Weird letter from DWP re ESA

I got a very strange letter from DWP today, i cant understand it & am panicking, can someone help please.

I cant understand it because I am on Contribution based ESA in the SG & have been since feb 2012.

the letter says

"Employment support Allowance
We need to look at your claim

we need to look at yr claim for ESA. We need to decide if you might be eligible for income-related ESA from 31st Jan 2013

If you're eligible you may be entitled to extra payments. These are called premiums.

You wont qualify for IR ESA if during the whole time between 31/04/13 & now

- you had a partner working over 24hrs wk
- you had or have savings over 16K
-you have/had partner with savings over 16K

To help us decide if you're eligible we will call you in the next 2 wks to discuss.

Please let us know if you dont want us to look at your claim to check if you're eligible for income related ESA from 31/1/13. You can do this by calling... etc etc... or by returning the reply slip at the bottom of this letter.

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I am on contribution based ESA in the support group since Feb 2012. So i have no idea what this is suggesting.
I'm not due for reassessment until march 2020 ( thankfully, it was deferred for unknown reasons from march 2018) But this doesn't appear to be about reassessment but about changing me over to IR instead of Contribution based.

I cant think that would be a good idea?

From the date they state (jan 13) to october 2015 i had no savings at all, & no partner, but I had an inheritence in oct 15 meaning i now am a bit over the savings limit. (not that it will last long as i now paying for prescriptions/dental/opticians etc for same reason, which is fair enough))

But surely IR in the SG isnt any more money than CB in the SG... is it?

And if i do go onto IR & then at next reassessment I end up in the WRAG, then, assuming i still had my savings i would only have 365 days before i my payments would stop?

So I'd have thought i dont want them to look at my claim & should send off the reply asap???

But nothing is ever straight forward with DWP is it? This feels a bit devious like they are fishing for something or trying to do something underhand. I have nothing to hide of course but we all know that this is an adversarial relationship & so i view anything they send out as potentially hostile.

Any advice much appreciated, have mental health problems which are bad at the moment. This coming out of the blue & being so cryptic is really triggering me, please help.

Gordon wrote: Camly

The first thing to say is that is not something that you need to worry about

Everyone who was Incapacity Benefit and moved to ESA, with the exception of recent transfers, is being sent this letter.

When the DWP moved IB claimants to ESA they failed to assess whether they should receive an additional payment of Income Related ESA on top of their ESA(CB).

This is not a reassessment of your entitlement to ESA, only whether you should receive an ESA(IR) top-up to your ESA(CB).

If you are found to be eligible then this would mean more money for you and a substantial back payment. Being entitled to ESA(IR) means that you become eligible for a number of Premiums, for example the Enhanced Disability Premium (about £15/week) for being in the SG and if you have a qualifying DLA or PIP award and meet the other criteria, the Severe Disability Premium (about £60/week) may also be payable.


Gordon

Thank you so very much for responding to quickly. I am too ill proper understandnow:) but cried with relief that it not to worry about. Will come back read agan when not so foggy. thank yo again

thanks to your advice/reassurance, i filled in the form they sent me as a follow up to the letter, & sent off the bank statements etc too, and received a sizeable arrears payment with no further action.