ESA moving in as a couple

TELLIT01

When people were migrated from IB to ESA they should have been sent a form to complete to determine whether or not they had any entitlement to Income Related benefit. It soon became apparent that this did not happen in a great many cases. The impression people working on new ESA claims got at the time was that the migration team simply couldn't be bothered, they just wanted the migration process to be over with and let somebody else clear up the mess. Apologies to any on the team who didn't work on that basis, but it was an almost universally held view by those working on ESA processing.
If the OP has no recollection of receiving anything which would provide that opportunity they should certainly be getting it investigated. There is the possibility of a major windfall if an IR entitlement has not been paid.

epitome

obsidian_eclipse wrote: »

I had no idea I could ask to change to Ib ESA or that it could be backdated. I migrated sometime in 2011.

OK, Have you been in Support Group from the beginning in 2011? Did you have any reason you would not have got ESA IR i.e. Occupational Pension or savings over £6000 or over £16,000? Working partner?

What you want to do... is phone ESA & don't believe ANYONE who says this cannot be done, it is best for you to actually not bother to discuss it with them on the phone, just ask your questions, i.e. do not explain to them why you are asking these questions.

Qu.1 Is my ESA, ESA Contributory only? on screen 504 is there any amount under ESA IR even if it says £0.00? or is it completely blank?
Qu.2 Can you please send me an ESA3?
Qu.3. What is the date that my ESA started from i.e. 11/04/2011
Qu.4 Can you please check the notes history?
Qu.4a What date is the earliest note on the note history in JSAPS - JA510? (Hopefully it will say the earliest note is from April 2011 - but it depends how busy you have been with them, the early notes may have now been deleted and it only shows now from 2016)
Qu.5 Is there any note, on any date, that says an ESA3 has been requested by me or sent to me?

Make a note of their answers.

If under ESA IR it is completely blank then you have never been assessed for ESA IR. If it says £0.00 or any other amount, then you have already been assessed for ESA IR and you should ask them why it shows the amount that it shows, i.e. why £0.00 or why £45.00 etc/

When you get the ESA3 put the date on the ESA3 as the date your ESA started (it is in the box at the top of page 1).

If they told you there is no record of an ESA3 ever having been sent to you, then you are in luck. The DWP on IB migration has a statutory duty to assess you for ESA Income Related by sending you an ESA3.

If there is a record that an ESA3 was sent to you in 2011 or at any time since then ...then you will not be successful.

If there is no record of an ESA3 then you will very likely be successful. If they initially refuse the backdating request to 2011, ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration quoting this law "xxxxxxxxxx I will fill it in later this week xxxxxxxxxxxxx" and you should find success, if you still do not then appeal to Tribunal.

obsidian_eclipse wrote: »

Universal credit isn't rolled out in our area yet.

Ok

obsidian_eclipse

Thanks, I have had issue with esa a couple of years ago as my entitlement letter says how much I am entitled to in "Ir ESA at _ amount" (which is more than the amount I'm getting because of the premium) and then says "but because you are entitled to contribution based ESA the amount you will recieve is _".

When I went to the jobcentre about it he said it was both Income and Contributions based. I needed some dental work at the time so needed to know if I had to pay. Low and behold a few months later I recieved a bill and a fine from the NHS saying I wasn't entitled. So went back to the job centre where the advisor said I definitely had both so shouldn't have to pay it. I asked him to check and he went to his supervisor with the entitlement letter and then came back saying "it's contribution based only sorry, the letter is quite ambivalent" so I was left having to pay a couple of hundred pounds. Not even they could make sense of their own paperwork.

It feels at times I have been messed around by them. I will see what I can chase up about Ir esa thankyou.

epitome

obsidian_eclipse wrote: »

When I went to the jobcentre about it he said it was both Income and Contributions based. I needed some dental work at the time so needed to know if I had to pay. Low and behold a few months later I recieved a bill and a fine from the NHS saying I wasn't entitled. So went back to the job centre where the advisor said I definitely had both so shouldn't have to pay it. I asked him to check and he went to his supervisor with the entitlement letter and then came back saying "it's contribution based only sorry, the letter is quite ambivalent"

Yes in a perfect world everyone who works for DWP would be able to answer every question about every benefit, but the reality is that no one person in the whole of the DWP knows everything. People are specialised into different benefits and into different departments within those benefits. The Job Centre guy was trying to be helpful, but he should have known not to try to answer your question but tell you to phone the ESA enquiry line.

If your letter shows both, then you should have both elements C & IR on your claim. But which ever is the higher amount determines whether it is C or IR. In such a case it would not be correct to call your claim "Contributions Only" If you have both elements it would either be called
ESA Contributory or
ESA Income Related
The term ESA Contributions Only is reserved for the claims that have nothing , not even £0.00 under the ESA IR heading and those claimants would not have letters giving an ESA IR amount.


,..........Ask them the questions I gave you.

But if you have a letter giving an ESA IR amount, it would mean you have been assessed for ESA IR already,

Another question to ask ...
If it says £0.00 or a higher amount under ESA IR on screen 504, you should ask
Qu 1a. What is the start date of the ESA IR?


If you have an ESA IR amount 0.00 or higher the above -backdating to 2011- will not work, it may be that you are already assessed from 2011. and it is affected by income or savings.

You may feel you have been messed around, but you really should know what the answers to these questions are already without having to ask. The only way they would have an ESA IR amount is if you either filled in an ESA3 since 2011 or you had an Income Support element on your previous claim. Either way you should know. You are responsible for your benefit and you should know what they hold on your claim.