take some more out, knowing what was left & expecting another 2 weeks payment. There was no more money in my account only the amount I knew I had left in.

Having researched on this site, I read that ESACB is only payable for 365 days but what happens when you have a 2 year award. What do I or can I do? If anyone can help please do so in easy instruction, I was declared incapable/disabled in 1990 and was on IB until these changes. I really find this situation very stressful and not expected & then there is DLA to follow.

Please help.

The post below yours is correct, but your DLA is a separate thing, and not part of your ESA claim.

If DLA want to review you, or move you to PIP, if you normally have regular reviews, then you will get a letter separately, from DLA Unit.

If you are receiving an 'indefinite award' for DLA, then your claim, unless there is a reason, will not be looked at again before late 2015-2017.

Lin

kazzybee

Thank you rogerblack for your post. I do get a work pension and isn't DLA non means tested? I still believe that I should have been put in support group, unable to mobilise 50 meters alone but I wasn't asked about that.
You say about appealing, who do I contact? In respect of the income related stuff, is there a maximum amount before you get nothing?

eadieb

If you need you benefit to go back into payment then you should ring them urgently tomorow and state you want to change to an income related ESA claim. they should have sent letters to you in advance of your contribution ESA ending inviting you to make an income related claim. Make sure you ask for payments to be backdated to when the contribution one ended.

they will want proof of your pension amounts and all savings etc etc. They work out how much they give you using set figures called applicable amounts, so for example they might say a single adult gets 71.70pw on basic ESa, then they add another £28 to it for being in the Work related group, and then if you get DLA (depending on the rates and if you live alone and other complex rules) you might get more money added onto your basic applicable amount. This forms a maximum entitlement figure. Then they take away any incomes that count e.g pensions, earnings, savings tarrif income, etc. and then you get what is left.

so as a simplistic example - if you were in WRAG ESA you might get about £100 max, but you had a pension of £50, then you will get only £50 ESA paid. But remember, even if you end up with a very little amount of income related ESA, it still counts as a passport benefit for help with council tax and housing benefit etc.

As a seperate issue, appealing to be in the Support Group, might work but is hard, you may need medical evidence, it might take 6 months or longer to get to appeal. BUT it could be worth the effort for you if you think you meet the criteria as if you are in support group and have a private pension then only 50% of it above a figure of about £80pw is taken into account. This is better than on the WRAG group.

I would get down to a CAB and ask them to do a benefit calculation for you to show what you should get now and what you would get if you appealed successfully and was placed in support group.