I am hoping that someone can answer my query regarding back payments of ESA. I failed an ATOS medical in May 2013 and was told decision on 3/6/13. I then had until 3/7/13 to appeal which I did. My money went down to £71 (the assessment rate) on 24/6/13.
I had a tribunal in January 2014 and won and was put into the support group. My money then went up and I was therefore owed back payments.
However, the money was only backdated to 25/9/13. I rang DWP to query this and was told that the first 13 weeks from when my money went down to £71 a week on 25/6/13 is the assessment phase and the money can only be backdated to 25/9/13.
This is not what I was told whenever I rang the DWP during my appeal, as I kept asking when does the money gets backdated to and was told by everyone I spoke to that the payments would be backdated to 25/6/13 i.e when my appeal started.
Does anyone else have any experience of this and know if this is correct?
Thanks
Written by
molly44
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I sincerely hope that you are feeling as well as you possibly can be today? I am so sorry to read that you have not been given your money backdated to when you were expecting it from. I do not have receive ESA so I do not personally know the answer.
I have pasted you two separate links relating to ESA and the backdating of payments. I am really sorry but they are lengthy documents so they will take a bit of reading I am afraid to say! However, I hope that you find the links useful:
I had a tribunal and won but was put in wrag group but I got my back money from when I appealed but then I could only claim for. 365 days so then because I have a husband to keep me I don't get anything but I get my pension in July I have asked for a mandatory review but not heard anything and it was three weeks ago good luck
Thanks Dorothy1952, maybe its different for WRAG but I will have a look at those links ken kindly listed above and hopefully it will all become clear in this DWP minefield!!
I didn't get to appeal or tribunal but asked for the decision to be reconsidered and was put into the support group at that stage. My money had gone down during this but I have never had ANY of it repaid!! I haven't liked to ask about it but often wondered. I missed just over 6 months of the higher rate of money through no fault of mine but repayments of this have NEVER been mentioned. I didn't like to raise this with DWP but perhaps I should have done...?
Hope you get somewhere with your query and are repaid the monies owed.
I think you should enquire about why you did not get any of your money backdated, because at least I got some of mine backdated! That does not sound right to me, perhaps you should phone CAB if you don't want to ask DWP directly.
The more I think about my case the more I think DWP are in the wrong but I can not really find the correct information regarding my situation. I was told by DWP everyone has an assessment phase so that is why payments are backdated to 14th week of my assessment phase which they say started from when I appealed.
I was on incapacity benefit for years so I must have had my 'assessment phase' at the start of that benefit. Then last year I was switched to ESA and had to have a medical. I failed with zero points and my money went down whist appealing. BUT my weekly benefits only went down because the ATOS HCP told lies about my medical and the DWP took her word as read!! It is not my fault and I feel I should have my money backdated to when the DWP decided to cut it by over £30 a week because of ATOS!
I think I will ring DWP again tomorrow and see what they say and maybe phone CAB as they are impartial.
Good luck with your enquiries Celticmoon, I hope you get some money back
Its because uour money went down while appealing that caused you problems but saying that if you had contined on the pay if 71 plus the 30 you wouldnt have had any backdated. The backdated payement is only to top up the money you were on so rates at mo are 73.10 basic the. Goes up to either102 or 109 dependant on if in support or work related group plus another 15 extra a week if your on the income related and not the contributions related group of esa. So they owe you from 25/6 to 25/9 the extra 30 a week. They have treated you as new claim from 25/6
Yeh you should ask you could be looking at 35 a peek for 6 months about 840 pounds better in your bank not theirs. They never come forward with money but quick enough to want it back lol good luck
Thank you for the information & personal experience you've shared... I will ring CAB. They were very kind & helpful to me when I moved from ICB to ESA & helped me fill in the first ESA50.
Good luck with your own Quest... It seems so many of us have very similar tales of unjust woe...
Good luck with the CAB and I hope you get some money back.
