Advice on next steps?

6emm6bee6

hi all,

i applied for New Style ESA as i was off sick getting a bipolar diagnosis for 8 months , i’m back at work now and gradually increasing my hours.

I got a letter awarding me one payment of £144 ish on 18/11. Letter said payment was issued and confirmed my bank name etc.

This payment never arrived. So i chased on 28/11 , they confirmed payment due but never raised and would escalate. 01/12 i had a missed call from them but never left a voicemail.

So i called back 02/12 and was told still no payment raised and someone will get back to me.

no one ever did. I called again on 05/12 and again “yes i can see payment awarded we’ve just not issued it for some reason - i’ll raise this and you’ll get a call in 24hrs”

no call back. So i called again today 09/12 and they can’t raise again because they need to wait on a response from 05/12 which usually takes 24hrs but cause “my claim is now closed” it could be longer.

this is honestly driving me to tears at this point. I don’t understand what the issue is? It seems like it should be an easy fix of someone just raising the payment.. nearly a month on and i’m still behind on bills i was expecting this payment to help me pay back from when i was sick.

anyone got any advice? I asked to raise a complaint but i’m not holding my breath they’ve ever done it.

frasermather1993

I’d write a letter and keep the correspondence. Letters and emails are always best because there’s a paper trail

6emm6bee6

Is there an official email address i can write in to? They told me there isn’t 😮‍💨

Kimi87

Unfortunately there isn't an email address for ESA, unless you have a reasonable adjustment agreed with the DWP.

You could contact your local MP to see if they can move things along.