Confused

markf87

Wondering if someone can help point me in the right direction?

recently my wife got her pip back and the DWP sent a letter saying they owe us back pay but weren’t sure if they did (confusing I know)

these are the benefits we get

ESA - joint claim 
wife - standard care pip
me - standard care / enchanced mobility

im just unsure what disability premiums we should be getting and how much we should be paid as they’ve paid us different amounts every few weeks since we got her pip back. 

Tried to ring up ESA but hangs up after 30mins or won’t put me through to a person just tells me my next payment date and amount.

markf87

Forgot to mention I’m in the support group for ESA

poppy123456

Your ESA will not be a joint claim, it will be either yours or your wifes, it will then include extra money for your partner.  Only the main claimant will be receiving NI credits towards your state pension. `

Is it just the 2 of you at home and no other adults? Does anyone claim either carers allowance or carers element of Universal Credit for looking after either of you? If not then your ESA should include the SDP, as well as the Enhanced disability Premium.

You should have recieved your annual uprating letter for your ESA and on there it will tell you exactly what's included with your claim. Difficult to advise without knowing the figures for your ESA.

markf87

The claim is in my name. Also my wife did claim carers but she hasn’t since she got her pip awarded.

theres no other adults in the house

poppy123456

How much ESA do you receive every fortnight? I see you asked about SDP back in 2018, so it may have been included in your ESA at some point.

markf87

This is the last letter I got from them.  It’s really confusing. 

Also my wife hasn’t claimed carers since 24th February.
and like I said in the original post, every payment we’ve had off ESA since then had been different.
when I call up to ask them I just get hung up on or not passed to an operator. 

poppy123456

I've flagged your comment above because your NI number and your name is showing on the picture. You must make sure not to post personal details because it's a public forum and anyone can see them.

That's an old ESA letter from before the increase. You should have received another letter detailing the increases.

All of that seems correct. However, if your partner is no longer claiming carers allowance then you need to contact ESA and tell them. It would be worth their while claiming it though because they will receive class 1 NI credits towards their state pension. As you're the main claimant of the ESA then they will not be receiving any NI credits for this.

The different ESA payments since April 10th could well be to do with the annual increase in benefits. At first your payment will include part of the old rate and part new rate. Going forward your payments should be the same each week.

The reason they're holding the lump sum payment is because they are checking for any money that you may owe them. Once this is done they will pay what is owed (unless you owe them and then they can recover the overpayment from the money they owe you)

Community_Scope

Hello @markf87

I removed your images as they contained personal information. If you wanted to block that out and upload them you are more than welcome  

markf87

Thank you so much for your help. It’s just so confusing at times, money stuff is not my strong point.

poppy123456

You're welcome. Benefits are never straight forward. Please ring ESA though to tell them your wife is no longer claiming Carers allowance. Your ESA can then include the couples SDP but please be aware of my advice regarding the NI credits.

markf87

Managed to get it sorted now spoke to esa and carers and they getting it sorted. Thanks again for your help.