Income Support

I currently receive Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and severe disability premium I recently received a form to complete from DWP which was identical to thee one I received 6 years ago and I telephoned them to ask why I was sent one. I was told that it was part of a random sample to check the level of benefit is correct and when I asked was it intended to take my benefit away. I was told that it was simply to check I was in receipt of the correct amount of benefit. I completely fell apart with fear and had to get the woman involved to complete the form. There is absolutely no way I could face having a medical ( I have heard some horror stories) I am absolutely terrified. Do you think they gave me a genuine reason or is this a way of examining my claim to reduce or move me onto other benefits? I a also in receipt of DLA. The worry and anxiety has made my health worse. My health conditions are varied and part of the medicine is keeping me alive and I will never be able to work again. I am so desperately worried and is now causing additional health problems Can anyone suggest what the hidden agenda is here? Please offer some advice or am I overreacting

Some people's entitlement to IS is checked without any suspicion that they are cheating in any way, so you don't need to assume the worst.

It may be that they think they've picked up on your having some extra income or that you're living with someone you haven't told them about and that your replies have put their concerns to rest, but if they get in touch with you further, perhaps you could find a friend or a mental health worker or an advocate to help you?

In the event that they are suspicious enough to call you in for an interview under caution, do make sure you have proper representation, but please don't assume that this will happen.

Edit to add further information...

The DWP also carries out checks on people on DLA, many of which are random checks for statistical purposes, and many people getting it find that their rates go up rather than down following a re-assessment. Again, if they call you in for a medical (and please don't assume that they will), why not see if you can find someone to go with you?

jonty53 wrote:

I currently receive Income Support, Incapacity Benefit and severe disability premium I recently received a form to complete from DWP which was identical to thee one I received 6 years ago and I telephoned them to ask why I was sent one. I was told that it was part of a random sample to check the level of benefit is correct and when I asked was it intended to take my benefit away. I was told that it was simply to check I was in receipt of the correct amount of benefit. I completely fell apart with fear and had to get the woman involved to complete the form. There is absolutely no way I could face having a medical ( I have heard some horror stories) I am absolutely terrified. Do you think they gave me a genuine reason or is this a way of examining my claim to reduce or move me onto other benefits? I a also in receipt of DLA. The worry and anxiety has made my health worse. My health conditions are varied and part of the medicine is keeping me alive and I will never be able to work again. I am so desperately worried and is now causing additional health problems Can anyone suggest what the hidden agenda is here? Please offer some advice or am I overreacting

Hi J53,

As you are new to the forum, you may wish to read :

Welcome to Benefits and Work

It sounds like you may have received a form from the Benefits Integrity Team, to simply check that your circumstances haven't changed.

These can be sent out at random, if all is O.K. you will probably hear no more.

If you were being migrated over to ESA, you would receive a letter such as the one on Page 6 of :

Being transferred from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance.

Which can be accessed from here :

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa

It's the first link on the page, you will also see all our ESA Guides on the same page.

After this letter you would receive a phonecall to answer any questions that you may have, you do not have to answer this call, and then a week or so later your ESA50 Questionnaire, as here :

Use Of The Interactive PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

You can access all our FAQ's from here :

FAQ’s

And the search facility of the forum here :

Searching The Forum

From the information that I have given you should now know whether it is simply a random check, or the start of your migration to ESA.

Please post again if you have any further queries.

bro58

Mod Edit : posted the same time as Survivor, please see Survivor's reply also.