Employment Support Allowance (replacing IB from Oct 2008)

[mazza111]

Cracker have you just started claiming ESA? And are you handing in regular fit notes from your GP to support your claim?

[cracker]

i was given one mazza111 my dad rang for me now they saying it lost somewhere in the system........... i nearly ascreamed when my dad told me

[leashy11]

I am absolutely gutted. I've been doing permitted work alongside my ESA for a year now and unfortunately I'm still not well enough to increase my hours so for the last few days I've been passed around from ESA department to ESA department until I finally got a call today from someone in the processing department who had run my queries by a decision maker and I'm not even allowed to earn over £20 but have the excess taken out of my ESA. Apparently they don't do that now and if you aren't well enough to increase to 16 hours and get back to work credit they make you either earn just the £20 or earn nothing on top. I'm so upset, my PA at the jobcentre thought I'd at least be able to have the excess taken from my ESA. I've emailed to ask if I can drop my hours but I'm almost 100% sure they won't agree because my contract says 6 hours per week minimum which takes me well over £20. I despair of a system that encourages us to try but then throws us on the scrapheap if we can't take the next step.

[curlysue]

That's terrible Leashy, how disappointing for you. You're right, the system is crazy. I have no idea why they restrict the upper level of Permitted Work to one year or why they have stopped allowing people to take the excess from their benefit. You are trying to do what you can and they're working against you.

No consolation of course but you could write to your MP and express your frustration, and make the point that the current system actually discourages people from trying to get back to work, or doing what work they can.

CSx

[mazza111]

That might be causing the holdup too then cracker. I always scan a copy now knowing how great they are at losing them :/

[cracker]

my ESA is finally sorted out!!!! whoop whoop!! thanks for all the support guys x x

[sheppeyescapee]

YAY!! Glad it is finally sorted.

[suew]

Hi my ESA was stopped 31/7/12 , eve tho I argued should be in support group ,Ive gone to appeal and got MP involved , she has written to the sec of state to ask why my money has been stopped , so I am hoping to hear something soon, not going to give up , and now Ive had my DLA award and backdated, surely that can only add to my case , as I am post op, and under treatment several times a week.
will update as I go... watch this space.....

[RiffRaff]

Here's a link to the DWP's new entry on PoTS: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/spec ... rome.shtml. It seems pretty good to me on first reading, I'm relieved to say. Hope everyone's as well as possible and ESA claims aren't taking too much of a toll.

[cracker]

thanks sheppey

[leashy11]

Was anyone else due an ESA payment on Friday and didn't get it? I'm panicking because usually when it's late on a Friday it's in my bank on the Saturday but it's still not there and now the banks are closed until Tuesday and so are the ESA lines. I can't believe it didn't show up before the bank holiday and I'm wondering if they can stop my money without telling me? I've recently been asking them questions about my permitted work and they gave me the answer and sent me a form to fill in which I sent at the end of last week but on the form it says I have 14 days to fill it in and that would take me to the 31st August so I just can't see why they would stop my payments a) without telling me and b)when I had plenty of time to fill the form in. Anyone else late for being paid? Or anyone know if they can just stop my cash for no reason? I did make it clear I wouldn't be increasing my hours and claiming return to work credit instead so I'm baffled. Not to mention peeved at having no money in my bank when I need to pay the mortgage.

[sheppeyescapee]

On bank holiday weekends we always get our payment early. Ours wasn't due until 28th but appeared in my bank yesterday.

[trekster]

I've had my IS stopped for 3 months then had to ring them up to find out why. They told me I could make an official complaint but
im silenced by fear that my ESA transfer will be brought forward if I do. My money was backdated and it included the tracker mortgage.
Really hope your money is in your account by Tuesday

[curlysue]

Leashy, they shouldn't stop your money without telling you but it could happen. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd made a mistake regarding your permitted work, but hopefully that's not the case. Hope you can get some answers tomorrow!

CSx

[leashy11]

Turns out they did indeed stop my money without telling me. Well, suspended it anyway. After I spoke to a lady in the Processing Dept on August 14th she sent me a form out to say what I'd be doing regarding my permitted work and it was dated the 17th August and said on the form I had 14 days to fill it in and return it. I posted it on Friday 24th evening once I knew what my boss had decided and thought I'd done everything asked of me. I haven't done any permitted work since the middle of August when my 52 weeks ran out either. A guy on the ESA line told me it had been suspended because that form hadn't arrived so I pointed out it had 14 days to return it on the form and nobody at any point said my money would be stopped if it wasn't back by my next payment date so he said Processing should have told me that. I said they hadn't and if they were the ones who suspended it I should probably talk to them so could I arrange a call back from them please and he said he'd ask but returned a minute later to say no I couldn't have them call me back until 4 working days had passed so the end of this week. By this point I was starting to really panic about my mortgage etc and asked him how I was expected to pay those things and obviously he didn't have an answer so just asked me if there was anything else he could help me with, I said no then we disconnected.

Shortly after it occurred to me I hadn't put a date on said form for when my reduced hours will start from because I didn't know which date to put (and thought I had 14 days for them to contact me and either request one or not) so I rang my local JC and spoke to a lady there who said she wouldn't have known which date to put either but I would need to call the ESA line again and ask them if I could give a date over the phone to prevent further delays. She also said she understood why I was annoyed and felt like I'm being punished for trying to work but they're very touchy about forms at DWP. I said if Processing had told me I would have hurried the decision along and got the form back in time but I didn't know they would just stop my money.

Rang ESA line again and a more efficient lady emailed Processing requesting a call back regarding the date issue and made sure she told them I stopped my upper limit hours middle of August so apparently they will ring me back within the next 24 hours. Unfortunately this lady ruined her competence by asking me for a mobile number which I gave but queried why and she said "so you're not tied to the house waiting for the call, perhaps you might want to go out and do your shopping". With what exactly??!! My bank is empty because I haven't been paid!!!! I'd like to know how the staff in the Processing Dept would feel if at the end of the month their wages aren't paid and they have to wait days for them to decide when to release the money, I feel like an inferior human being just because they treat you as one for not being able to work. We have no rights.

So I've had to borrow money from a friend for my mortgage and ask another if they would mind picking me up a few bits from the supermarket when they next go to tide me over until I'm paid. I'm so peeved about this, I've had a kidney infection all weekend and I'm still wiped out from that so could have done without this nasty surprise. I can't believe they don't have to tell us they're doing this, she had 10 days after speaking to me to write and let me know but didn't bother to notify me at all. Disgusting treatment.