Help

jd57

Hi 
after some advice my hubby was in receipt of incapacity benefit and was then transferred to esa contribution based in the support group September 2011 we have now been sent a ESA3 form I rang dwp to tell them at one point between 2014 and 2017 we had savings of £16,000 (due to us selling the house we were living in to buy a smaller house a bungalow to make things easier for my husband) the money was used to renovate the new property 
a lady from dwp then rang and filled the form in over the phone, we have now been sent a letter requesting proof of bank statements from 2011 - 2018 impossible plus proof of the sale of the house at my wits end and so confused 

poppy123456

Hi,

The reasons they're asking for proof is because of the sale of your house and the savings were more than £16,000 which of course affects any means tested benefits you can both claim. Without the proof they're asking for then DWP won't be able to proceed any further with the claim for Income related benefits at that time.

Are you able to contact the bank you were with at the time to ask for those statements? There maybe a charge for all those statements, if they can get them for you that's the problem.

jd57

I have been in contact with the bank and they have said they can only go back as far as January 2016, I thought as we told dwp we had the savings that was it they would not bother with any extra claim 

atlas46

Hi

Your bank has a legal duty to save your account details.  So you need to speak to your bank to get the details.

Once you have these, you might wish to seek the help from your local CAB, who will assist you.

The solicitor who dealt with your house sale, will be able to provide proof of sale price.  Or contact the Land Registry.

karen1958

If you bank online and have a printer you can get all your Statements up and print them yourself, I am with Barclays and can get all Statements from when i opened Account 20 years ago

poppy123456

jd57 said:

 I thought as we told dwp we had the savings that was it they would not bother with any extra claim 

Yes because at the time contributions based was being claimed and savings/capital have no impact on this. As you're now claiming for an Income related top up because it's means tested DWP are asking for proof going back to a certain date. Without the proof they won't be able to asses the claim.

poppy123456

Any income from yourself will also go against any income related top up he would be entitled to.

jd57

Thanks very much for the advice