PAID SSP BY EMPLOYER FOR 19 WEEKS AND THEY HAVE MADE A MISTAKE

te1

Hi
I am in a terrible dilemma through no fault of my own. I have been of sick since mid January of this year and my employer was paying me ssp until end of May. I have just received a ssp1 form from my employer stating that from 1st of June my ssp has been stopped and the box they have ticked gives the reason that it is due to my earnings not being high enough before my illness or disability. I have now realised by working out my average earnings that it was £114.73 a week before I was off sick and it needs to be £116.00. I was also still in receipt of my working tax credits through this time and am now worried that I will have to pay the full amount back
If my employer hadn't made this mistake and given me the ssp1 form back in January I would have been on ESA and most probably put in the Support Group as well, due to fibromyalgia spinal stenosis arthritis and depression and other health issues. But now my life is a utterl mess and making all my illnesses worse due to the stress this is causing me. I've had to fill in Pip forms and thankfully I was awarded the standard rate back in April and my first payment will be in my account at the end of this week that was stressful enough as I was originally on low rate DLA. 

poppy123456

Hi,

You may or may not have an overpayment of wages, if you do then you'll have an overpayment of tax credits too. Have you contacted HMRC to stop your tax credits? If you haven't then you'll need to do that. Then i'd advise you to get some face to face advice from an agency near you. This link will help you know what's available local to you. https://advicelocal.uk/

Claiming New style ESA will depend on your NI contributions from April 2016 to March 2018, if you've paid enough then you'll be able to claim. You'll need the SSP1 form and a fit note from your GP.

If you haven't paid enough then claiming Universal Credit will depend on your circumstances... household income, savings and capital.

te1

Thank you for your reply I have already thought about the tax credits side of this as well but not sure if I had been originally given the ssp 1 form in the beginning and would have been entitled to new style esa as I know that I have 2 full years ni contributions for April 2016 till March 2018 but not sure if you are still entitled to working tax for 28 weeks like you are with ssp

poppy123456

My advice above is incorrect, sorry about that! It's late and not been the best of days for me today.

You tax credits will have been paid on SSP and ESA. You need to start a claim for New style ESA ASAP. Details how to claim are here. It can take approximately 3-4 weeks for your first payment and it's £73.10 per week paid for 1 year unless you're placed into the Support Group. https://www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/how-to-claim

Do be aware that to successfully be placed into the support group is not about a diagnosis.

te1

Thank you very much for your advice and sorry to hear that it wasn't a good day for you yesterday I hope you're having a better one today. I have been to my local citizens advice centre today and have an appointment with a employment specialist next week. I was told that this is going to be a little difficult as my employer has made this a complicated issue by doing what they did but hopefully with their advice and support I will get through it all. I must also 
that this site is  amazing and everyone is so very helpful and don't know where I would be now without it