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false advice from benefits office - could be fraud

  • Sundries
  • Topic Author
13 years 4 months ago #34904 by Sundries
I'm staying with one of my sisters atm. I wrote a letter to the benefits office saying I was going to be away from home for a month cos my care team was on leave and i didnt want to relapse.

I phoned up today to check they got the letter. Apparently they haven't yet because they have a lot of post and are still going through mid september.

The lady told me she could register it as a change of address but that I shouldn't bother because it would just mean a lot of paperwork and they would stop all my benefits in the meantime while they tried to get more info and it wasn't worth it and she didnt want to mess up my benefits.

After I finished the phonecall I felt a bit uneasy about not filling in the form (I could have filled it in over phone but was advised not to bother) so I called the benefits enquiry line to find out if a month away would affect any benefits. Apparently I would not be entitled to the severe disability element of my income support if I am staying with someone who doesn't receive DLA. (annoyingly my sister is putting in a claim for DLA so if she gets awarded it it will be backdated for the whole time I stayed with her so its a bit annoying how much extra paperwork it will all be).

I'm a bit shocked by the lady at the benefits office. If I hadn't felt uneasy and had just taken her advice instead of phoning hte benefits enquiry line I could have been committing fraud without knowing.

Am worried now though that if I relinquick claim to the severe disability element i wont be able to apply for it back and will instead be put onto ESA as cant make new claims for income support and i think it would count as new claim.

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  • Survivor
13 years 4 months ago #34918 by Survivor
Premiums stopping and starting won't close your entire claim.

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13 years 4 months ago #34919 by Gordon
Sundries

I am afraid that just becasue they work for the DWP doesn't mean they know about benefits :)

I think you have done the right thing by writing to them, was it sent by recorded delivery? Unfortunately you often have to send your correspondence to a different address from your local office and it takes time to go from one to the other.

I am not sure why your Severe Disability payment would be affected by someone else claiming DLA or not! I think you should phone the DWP again, my experience is that if you keep asking the question, eventually someone there actually has the answer.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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  • Sundries
  • Topic Author
13 years 4 months ago #34922 by Sundries
kicking myself now for not sending letter recorded delivery. I should know better; last time I had my dla reviewed I sent it in and when I hadn't heard after a couple of months I called them and they said they didn't get it. Fortunately I had a really good social worker who had a go at them and basically the form had been at bottom of pile and new ones kept being put on top of it so it wasn't dealt with.

I wish they didn't all give different advice. The benefits enquiry line said that you couldnt get the severe disability premium for income support if you were living with someone else unless the other person had DLA (can't find anything online confirming).

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13 years 4 months ago #34930 by Gordon
Sundries

Ok - There is a Severe Disability Premium, which is what I think you are refering to, but there is also a Severe Disbility Element which part of tax credits. Unfortunately you said "element" on your first post.

The Premium is paid on condition that you live alone and no one one receives Carers Allowance, which would not be the case while you are living with sister

They don't make it easy do they :laugh:

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  • Sundries
  • Topic Author
13 years 4 months ago #34938 by Sundries
Ah, no it isn't element I get, it is premium.

So is it just if I live alone, or if i live with people but no one gets carers allowance? My siser doesnt get carers allowance) Do you by any chance know if there is time limits on the thing eg if i decided just to go for two weeks and called benefits office to have it counted as a 'holiday'.

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