ESA overpayment/ dwp misconduct

Honesti

I recently won a teibunal for esa. I am in receipt of DLA too. I was a university student and graduated this year.

After winning my tribunal, and being owed a very large backdate, dwp have decide to investigate me for an overpayment. They have asked for my student loans info for the past 3 years. I have given it to them but I am concerned at why they want it. The lady on the phone said they want to investigate so they can take the money from my backdate instead of me having to pay out of pocket. She also said there is a small time period from when they stopped my esa and when my student loans begin. Eg. Official term date is sept 25th but I don’t actually start till Oct 9th so I would owe them 2 weeks.

The thing is that I tell them every year when I am going back to uni and I would stop my esa (I thought this was the right thing to do). Now, I know that I could have kept my esa claim active for the duration of my studies but no one at dwp told me this. They just allowed me to stop and start my esa claim after each academic year and are now trying to use that against me. I feel like the dwp have failed me! Why didn’t they ask for this information during my 1st or 2nd year uni or when I reapplied for esa for the last 3 summers?

Today at the job center I was asking someone who works there how the dwp can be allowed to do this and the person there said, “when you make a claim, it’s pot luck whether you get someone who knows what they are doing or not. Sometimes the people dealing with your claim just don’t know all of the rules of that benefit.”

Can you please advise me on how to proceed with this as I feel like they are just trying to dig up what ever they can to stop me from getting my backdate. I did the right thing by continuously informing them of changes in circumstances yet they didn’t inform me of my rights as a claimant.

TELLIT01

It's actually not the responsibility of DWP staff to question why somebody is closing their claim to ESA or any other benefit.

Honesti

Thanks venison, I will do that.

Honesti

Tellit01-

If I write a letter saying I am closing my claim for esa as I am starting university the dwp don’t need to question why I am stopping my claim because I’ve told them.

At that point, since I get disability benefits, it is their responsibility to advise me to stay on esa especially as I didn’t know that and repeatedly closed my claim at the start of every academic year. On their part, that was negligent!

marcia_

You're mistaking civil servants working in the DWP for benefits advisors. It's not their job to inform you or even know themselves if you are allowed to claim. Your lack of knowledge of the law is your fault and not a reason accepted by the DWP for backdating.

TELLIT01

Honesti wrote: »

Tellit01-

If I write a letter saying I am closing my claim for esa as I am starting university the dwp don’t need to question why I am stopping my claim because I’ve told them.

At that point, since I get disability benefits, it is their responsibility to advise me to stay on esa especially as I didn’t know that and repeatedly closed my claim at the start of every academic year. On their part, that was negligent!

Sorry, but you are simply wrong in your assumption regarding their responsibility. I worked on ESA for some years and if a request came in from a claimant to close their ESA claim it was closed. Obeying the lawful request of a claimant is not negligent.

Honesti

Tellit01

When I walk into the job center and am directed to esa, and I sit down and tell the esa adviser that I want to close my esa because I am going to uni and I give them a piece of paper which also states the same thing. They read it, copy it, stamp it. Wouldn’t you say, that they should, that that point, tell me that I should keep my esa active?

If it’s not their responsibility, then why do we have job centres? What are they doing there?

TELLIT01

Honesti wrote: »

Tellit01

When I walk into the job center and am directed to esa, and I sit down and tell the esa adviser that I want to close my esa because I am going to uni and I give them a piece of paper which also states the same thing. They read it, copy it, stamp it. Wouldn’t you say, that they should, that that point, tell me that I should keep my esa active?

If it’s not their responsibility, then why do we have job centres? What are they doing there?

No it is not their responsibility unless you specifically asked what you should do, were told you had to close your claim, and were given that advice in writing, I repeat what I have said previously there has not been any misconduct by staff.
Some staff may enquire about reasons and make suggestions but there is no legal requirement for the to do so. Those are the facts whether they seem fair or not.

Honesti

What I still don’t get is, if it’s not their responsibility to inform us, then whose responsibility is it? I found out through forums like this but back then I had no access to this as I didn’t know about it and now there must still be other disabled people like me who just don’t know. I’m sure those with support workers or social workers have the advice but I don’t have any of that.

Also, I think Its quite convenient that it’s not their responsibility to advise us and prevent possible overpayments but it’s their responsibility to investigate overpayments. Seems like a lose lose for someone like me who tries to do the right thing without support.

pmduk

Honesti wrote: »

What I still don’t get is, if it’s not their responsibility to inform us, then whose responsibility is it?

Sadly, it's your responsibility to ascertain what you're entitled to and claim it. That's why billions of pounds go unclaimed every year and I suspect Governments are grateful for the fact.

That said, now, more than ever before, it's easier to find out your entitlements.

Honesti

Do any of you know what my mp can do to help me? As of yet, I haven’t been given a backdate or been told I’ve been overpaid but in the event I do get told this, what can they do?