Why has my ESA benefit reduced after my pip decision is suspended

suespac

Hiya all.
I was told ESA benefit reduced as pip and ESA are related.
I passed my ESA assessment and was in the support group. 
Are the DWP right??

whistles

If you get ESA income related the premiums are linked to the pip/dla.

Don't ask whose dumb idea that was, because imo it's dumb!!! 
If both benefits awarded the claimant sufficient money to live on in the first place, you wouldn't need all these bizarre top ups.

So if you get standard pip care you maybe eligible for sdp and if you get standard mobility you maybe eligible for some guaranteed thingy I think. 
Lose it and you lose ESA, a shocking drop in finances.

suespac

I still get ESA but basic. So instead of £366 fortnightly, I get £214 fortnightly and no PIP as I'm waiting for tribunal date to come through. But wondered if DWP were right in reducing my ESA as I had passed assessment for that 2 months b4 my pip suspended??

whistles

I don't see how they reduced the esa before your pip stopped, they wouldn't know to?

poppy123456

suespac said:

I still get ESA but basic. So instead of £366 fortnightly, I get £214 fortnightly and no PIP as I'm waiting for tribunal date to come through. But wondered if DWP were right in reducing my ESA as I had passed assessment for that 2 months b4 my pip suspended??

That amount of ESA tells me you were claiming the Severe Disability Premium because you were claiming PIP daily living, living alone with no one claiming Carers Allowance for looking after you. This SDP is paid whether your in a group or not, but you must be claiming a qualifying benefit to qualify. As your PIP stopped you lost the SDP.

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi suespac,

poppy123456 is right, because your PIP stopped you lost the SDP which is a knock-on effect unfortunately. However, if you win your PIP appeal the SDP on your ESA will be fully backdated as well, so all is not lost just yet. If you can just focus on your PIP appeal the ESA will take care of itself. Good luck.

Lee

loobylou84

Reading these I am waiting on a decision as to wether I will get SDP does anyone have experience on how long this can take and will it be back dated to the date I applied for the PIP (I have recently been awarded PIP standard daily living)

poppy123456

SDP is paid on top of an Income Related benefit like ESA, JSA and Income support. If you claim any of these and no one claims carers allowance for you and you live alone or are classed as living alone then you should qualify. If you do then it's backdated to the start of your PIP claim providing the other criteria applied at the time. A claim takes approx 3 weeks maybe a little longer.

loobylou84

Thank you for your reply that’s good I’m in no rush but due to my anxieties etc I get worked up untill I knw things r goin ok x

lynnoseman

suespac said:

Hiya all.
I was told ESA benefit reduced as pip and ESA are related.
I passed my ESA assessment and was in the support group. 
Are the DWP right??

hi ive just asked the same question to ESA my sons PIP has been refused we are appealing they closed his esa claim and im trying to get it reopened, she said that he would not get the support group if his pip had been declined, i though that these benefits were not linked, ESa is about capability to work? help please im sure she is wrong

lookingforhelp1993

Hi all, 
I've just gone through all of this myself, when my PIP was suspended pending the tribunal my esa was reduced to the basic £111 ish per week as i was no longer entitled to SDP (Severe Disability Premium). However good news! yesterday i won my case at the tribunal and my PIP was reinstated (Daily Living Component - Enhanced Rate)  and was reinstated from the date it was canceled which means i am entitled to a years back pay. my question is will i also recieve backpay from ESA because i was entitled to SDP last year too? and if so do i have to inform ESA or will it automatically be updated on the system.

thanks in advance for any information, replies, help or advice

poppy123456

lookingforhelp1993 said:

Hi all, 
I've just gone through all of this myself, when my PIP was suspended pending the tribunal my esa was reduced to the basic £111 ish per week as i was no longer entitled to SDP (Severe Disability Premium). However good news! yesterday i won my case at the tribunal and my PIP was reinstated (Daily Living Component - Enhanced Rate)  and was reinstated from the date it was canceled which means i am entitled to a years back pay. my question is will i also recieve backpay from ESA because i was entitled to SDP last year too? and if so do i have to inform ESA or will it automatically be updated on the system.

thanks in advance for any information, replies, help or advice

Hi,

Great news. Which group are you in for ESA. £111 per week is Support Group Contributions based amount. Income Related amount is more than that at £127 approximately per week because the Enhanced disability premium is automatically added.

For the SDP then you'll need to wait for your PIP award to be put into payment and this can take 8 weeks. Once this is done then you can re-claim the SDP, if all the other criteria still applied then you'll be entitled to backdated money.

tibetanbells

Hisuespac said:

Hiya all.
I was told ESA benefit reduced as pip and ESA are related.
I passed my ESA assessment and was in the support group. 
Are the DWP right??

Hi . I am currently claiming ESA with enhanced disability premium, which I won on appeal in a tribunal in 2016.  Last year it was extended after I filled in another ESA form and included letters from my doctor .

Now I want to try to claim PIP .  However , I ‘ve heard that PIP is hard to get awarded.

If I get turned down for PIP, could the DWP also reduce my ESA amount , or stop it ?

I have heard that PIP results can affect ESA claims , although usually in a positive way, do they sometimes reduce or stop ESA of someone is turned down for PIP ? 

poppy123456

@Hisuespac

 Hi and welcome,

PIP and ESA and different benefits with different criteria and claiming PIP will not affect your ESA in a bad way if you're refused PIP.

tibetanbells

Thanks for the reply .  I also asked the ESA people on the phone and they told me it shouldn’t affect it as they are different benefits .

But now I am hearing that the DWP are using people’s PIP claims to reassess ESA claims, just like Suespac  mentioned before.  I have created  a new thread about this . 

I don’t want to make a new claim for PIP to be turned down and then have my ESA affected. 

poppy123456

tibetanbells said:

Thanks for the reply .  I also asked the ESA people on the phone and they told me it shouldn’t affect it as they are different benefits .

But now I am hearing that the DWP are using people’s PIP claims to reassess ESA claims, just like Suespac  mentioned before.  I have created  a new thread about this . 

I don’t want to make a new claim for PIP to be turned down and then have my ESA affected. 

Question answered here on your other thread. https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/68990/if-i-get-turned-down-for-pip-could-this-affect-my-esa-claim#latest