Backdated claims

dkb123

In November 2020 I separated from my partner, I was claiming insurance based on ESA  I rang up and told the DWP and the bloke said okay for letting us know, and that was it 
A few weeks later I wondered why my benefits had not changed and my rent was in arrears, so I asked my advice worker to write to DWP and ask what was happening, He got no response, so wrote again in January 2021 complaining 
meanwhile, my arrears were increasing 
it turns out that the DWP didn't log the phone call or the first letter but did the complaint letter 
so I lost the money for the 10 weeks of income-related ESA and the HB for the rent which is over a thousand pounds 
the advice worker said, there was nothing they could do, and the DWP said it was too long ago, so there is no record of it, of course I said what do you think the worker was complaining about if it wasn't about the change in circumstances 
so the question is how far back can a complaint be made and what happens now 
I have since repaid the arrears and am now on the state pension, but I still think it was an injustice to fob me off and lose all that money because some DWP bloke forgot to record the enquiry 
if nothing can be done then let it serve as a warning, put everything in writing instead of ringing  up 

poppy123456

Can you please explain what you mean by this?

dkb123 said:

I was claiming insurance based on ESA

Do you mean you were claiming New style ESA or the old contributions based ESA? or do you mean you were receiving a pension? If it was a pension, what pension was it exactly please?

dkb123 said:

A few weeks later I wondered why my benefits had not changed and my rent was in arrears, so I asked my advice worker to write to DWP and ask what was happening, He got no response, so wrote again in January 2021 complaining 

ESA doesn't include help with any rent. Were you claiming Universal Credit, which is through DWP? Or housing benefit, which is paid by your local Authority and not by DWP.

dkb123

I was on Old  ESA which started as the rent being paid, but then as my partner started work dropped back to just insurance based, however he just held a job for a couple of weeks and then lost it 
He did not claim UC he relied on carer allowances and cash-in-hand stuff, so at the time we parted the rent was being paid out of my small private pension, but because of the stop start nature of his work pattern in was difficult to keep up with when it should have been paid by the DWP or not  

poppy123456

ESA would not have included help with any rent. It would have been housing benefit. If your housing benefit stopped because of your partners earnings then you would not have been able to reclaim it.

When your partner started working then your ESA would have been known as contributions based, not insurance based.

Help with the rent would have been through Universal Credit. UC can only be backdated for a maximum of 1 month in the most extreme circumstances.

Are you claiming housing benefit now for help with the rent?

dkb123

yes the HB kicked in in Jan 2021 10 weeks after the split, it is these 10 weeks that are the problem I went on to income-based ESA and the carers allowance stopped for my partner and i received the full add-ons
I was advised not to claim UC has it would be less than the ESA

poppy123456

dkb123 said:

I was advised not to claim UC has it would be less than the ESA

That was very poor advice you had there because not everyone is worse off when claiming UC. When you were claiming ESA because the SDP wasn't included in your claim then UC would have paid more than the ESA if you were in the Support Group. It would have also included help with your rent too, known as housing element.

If your housing benefit stopped completely when you were claiming ESA as i advised, you wouldn't have been able to reclaim it anyway because it no longer exists for new claims for working age people, unless you're living in either supported or temporary housing.

When exactly did you reach state pension age?

dkb123

January this year

dkb123

I think you do a fantastic job on these matters,I have been following your posts for some time and really think you should be recognised by Scope for all the effort you put in, Thanks 

Albus_Scope

@dkb123 Poppy is a hugely valued member of the community. She's been a massive help to me whilst I've been training too.  

poppy123456

dkb123 said:

January this year

I had a feeling this was the case. Unfortunately because you were under state pension age after the HB stopped then you will not be able To backdate a claim now. Sadly the advice you had telling you not to claim UC was very poor advice and likely made you financially worse off at that time.

dkb123 said:

I think you do a fantastic job on these matters,I have been following your posts for some time and really think you should be recognised by Scope for all the effort you put in, Thanks 

Thank you for those very kind words! They do mean a lot and very much appreciated. ☺️

Albus_Scope said:

@dkb123 Poppy is a hugely valued member of the community. She's been a massive help to me whilst I've been training too.  

Thank you Albus, that’s very kind of you. It’s taken me many years to get to where I am now.

Glad I’ve been able to help with your training too! Good luck with that!