Esa underpayment

jj12345

I was underpaid in my esa from 2012 /2014 spd and other premiums, so dec18 i called esa and got called back from lady dealing with case she said ahe can see my esa claim with details but nothing on my dla claim and need proof of entitlement after 3 months of waiting for paperwork from dla/pip they have nothing in archives for my 2012 claim. (Surprise). Bloke at the pip department said what about old bank statements with amount details and national insurance number shown.

Could I get help with this and who I should contact? 

steve51

Hi @jj12345

Good Morning & Welcome 🙏🙏

I am very very sorry to hear about your current problems!!!!!!!!

Hi @BenefitsTrainingCo

Can you please help me with this post???

Many thanks.

Steve.

jj12345

??

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi @jj12345 It is good news the DWP are dealing with this for you, but of course not good that it is taking so long.  I am surprised they cannot see your DLA award from 2012.  I assume you were in receipt of the care component of DLA either at the middle or high rate care from this time.  Assuming you were and the DWP cannot see evidence of it on their systems, there appears to be no option but to consider ways of proving entitlement yourself.  Bank statements are a good way, but if you have not got them available and need to order them from the bank, this could be costly for you - you could speak to your bank about this to find out the potential cost. If you do online banking you could search for DWP payments on your accounts and print off the list of payments.  Or each year you are sent an annual uprating letter confirming the new amounts of your benefits from April.  Do you have any of those from DLA?  I fi d it hard to believe they cannot see your DLA and PIP awards.  Before you start incurring any costs, I would first contact your bank to ask what the cost is for old bank statements (if you cannot find any uprating letters and do not do online banking), then recontact DWP and confirm that they definitely cannot see the DLA/PIP awards.  If they cannot see them all, confirm with them which dates they need evidence from so you do not look for things that are not needed.  If bank statements seem the only way, you should advise the DWP of the cost and seek agreement for them to refund you that cost.  Make sure you get a receipt or some evidence of how much you paid out (if you do pay out) and you may need to make a formal complaint if you have to incur costs just to correct what is basically a DWP error. I hope this works out for you.  Sarah