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ESA support group backpay?

despair

I claimed ESA in March 2022, put into assessment group , should have been 13 weeks but not assessed until October 2022 due to ESA delay. They wrongly put me into work related, applied for Mandatory Reconsideration and finally moved into Support Group where I should always have been. I was assured in calls to ESA to not worry as if I was put in support group that I would be backdated to the beginning of my claim. Today I have been told that it would only be backdated to December when they changed the decision. Can I appeal against this?

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Comments

poppy123456

It won't be backdated to the start of your claim because as you correctly stated there's a 13 week wait before the extra money is paid. It's then paid from the 14th week after you started your claim.

Therefore they are not correct in telling you that it's from the date of the MR decision. The MR decision changed the original decision which means it should be from week 14. You can challenge that decision by requesting the Mandatory Reconsideration. (MR) You should put that in writing.

calcotti

It's utterly hopeless that DWP so frequently get such basic stuff wrong and it's to have got worse and worse. The result of lack of training and underinvestment in public services.

Cher_Alumni

Hello @despair and welcome to our community - I understand where your username is coming from, these situations definitely make you despair!

Do you feel confident in undertaking a mandatory reconsideration (MR)? Here's the government webpage on how to challenge a benefit decision (MR). Please let us know if we can support you in any way with it.

I've also moved your thread to our Employment and Support Allowance category to help others spot it and reply.

All the best for a speedy resolution to this. Take care and have a nice weekend.

calcotti

Cher_Scope said:

Do you feel confident in undertaking a mandatory reconsideration (MR)? Here's the government webpage on how to challenge a benefit decision (MR). Please let us know if we can support you in any way with it.

From what OP has said they've already done one MR in order to get put in the Support Group. Doing an MR to get the correct backdating should be more straightforward.

Cher_Alumni

@calcotti Apologies there, I can only blame tired eyes. Thanks for the clarification!

calcotti

Cher_Scope said:

@calcotti Apologies there, I can only blame tired eyes. Thanks for the clarification!

No need to apologise, You read a lot of posts each day - tired eyes are excusable.