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ESA worries

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11 years 10 months ago - 11 years 10 months ago #86530 by amorphic
ESA worries was created by amorphic
Hello,

Back in Jan I left a work due to a disability and put in a claim for contributions/ NI based ESA.

I made no declaration or comments re capital in Jan, I only made a NI based ESA claim because I told the adviser on phone NI only from the outset of the call.

After alot of frustration it appears my NI contributions were not sufficient for the claim.

At the time I had savings above the 6K limit so left the claim without making any amendment.

One of the issues I have is that I do not have much resilience in dealing with anything, this plus anxiety means I struggle to deal with anything.

About two weeks ago I decided to revisit ESA this time mean tested (very reluctantly) as my savings are now well below 6K.

At the time I was told because I made a ESA claim back in Jan (the claim was still open) that DWP is likely to want to see my bank statements back to then if I make a new claim.
This causes me alot of anxiety because there seems to be no reason for the adviser to say this to me.
I haven't put a new ESA means tested claim in yet as this has been praying on my mind.

Is this a case of an over zealous adviser or should I be concerned about this if I put a new ESA mean tested claim in?

Should I just ask them to close the claim for Jan as I can't see why its still open and put a new claim in from now and hope for the best?

I don't understand why I can't avoid the hassle and just close the Jan NI ESA claim (it wasn't successful no idea why it was not closed) or why they need to know about capital in Jan?

From where I am sitting my option seem to be put in a new Means Tested ESA claim now and see what they require, if they require bank info back to Jan then request claim is backdated to Jan (as they need info back that far anyway) and see what they will give me as I have nothing to lose in terms of hassle.

I must point out that I am not trying to pull a fast one with the DWP, I just don't like any organisation knowing about my business (don't even do loyalty cards) and also due to my disability my threshold for hassle is almost zero.
Thanks in advance.
Last edit: 11 years 10 months ago by Gordon.

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11 years 10 months ago #86534 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Re:ESA worries
amorphic

I notice that this is your post on the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

You don't say when your Contribution Based claim ended, but if it was less than 12 weeks before the date you phoned them up again, I make this around 12/02/12, then the DWP may be using this as a reason to link the two claims.

If the claims are linked in this way, then they are entitled to request this financial information as part of a claim.

If you want to seperate the claim then there needs to be 12 weeks between the end of the CB claim and the start of the IR claim. Also, you will not be able to backdate this second claim, as doing so would again start it within the 12 weeks.

For your reference the asset limit for ESA(IR) is £16,000 not the £6000 you quote, although assets over £6000 will reduce your payements by £1/w for every £250 in excess.

I hope this explains it all. If you have further questions, please come back to the forum.

Gordon

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

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11 years 10 months ago #86554 by amorphic
Replied by amorphic on topic Re:ESA worries
Gordon,

Thank you for your reply and the link for the B&W site.

My contribution claim was made back in Jan but was declined because I had insufficient NI contributions. I left it there as in I didn't return the printed declaration generated from telephone questions answered or recontact DWP.

When I contacted the DWP to enquire what basis the Jan claim was made (as I had forgotten if it was means tested or NI) I also asked them about back dating a claim. This is where the bank statements back to Jan was mentioned by the adviser.

It would make sense if I was making a back dated claim on a means tested basis.

I said (possibly foolishly) that as dealing with things are a struggle right now and have been for a while I would likely make a fresh means tested ESA claim to avoid the admin nightmare/ hassle of digging out docs etc.

He at that point restated that the DWP would most likely want statements back to Jan. This is what confuses me.

Currently I have not made any fresh ESA Means Tested claim but the old claim is still showing as open the adviser told me.

So if I ask them to close the Jan claim on the same day as it was made or rejected can I then make a fresh claim without the bank statements assuming I am outside of the 12 week linking period?

Or will the 12 week linking period run from the day I actually ask them to close the old claim?

This is rather more complicated that I expected so I appreciate your advice.
____________________________________

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11 years 10 months ago #86564 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Re:ESA worries
amorphic

From your comments in this post I think the timing of the claim is of less importance than the need to submit documentation to the DWP.

If you make a claim for a means tested beneft such as ESA(IR), then, as a condition of receiving the benefit, the DWP will require access to your financial information. Further, this information can be requested at a future date, although this is quite rare.

This will be the case whether you are above ot below the £6000 threshhold.

Gordon

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11 years 10 months ago #86566 by amorphic
Replied by amorphic on topic Re:ESA worries
Gordon,
Thanks for getting back to me.

Yes I appreciate that the DWP has the right to request financial information (in this case) in the same way the HMRC can that's a given.

Also given the number of claimants caused by the economic situation I imagine its rarer for the DWP to request info now than in the past.

Its the certainty with which the adviser stated that I would need to produce docs back to Jan for either backdating a claim or starting a new one that concerns me.

If I close the Jan claim, put a fresh one in and then the DWP decides to request docs back to Jan am I able to reopen the Jan claim and request backdating as they will need the info anyway?

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11 years 10 months ago #86567 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Re:ESA worries
amorphic wrote:

If I close the Jan claim, put a fresh one in and then the DWP decides to request docs back to Jan am I able to reopen the Jan claim and request backdating as they will need the info anyway?

No, the most you can backdate a claim is three months, don't forget you will also need a Fit Note covering this period as well.

Gordon

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