Still on JSA after mandatory reconsideration upheld but not signing on.

[Duncan1978]

Hello.

First post, please be gentle.

I was succesful with my mandatory reconsideration (section 29 and 35). Subsequently put in support group, or so I thought.

Initial assessment by nurse, 19th Dec 2017, yay, Happy Christmas.
Decision made on the 7th Jan 2018, 6 points.
On JSA thereafter till 2nd Feb (I took a 15 day sick period from the 8th Feb, I handed in my mandatory reconsideration on 2nd Feb)
Got decision overturned on the 21st Feb for a one year period until 5th Jan 2019.

The reconsideration letter states that I will be backdated ESA from 5th Jan onwards and I will receive an ESA award letter. I phoned the DWP, ESA department and informed them that they had mispelt my doctor's name so could they please send a corrected version of the reconsideration letter and also enquired what my benefit would be on ESA support group, an extra £4 per week. They also informed me that the support group was for one year, until 5th Jan 2019.

Thing is, I'm still on JSA benefit, I have received a JSA award letter, it says JSA when the money goes in to my bank account and I have received two cold weather payments stating I'm on JSA with a disability component. Not one letter saying I have to sign on though.

The DWP have clearly made a big mistake, especially considering I've phoned ESA and they've outlined my benefit. Maybe the short period of sickness has "stuck" in the system or something.

I'm in two minds whether or not to phone them up and correct them or wait and see until 5th Jan 2019 If the dreaded huge brown envelope comes through the door.

It's £4 per week more (£208 per year) but I'd gladly stay on JSA with no more signing on, assessments, reconsiderations or job centres to worry about.

anyone experienced anything similar?

Thoughts?

Cheers

[justme2017]

Someone else will be along who can answer better but, it can take the DWP up to 8 weeks to sort these things out. The backdated payment should also go back to the end of the thirteenth week of the claim.

In future post your questions regarding ESA in here http://www.youreable.com/forums/foru...ts-ESA-and-DLA

[nukecad]

Hi Duncan, we are always gentle.

I do have a few questions though in order to be able to try and work things out.

Can we assume that this is a new claim for ESA and that you had previously been working and paying NI?
On what date did you make the new claim? (Before or after 4th April 2017).

So your award was changed at MR and you didn't have to go to tribunal?

I'm not sure why your doctors name was even mentioned on any reconsideration letter, can you expand on that?

£4 a week does not seem to make any sense with current benefit rates, do you mean about £40 a week?
(Similarly £208 a year, do you mean £218 a fortnight?)

Do you have any savings over £6,000, if so are they over £16,000. Or do you have a partner who works?

To explain those questions a bit:
The date can be important, depending on what ESA you have been awarded.
ESA Support Group without any disability premiums is £109/week, or £218/fortnight. (Although it should actually have a premium added and pay more).
The savings, or a working partner can change what you are entitled to be paid.

And just to add,
Payments into a bank account can say JSA even when they are for ESA.
This is because the ESA system has no provision to make 'special' payments, so they use the JSA system instead and that's what shows on your bank statement.

[Duncan1978]

Hello hello.

I'll really have to dig through my folder to get definite dates but I do know that I was on incapacity benefit ages ago, then got transferred to ESA automatically, when my ESA was up for renewal I didn't pass and was on JSA for about a year. I then had an extended period of sickness of 13 weeks where the job centre phoned me every two weeks, after the 13 weeks I applied for ESA and kept sending sick lines to them. you'll never believe it, the first sick line is dated 6th April 2017. So I guess that was my first ESA claim after JSA.

There was no tribunal, I really gave lots of imformation when I handed in the mandatory reconsideration: I raised 89 points against the incompetant nurse who was lazy at best and neglegent with no business being a medical professional at worse, I wrote a number beside every "inaccuracy" on her report and then wrote about how inaccurate it was on a seperate 10 page document; I also got a new letter from my doctor; a letter from my partner and went to town with a highlighter pen on the original decision makers letter, highlighting every inaccuracy that was brought about from the nurses report.

The decision maker changed the decision as my doctor who's known me for years has better insight. Under "Exceptional Circumstances" the decision maker comments on my doctor's knowledge of my condition and then says "As such I have given greater weight to Dr XXXX's input because as your GP for many years he has greater knowledge of you and your medical conditions and how they impact you on a daily basis, over the health care professional's snapshot assessment on 19 Dec 17"

They still don't admit that her report was a pack of lies, I'm fed up of calling them inaccuracies. They even go as far as to say "I am satisfied that the physical and mental health functional activity descriptors have been fully justified with clinical findings, observations and extracts taken from the typical day history provided by you at the assessment. The ESA85 Medical Report of 19 Dec 17 was appropriate, complete and covered all the area of incapacity described by you as well as including a comprehensive typical day history and full set of clinical findings".

