last June my benefit changed from Incapacity benefit to the new ESA work activity group, I wrote & posted a letter with medical notes included to go onto ESA support group on 4th July, received & signed for on the 9th July, I got my work activity phonecall on 25th July to be informed it was being worked on as of 24th July, when I got next activity phone call about 6 weeks ago now, I mentioned that I still had not heard, was this normal practice? to be told no, they would get appropriate department to call me, which they did, only to tell me no record of my letter!!!! so I I sent a duplicate with updated medical notes & a supportive letter from my GP, Welfare rights also put in an accompanying letter as it was them that posted it, just in case there was a problem from my local post box, I was at Welfare rights yesterday regarding a letter telling me my ESA will stop at end of May, my only soyrce of income, Welfare rights phoned ESA as I had no acknowledgment of 2nd (duplicate) form being received, could they look into it & call me, as I am a worrier, they said no problem, & give them there due, I got a call at 8.30am this morning, you no doubt can guess their response, yes no record of claim at all ,ffs I apologise for implied swearing, but I am at the end of my tether with the bunch of apes that work in DWP, so now a 3rd form being posted when filled out, I have to take to my ESA activity adviser for her to scan & send internally & keep a hard copy at her office, in the meantime I am stressed to the hilt about my benefit stopping in 5 or 6 weeks as I still have mortgage & other usual bills to be paid, they myst think I have a magical money tree in the garden!!!! Sorry for rant, thank you to anyone who managed to read til the end.
Honor xx♡♡♡xxx
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honor1a
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I do hope DWP sort this out pdq for you. it is enough to be ill without making it worse with all the financial worries and uncertainty.
I really don't know what the DWP are up to. My daughter is in a similar position about my disabled granddaughters DLA She sent off all the relevant medical evidence and lengthy form before Christmas by recorded delivery and was told a decision would be made in 6-8 weeks. By the middle of February my daughter rang and was told they hadn't received it. How? It was recorded delivery!!!
She sent everything all off again and phoned a couple of weeks ago, no they had no idea when it would be dealt with but could she send them more information. The stuff they wanted has been sent twice already!
It is a nightmare, every time my daughter rings she gets a different person and has to go through the whole story again. She has also been told that her claim will not be backdated to December as .... yes you have guessed it, they did not receive her application then.
Now they have been told the DWP are waiting for more medical evidence, even though there is no question my granddaughter has been disabled from birth.
I have a sneaky suspicion they make things difficult so that you give up, what other reason could there be? Unless of course it is sheer incompetence.
I'm very sorry you are having such trouble with the DWP, I think Bluebell is right, I also think they make it as difficult as possible to claim, in the hope that people will just give up but when it is your only income you have no choice but to put up with their BS!!! It's unbelievable how many times they've lost your private & confidential information, if it's been signed for & they say they haven't received it, where the heck is it then?!! This is the question I would be asking them, what about your data protection rights? They could be fined a lot of money for breaching your rights if they were found to be negligent & it's not as if you don't have any evidence! The burden of proof would fall on them &, if nothing else, it would cause them upset for once!
You would have to be feeling quite well to take on a fight like that, though, so that route may not be for you, however, this may be a point that others could raise with them. Before I became disabled with fibro, I was a Careers Adviser & we took data protection very seriously. We were also sent on courses regularly to keep up-to-date with any changes, so I assume it will be the same for the DWP. Anyway, Honor, I want to wish you all the luck in the world & I sincerely hope they will sort this out before your benefit stops in May.
Thank you so much for your reply, initially the breach of personal info being so neglegently dealt with was my concern, spoke to my ESA adviser about it, she alleviated my concern somewhat by saying we know it reached DWP albeit misplaced it will when come accross be confidentially wasted xx hugs right back xx oh i received a text to say now duplicatenow received xx
Thank you Jobananas very much for your reply, My original was sent recorded delivery & was signed for but almost a year ago & fibro fog cant see proif slip where in clear headed I know I would put it have a clip folder with my paperwork proof of postage not in it! Xx
I am so sorry to read of how they have messed up and messed you about with your claim, and I sincerely hope that they can sort this out for you. I want to genuinely wish you all the best of luck.
Spoke to Welfare Rights after text, he said not to fill in 3rd form, to save & lock text, which i automatically did anyway hadn't been on much previously as depression had hit me hard, trying variety of different meds to sort out, but in the end was put back on the Escitalopram that i asked for in the beginning, as i knew it worked for me in the past, obviously cheaper alternatives on market GP trying cheap route first, this was 4 months before benefits nonsense started, just getting over the depression to be hit with Stress, it seems to be the general pattern of Fibro sufferers, but on the plus side though of going to Welfare Rights, i have applied for income related ESA which I've never been on, so never had means testing, no wonder financially I've found it so hard, 5 years of basic ESA!!!! also applied for PIP waiting to hear from them, told Welfare Rights guy, i find the medical process stressful, he said not to stress at that as they can't declare me fit for work which i thought was part of there mandate! but told no i either get it or i don't, it will not affect my current situation, which has relaxed me somewhat, Sorry Squeak for yet another long tale of woe. Hope all is well in your world, take care, love & hugs Honor xx
Hi I see this is an old post but I totally agree with you , the new thing is its been signed for but lost in their internal network of departments! ! Always photo copy I say ..
Just had my pip stopped and when I got the letter it's like they haven't read my form or even got info from my physiotherapist. The idiot who assessed me also said I passed the tests .. I couldn't even complete them due to pain ... my dat could do better ..
I hope this gets sorted ASAP. But this is a warning to everyone sending information to DWP send it recorded delivery. Yes it cost more but you know they have received it and who signed for it once they have received it and you have the notification then wait a few days then phone DWP and ask have they received it and have taken the appropriate action to sort out my claim ect.
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hadn't been on much previously as depression had hit me hard, trying variety of different meds to sort out, but in the end was put back on the Escitalopram that i asked for in the beginning, as i knew it worked for me in the past, obviously cheaper alternatives on market GP trying cheap route first, this was 4 months before benefits nonsense started, just getting over the depression to be hit with Stress, it seems to be the general pattern of Fibro sufferers, but on the plus side though of going to Welfare Rights, i have applied for income related ESA which I've never been on, so never had means testing, no wonder financially I've found it so hard, 5 years of basic ESA!!!! also applied for PIP waiting to hear from them, told Welfare Rights guy, i find the medical process stressful, he said not to stress at that as they can't declare me fit for work which i thought was part of there mandate! but told no i either get it or i don't, it will not affect my current situation, which has relaxed me somewhat, Sorry Squeak for yet another long tale of woe. Hope all is well in your world, take care, love & hugs Honor xx
stressed beyond belief...need some calming words
ESA50 Can't Believe It
HELP!!!!
NIGHTMARE DWP!!!!!
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