I telephoned DWP today (friday) and spoke to someone who was very helpful and told me that he thinks that I am correct in saying that the back payments should start from appeal start date and not after 13 week assessment phase, as the 13 wk phase is for new claimants not those transferring from Incapacity benefit to ESA. he has emailed relevant dept and i am awaiting their call.
I will post results on here in the hope that it may help someone else in a similar stuation
Just an update for everyone - The DWP have now decided that I am entitled to back payments from the start of my appeal (ie when my money went down June 2013) and I do not have to do the 13 week assessment phase. This 13 week phase is only for new claims and not migration cases such as mine where I was moving form incapacity benefit to ESA.
They are now going to pay £650 into my bank account to cover this period!
It makes me so mad because if I had not not pursued this and just accepted what the first DWP employee had told me then I would have been out of pocket! I am so glad I telephoned them 4 times this week to query this and then to chase this up!
My message to everyone is that if it does not seem correct or fair then don't just accept what the first person tells you at the DWP but phone them again and hopefully you will speak to someone who knows what they are talking about!!
Yes the DWP are so inconsistent and it really depends on who you get to speak to, and whether they know what the are talking about! I am just so glad that I queried it all!
My motto know is question everything, and if it still does not seem correct then ring back and question it all again!
Im in a similar boat I failed dont know how my medical assessment and just sent off my appeal on it. The job centre cant understand why this has happened. On the funny side Im on more money now because the jsa is same as esa a week but because disabled they give me a premium top up on jsa. Any how its meant to work is you start esa on 73.10 a week then from the 13th week of being on there you get an increase. I dont understand the bit about your money going down to 71 on 24/6 as you shouldnt have been getting more than that. Thats whats caused the confusion you going down in money because they must have looked at it like a new claim as if you started it esa on 25/6 and then the 13 weeks ended 25/9. We need to know the very 1st date you started esa work 13 weeks from that. So in my case i went on it 8th may my 13wks ends about 8th aug i had my med in oct and decision in november. Eventually when I get my claim backdated it will be back to approx 8th aug. You need to find out if they started you on a new claim the 25/6 and why. How much was you on a week up to 24th june. They owe you from 24th june to 25 sept. Poss further dependant on how much you are on now at full rate compared to how much you were on up to 24th june. Let us know the start of es and how much you were on up to 24th june. Hope this helps and you get your money refunded.
Hi, started to claim ESA back i jan 21st been having problems ever since, only recently starting getting paid as of mid may and told i can claim all monies from jan 21st but the organisations is dragging they're heels about it, who can i call or contact to resolve this issue as im goig around in circle hearing "it will be a few weeks" ever since may currently awaiting another medical assessment and not sure whether i will be able to claim anything back after it as i heard on the phone???
they did this to me they told me only if the dwp new or had a letter from your doctor telling them your disabled would you get it back dated funny they been paying me server disability payments so how can they not know basically they will lie to you over the phone record all calls ask for name or reference number tell them your recording it for legal purposes after you had your chat
They done the same to me as far as missing 13 weeks of payments. Biggest issue I have with them now is severe disability payments. After last court win I was speaking to the person from ESA telling me what I was getting back from past year and I asked why when on JSA I get severe disability but not on ESA. I was told because I was not living alone. Odd thing is I have never ever lived with anyone and my ESA details reflected that but seemed moment I got PiP someone altered my status to living with someone to avoid me getting that payment seeing as the alteration of my status coincided with me getting PiP. I am trying to get them to pay me what I should of gotten for the 3 years they never paid me Via council tax forms showing me living alone but they taking forever to do anything about it. When I ring them they tell me until a decision is made they have no info. The system is a joke I am housebound but yet fail the tests every year. I have no clue what they think I can do when I cannot leave my house and cannot use my arms. Yet I know someone who was born with an extra hole in his rear and he gets everything he can as far as max benefits and he fully mentally sound and physically able to do everything I really do not understand how the system works other than it only works if you never tell the truth but that is not who I am.
Sorry Molly its a con job , I have had my ESA reduced and no back payments , putting us in front of a judge and a doctor was a ploy to remove the benefit , the whole benefits system is not fit for purpose .
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