Benefits and Work is still hearing from employment and support allowance (ESA) claimants who are unlawfully being treated as jobseekers when they begin the universal credit (UC) mandatory migration process. Some are being asked for fit notes and some in the support group are also being required to agree to claimant commitments that go far beyond just an undertaking to inform the DWP of any change of circumstances.
The DWP claimed to have fixed this problem, but it is clearly still happening. At the moment the numbers being migrated are small, but the point where upwards of 10,000 ESA claimants a week begin to be migrated cannot be far off.
We have updated our ESA to UC Managed Migration FAQs to help members deal with this issue.
We have created a short notice for you to put in your journal at the start of your claim, pointing out that you must not be required to provide fit notes.
And if this doesn’t work, or if you are already past that stage, we have written a formal complaint you can adapt to your circumstances.
We have thrown the kitchen sink at this complaint, because it is vital that the DWP follow the law in the way they treat ESA claimants, many of whom will struggle with the migration process.
We’ve included references to UC Regs 2013, UC Regs 2014, advice for decision makers, the UC claim To Do List and an admission by the director general of the UC team that getting this wrong is severely detrimental to ESA claimants’ health.
It is an admission that may well leave the DWP open to actions for personal injury.
In addition, we explain how to use the claimant commitment cooling-off period to buy yourself more time, though be prepared for your work coach to have never heard of it and to have to give them information about how to find it.
And we stress the importance of accepting even an unfair or unlawful claimant commitment, because refusal will simply lead to your UC claim being completely disallowed.
Instead, we point out that even DWP guidance says that accepting a claimant commitment doesn’t mean that you actually agree with the requirements or that you are committing yourself to carrying them out.
Far better to accept, if you must, and then fight to have the commitment changed afterwards. Even if you fail to carry out an action that falls within your claimant commitment, the result will be a sanction which you can appeal, rather than the total loss of your UC claim.
We know that for many people, battles like this are beyond their physical and mental resources. Which is why we are urging those who are able to do so, to involve their MP in any complaint they make, so the DWP cannot keep making these mistakes behind closed doors.
And please keep on letting us know how your mandatory migration is going and we will keep trying to come up with solutions to any problems.
Members can download the latest ESA to UC Managed Migration FAQs from the ESA/UC guides page. The relevant FAQs are:
“Will I have to provide a fit note or prove I am unfit for work if I am moving to UC from ESA?”
“I’m in the support group, but I’ve been asked to provide a fit note and/or to accept a claimant commitment with work-related activities.”
“Can I delay accepting my claimant commitment?”
