Apologies, but yet another ESA thread.

Tire

If anyone knows, after the assessments been done, and you're awarded either amount, are you paid the back paid the extra from the start of your claim, or from the week following your assessment?

Thanka

rogerblack

Tire wrote: »

If anyone knows, after the assessments been done, and you're awarded either amount, are you paid the back paid the extra from the start of your claim, or from the week following your assessment?

Thanka

From the 13th week following the start of the claim period.
You can in some cases backdate a claim 3 months, so it can be backdated to the date your form arrives.
in most cases, the 13th week after.

Blackpool_Saver

This all still confuses me, suppose you are entitled to 3 months backdated from the start, (3 months prior to claim start date) do you get get the higher amount from the 13th week of the backdated 3 months span, or from the 13th week after the claim started?

hmf_2

It has taken them just under a year to assess me and decide what group I fall into either work group or support group. I recieved the £70 ish per week until this happened and then once they have made a decision they will back date what they owe you from the 13th week of your claim. Happier days once this all happens but you could be living on £70 ish a week for around a year. Hope that helps. You might be lucky and get your interview/assessment earlier than me. Good luck.

One other thing I believe you can qualify for both parts of esa if you have paid national insurance contributions over the last couple of years. I did not pay NI on my low income so I recieved the Income related part of esa only based on now having a low income. Some people qualify for this and the other part of ESA.

rogerblack

Blackpool_Saver wrote: »

This all still confuses me, suppose you are entitled to 3 months backdated from the start, (3 months prior to claim start date) do you get get the higher amount from the 13th week of the backdated 3 months span, or from the 13th week after the claim started?

This happened to me.
Process:
Claim backdated sending in a note on week 1.
Claim processed and 30 pounds or so paid week 2 - then there was an issue with my medical note.
Finally processed and in payment on week 3 or so, with backpayment of the assessment rate for the 13 weeks before I put in the claim. (I had no income during this period).

Assessment at around week 12, and decision around week 18 IIRC, after which I was paid backpay of the work-related component for the whole 18 weeks back to the original date I made the claim.

This will not be the normal case, and applies only if you can get a backdated medical certificate and had no relevant income beforehand.

For non-backdated claims, it's much simpler - ESA starts being paid at the assessment rate, then once a decision is made on your claim (some time after week 13) - you're paid backpay of the WRAG or support components for the time from week 13 till the time the claim is actually decided.

Blackpool_Saver

rogerblack wrote: »

.

This will not be the normal case, and applies only if you can get a backdated medical certificate and had no relevant income beforehand.
.

This is exactly the position my son is in.
Thanks for that Roger, it was very helpful

Tire

I've been waiting over three months now. Any idea how much longer I'll be waiting?

poppy12345

Tire wrote: »

I've been waiting over three months now. Any idea how much longer I'll be waiting?

What have you been waiting for? assessment or for them to start paying you money? If you're waiting for the assessment then i'm afraid you're in for a very long wait! There's a huge back log of people in the exact same position as you're in and lots have been waiting well over 1 year. If you're successful in getting into one of the groups then your money will be back dated to week 14.

Tire

Waiting for the assessment, they were pretty good at paying and I think I had to wait just under two (maybe three?) weeks. Hopefully, living in a smallish town will have its advantages and I'll be able to be seen fairly soon.

poppy12345

Tire wrote: »

Waiting for the assessment, they were pretty good at paying and I think I had to wait just under two (maybe three?) weeks. Hopefully, living in a smallish town will have its advantages and I'll be able to be seen fairly soon.

There's a huge back log across the whole of the country, so i'm afraid you're in for a long wait. I heard today that someone contacted their MP because they've been waiting since December for assessment. The MP contacted ATOS on the person's behalf and ATOS have said they will do their best to get assessment for this person within 2-3 months. That takes the waiting time for this person to minimum 1 year.