Found out i been missing ton money

Dragonwolfsprite

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/975086#Comment_975086

thanks! — currently on hold to get through to the ESA people about my SDP - been on hold for 30 minutes now and counting lol

as for UC I'll make citizen advice appointment for 8th or 9th april - i looked that's a Tuesday or Wednesday so i will have time them days - Will put on my calendar/diary a week before to remind me as well.

to be fair even if they reduce the Transitional Protection i will still be "better" off compared to past 7 years - but either way i'll be "worse off" regardless as i'll need pay council tax in full then anyway due to how my local council count what is income (housing benefit is not income, housing element of UC is even if still paid to landlord directly) - just as long i can afford to live

Dragonwolfsprite

Any idea how long timescale may be for a decision?

BOTH about when SDP will start on my current ESA claim. and when back payment may come through. (one my friends is an accountant and thinks i should be getting around £20,000 backpayment when she looked at SDP rates from may 2018 until January 2025. I practically fainted! will they REALLY pay all that money owed? If so, will it be one lump some all together? at least then i can use £4k for debt payments i owe, and pay some to my friends who have been great carers to me as i kind of really owe them big time.

The guy on phone said he couldn't see how long it takes for SDP to be assessed (although i was on hold for 1 hour 10 minutes before they answered so cant see it being quick)

He said to ring every 1 to 2 weeks but i dont want to seem like im harassing them or seem desperate. - i worry if i annoy them they will take longer or just say no - i have a tendency to overthink and worry and also repeat/annoy people so I want to restrain from calling unless i HAVE to … so…..

HOW LONG would you say for me to wait without hearing anything before ringing up to ask about progress? surely ringing weekly is too often? and What will happen if i DONT get SDP sorted out until after ive had to moved to UC. (i obviously hope timescale is less than 10 weeks which is when my deadline week will be. Will they still count it and do the Transitional Protection or atill do backpayment if its not sorted until after then?

PS: IF I DO get what my accountant friend suggest (£20k) after debts and money i owe various people, i will prob have about £15-16k left) wont that effect my ESA or housing benefit or council tax support etc

Sorry i suffer from anxiety as part of my conditions and i want to make sure i do things correctly. if i do get big back payment is there a deadline to use it before DWP deem i have too many savings? and Any rules what the money can be spent on?

Im thinking £1000-£2000 to a charity in memory of my family and its a charity that will help stop something that happened to my sister many years ago, dont want to go into details, but it was bad. and some i thinking spending on home improvements like new cooker mattress wardrobe shelving etc. - even though that will take up at least HALF the back payment - i have no idea what to spend the rest on before DWP deem i have too much money, i dont want to just "waste" it away or they will get suspcious of that so what are the rules about back payments?

I Maybe treat my friends who have been carers to a holiday we all dreamed off as part of their "backpayment" as i couldnt really pay them for their time and efforts - but is that allowed?

and if im on UC LWCRA and they ask for bank statements to check if my benefits are correct/no fraud - wont i need to use all that money before they do?

I dont want to break any "rules" and get a sanction or do something wrong even though its money they owe me.

poppy123456

You will receive everything that is owed to you from the date you became entitled to it. You may receive it in separate smaller lump sums as they often do that when it's a larger amount.

As this would be treated as an official error the money that's owed to you will be disregarded for the life of your ESA claim, this will then carry forward to UC when you claim that.

Timescales for awarding SDP going forward shouldn't be any longer than a few weeks. For the money that's owed to you from 2018 it was obviously be a lot longer than that but there's no timescales.

Dragonwolfsprite

No worries. In one way i think i would prefer it in smaller lumps for the money owed. As long its correct.

Either way theres no rush for the backpayment as long they correct it some point in reasonable time so i can oay off debts, the most important is getting SDP started before i migrate. Will check with them end of February then to give it a few weeks before i ask for update

At least backpayment is disregarded as i was in a panic how to use it all as all i heard/found online is you get 12 months!

If they do a single lukp suk i cma tell half will.be gome to.debts already

poppy123456

12 months only applies if it wasn't an official error. For official errors over £5,000 it's disregarded for the life of the claim, which then transfers over to UC when you claim.