Carer Element/Premium added to ESA

kkkklinky

This is strange...I have received my CA award letter and it states I'm not entitled to any arrears because I was paid £327.60 from ESA and therefore it been deducted from my CA arrears.
Even though CA(I phoned them this morning and the apparently processing a backpayment)and people on this forum and other sites have stated I should be.

I'm more confused than ever.

I'm wondering if the letter was sent before ESA did the calcs.

poppy12345

Seems like they are doing it the other way around and ESA will owe you the money for the carers premium, which will be included weekly. Money owed will be paid as a separate payment. 

Danien

kkkklinky said:

This is strange...I have received my CA award letter and it states I'm not entitled to any arrears because I was paid £327.60 from ESA and therefore it been deducted from my CA arrears.
Even though CA(I phoned them this morning and the apparently processing a backpayment)and people on this forum and other sites have stated I should be.

I'm more confused than ever.

I'm wondering if the letter was sent before ESA did the calcs.

As far as I am aware this is how it's always done.

As previously said because ESA would have subtracted the amount of carers allowance for each week you are entitled, to prevent an overpayment it is treated as if ESA paid your carer's allowance. So you don't receive the carer's allowance arrears, but then ESA doesn't subtract the amount of carer's allowance from your esa.

What will happen now is you will receive a new award letter from ESA saying you will be entitled to an extra £45.60 a week esa from the start date of your carer's allowance claim. You will then receive the arrears of the £45.60 a week up to your last esa payment date.

Does that make sense? It's not an easy thing to explain.

ESA normally subtracts carer's allowance £ for £, then adds the £45.60 a week carer premium on top, so you end up £45.60 a week better off and those are the arrears you will receive.

kkkklinky

Yes it's definitely confusing..

Im assuming deductions and Premium will start next payment in 13 days, since I would of had 3 CA by that point. They definitely haven't taken anything or added anything from yesterday's money. That's what's bugging me I  keep getting disconnected when I call and have had no letters off ESA, been told I need to tell ESA I am getting CA(even if they been told by CA).

Danien

kkkklinky said:

Yes it's definitely confusing..

Im assuming deductions and Premium will start next payment in 13 days, since I would of had 3 CA by that point. They definitely haven't taken anything or added anything from yesterday's money. That's what's bugging me I  keep getting disconnected when I call and have had no letters off ESA, been told I need to tell ESA I am getting CA(even if they been told by CA).

Yes, you should see the difference soon. The decisions don't happen at the same time, they are different departments. What happens is carer's allowance makes their decision on your entitlement first. As you are on ESA they don't pay arrears so that you don’t get on overpayment of ESA. They then send the ESA dept details of your carer's allowance award. An ESA decision maker will then action that information and change your award, taking off the carer's allowance amount and adding on the Carer Premium. Once that is processed you usually get your arrears paid, either 5 days after the decision or with your next payment.

kkkklinky

I've now received another ESA payment and I'm still not having deductions or recieving premiums. I have had 3 CA payments to date. I assumed they were using my backdated premiums (£180)instead of deducting from my ESA but I should be having deductions now. I'm starting to doubt that ESA even knows I'm getting CA. The issue is I can't ring them(even when I get to speak to someone) because my partner has been temporarily sectioned and they refuse to speak to me as it his claim, so I can't do anything until he comes home which could be 1-2 weeks.

I also wanted them to know he was in hospital since it could affect his benefits.

I was awarded CA from 20th May with no entitlement to backdated CA, can anyone work out if I have been overpaid yet. EDIT: I'm now owed 7 weeks of Premiums, wondering if instead of paying me premiums they are taking them and paying me normally.

Danien

It just sounds like there is a delay in ESA dept making the changes. You would need to contact them to find out how long the delay is. Can you visit your partner and make your call there with them giving permission for you to talk to them at the beginning of the call - it's what I do with my husband.

I don't understand what you mean by 'taking your premiums and paying you normally'.

If you haven't received a letter from ESA regarding the change, and you are still receiving the previous amount, then a decision maker simply hasn't made the change yet. This could be due to either volume of work meaning they haven't gotten around to it yet, and it is still sitting in a pile. Or that the carer's allowance notification has gone astray (used to be on little cards many years ago, but I would hope it's digital now).

At the moment any additional payment you are getting will be treated as part of your arrears payment, but eventually if they don't sort out the change, you will owe them arrears if they keep paying you full ESA, so it is important you get it sorted ASAP. 

kkkklinky

Because I'm owed around 7 weeks of Premiums (it will be 9 weeks by next payment)it seems that I currently don't have an overpayment in fact I'm owed a small amount of money. Its my next payment that should be changed. I'm wondering if they are waiting until I owe anything to make the change.

Ringing ESA from hospital with him isn't possible since he was transferred to a psychiatrist facility in Nottingham and I live in Lincolnshire. I will have to wait till he is discharged as he is in no condition to be making calls.

Danien

No, as I said, you don't owe them anything yet, they still owe you.

For every week you are paid full ESA with no carer's allowance subtracted it takes £36 30 from the arrears they owe you. Hopefully they get it sorted before the arrears they owe you runs out.

You could always phone them, explain the situation with your partner and simply provide the information that you've been awarded carer's allowance and were informing them on your partner's behalf. They can't give out any info, but they might take the notification - it's worth a try.

kkkklinky

Thanks I'll try and ring them again and see if the new call handler accepts the information.