MAJOR HELP NEEDED ESA single clame to UC joint
Posted , 4 users are following.
i am in need of some mojor help with my claim.
my partner has been on ESA and DLA since the age of 13 full award on both. we have just moved in together in new addresses and i have left work to become her carer.
our joint claim with US has now been setup and running for 3 months but some major bomb shells have landed. mainly due to ESA errors during switch over.
in short form there was a double payment of benifit from both ESA and UC for best part of two months. ESA then finally closed down the claim and sent debt recovery a notification of over payment to the sum of £1015. UC have accepted this and allowed a deduction per month of £74. however i questioned the over payment and ESA have admitted technical error on there part and waved our liability and written off the debt. however UC have now said ok ESA have written it off as an over payment but you were actually paid twice over the switch over so we have now decided you owe us the money and are trying to enforce the debt under them and saying this is because there were not aware ESA was still being paid.. but they were i was on the phone week after week requesting them to transfer ESA details to claim so the ESA claim could be closed. to me that sound like UC have made some kind of mistake.
UC have also only awarded my partner LCW group £121 instead of support group rate. this is because my partners ESA claim was setup in 2014 and although she was in LCW group she was receiving the higher rate under ESA. ESA have confirmed because back then it worked on point system anyway so as far as payments go it didn't matter what group and they wanted to support my partner where possible. however since febuary this year that changed and rates of pay for new claims there is a difference and UC are refusing despite ESA confirming to them my partner is eligible to change her group to support group. and even refusing to medically asses her again until june 2019.
any guidance on this would be helpful my head is screwed up my this its 3 months still ongoing
0 likes, 5 replies
wendy17594 colin13o
Posted
Sorry to hear you're having this on going problem.
First of all if you ring UC always note date time of call same with ESA, if you're not already doing this many people would say get a name as well but the person you speak to won't be the processor or decision maker.
Request a letter from UC detailing why they consider you still have a debt and ask for a mandatory reconsideration of the decision.
You will also need to get a written statement from them regarding the addition which has been reduced since ESA and get their reasons for reducing it, when you have it ask for a reconsideration.
When you make the call explain that you want a reconsideration but you want to see in writing the reason the decision was made, this will stop the clock on the 30 day limit for Mandatory Reconsideration.
Good luck with everything
colin13o wendy17594
Posted
ok based upon what you said i think im getting there i have to be honest benifits are new to me.
a mandatory reconsideration is exactly what ESA have done with regards to over payment. and the wrote it off. infact my memory sorves me right UC have always been aware ESA were still paying my partner and they were happy knowing that there would just be a debt but now its been written off there trying to now say esa didnt over pay my partner they did and making the debt again but with them... simes a bit dodgey to me..
as far as my partners sickness entailment they said the reason given was because her ESA group was limited capability for work so they matched it as far as addition she still gets the disability premium and advanced capability but my problem stands at the fact my partner was paid support group rate under limited capability group. and UC are refusing to change it or even do a medical assessment just said we have to wait until its due nothing can be done no appeal nothing even though the woman from UC actually called ESA and they confirmed my partner should be in support group.
anyway i will question mandatory reconsideration tomorrow thanks again see if i can force a medical
Billyjay colin13o
Posted
denise15811 colin13o
Posted
Hi,
Was there any reason why you didn't keep that extra payment when you recieved it? As you knew you were overpaid, it would have been better to keep it and contact them. This way you would have had it to repay it. They are within there rights to ask for it back.
If you disagree withthe decision then you can ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration to which you have 1 month to ask for this. You'll need to write a letter stating why you disagree with their decision. 80% of MR decisions remain the same so you'll most likely have to take it to a Tribunal.
As for your UC have you taken into consideration any premiums that were paid on ESA will not be paid on UC. This is because a change of circumstances meant you had to apply for UC. In a few years time when everyone moves accross there will be a payment protection in place so people won't be worse off. At the moment that payment protection doesn't exist.
UC is extremely complicated and a lot of people don't understand it. My knowledge of UC is very limited unlike legacy benefits and i'm still learning, therefore i'm unable to advice you further on this. A visit to your local benefits advice centre would be the place to go, people like CAB are usually pretty good. Hopefully you'll get everything sorted soon. Good luck.
colin13o denise15811
Posted