So, who's right? The nurse or my doctor and my partner? Because the nurses report is completely contradictory to the letters the doctor and my partner wrote. When I was reading the nurses report I was literally shaking my head throughout and shouting some quite obscene expletives. There's an ongoing complaint against her which I filed with the centre for health and disability assessments. This is no word of a lie, out of 8 medications I presented to her, she got 5 wrong, 3 by omission, 1 by stating the wrong dose and 1 by stating the wrong purpose. 5 out of 8 wrong!! A student nurse would be ashamed of that. Also I have no side effects from medications apparently, absolutely zero side effects from some very powerful medication, if you believe her. All of her lies prompted me to set the record straight with a letter from my Doctor included in my mandatory reconsideration.

After I got put back on JSA I had the basic component, disability component and a severe disability component as my partner is my carer in all but name. When I phoned ESA they said that the disability component would go up by £4 per week and the severe disability component would stay the same.

I have zero savings, my partner does work.

Sorry about going off on a tangent about that nurse, I'm due the results of the CHDAs investigation any day now (4 weeks), She'll get away with it and people who are genuinely disabled will continue to score below 15 because of her. Really winds me up. Anyway, she's the reason I got a doctor's letter.

I would also advise anyone having an assessment to have it audio recorded. Mine should have been and I thought it was. I phoned the number to get it recorded that was supplied on the literature that came with the assessment date and was told it would be recorded. When the nurses report arrived I got as far as the meds and no side effects and thought, that's not right, where's the audio recording, I've got to hear this. I phoned the DWP, they said it is a CHDA issue, phoned them and asked for a recording of the assessment, to my shock and amazement, i found out they record you on cassette tapes and you get the tape at the end of the assessment. I thought it would be a digital recording with a mic hooked up to the nurses PC. Nope! Cassette.

[nukecad]

Don't worry about the dates, what you have told us is plenty.

So from what you say then you have been awarded ESA Support Group at the MR, by means of special regulation 35.

You mention disability premiums, so I assume you also have DLA or PIP?

There could be a problem here in that you mention that your partner works.

I assume that your partner lives with you?
Is your partner claiming DLA/PIP for themself?
Is your partner claiming Carers Allowance for you?
How many hours is your partner working?

Sorry for another raft of questions, but the answers are important if we are to try and work out just what is happening.

If your partner works more than 24 hours a week then you would not be entitled to Income Related ESA, but-
You would be entitled to Contribution Based ESA if you have the necessary NI qualification, or if you original claim (way back when) was Contribution Based.

As you say that yours was a transfer from Incapacity Benefit then your original ESA was Contribution Based, and I believe that even though you had a spell on JSA this new award can still be linked back to your original ESA so the main component of your ESA remains Contribution Based at any time you are in Support Group.
(I would have to double check that if it becomes important).

You could also have an Income Related ESA entitlement, but whether you get paid anything for this will depend on your partners working hours.

So:
If your current ESA is Contribution Based then:
The disibility premiums are only paid with an Income Related ESA entitlement, so if your partner is working more than 24 hours then they would not be payable.
If your partner is working less than 24 hours then the premiums would still be payable, BUT the premiums would be reduced £ for £ by the amount of your partners income.

If your current ESA is not Contribution Based then:
If your partner works more than 24 hours then no ESA would be payable at all.
If your partner is working less than 24 hours then ESA and premiums would still be payable, BUT payments would be reduced £ for £ by the amount of your partners income.

So you can see that its important that we know if your partner is working more than 24 hours or not.
That could help clear up which kind of ESA you are on, and so what money you should be getting.

(I suspect that you have CB ESA with an IR entitlement, and it is your partners earnings that are reducing any premiums payable. But you answers to the above questions should clarify that).


Don't worry about the tangent, we all need a rant now and again.
The problems with assessments are currently subject to an inquiry by the Works & Pensions Select Committee, they have already released an interim report and the main report is due. (And they have caught the DWP lying to the committee, which has not gone down well as you can imagine).
https://www.parliament.uk/business/c...ssments-17-19/

The current situation with recording is correct, tape or CD only, digital not allowed. (Because it's too easy to edit digital recordings).
One of the W&P committees main recomendations up to now is that ALL assessments, both ESA and PIP should be recorded.