Esa underpayment for deceased father

Ciara55

Hi sorry for posting this if its in wrong place i am.new to this site after finding no answers elsewhere for situation....my father died aug 2017 and i am.his legal next of kin and have been sent letter weeka ago re possible undepayment of esa from july 2013 until he passed in aug 2017...ive since called them and then had a call back  to.fill in application...ive also looked through all my dads paperwork and found he was transfered from.incapacity to esa contribution based ...ive found old housing benefit award letters saying he shouldve had 2 premiums on his esa as he had high rate dla but his actual esa award was only for £218 every 2 weeks...no premiums other than the support group addition...what im wondering is my calculations work out that he was underpaid by nearly £70 per week !! And im thinking i must be wrong on tht...as that would mean he was underpaid by around £16.000  ...surely the dwp couldnt have missed that ???? ..i have read on here of peoples own claims for backpayment but none for deceased realtives ...can anyone help please

poppy123456

Hi,

They are in the process of contacting everyone that transferred across from IB to ESA, including relatives/spouses of the deceased.

The Income related top up (premiums) are means tested benefits and claiming them depends on the person circumstances. Living with a partner that works, pensions, savings and capital are all things they look when assessing you. Enhanced disability premium is automatically paid to those in the Support Group claiming Income Related and is approximately £16 per week from April 2019, less in previous years.

The other premium available is the Severe disability premium (SDP) this isn't automatically paid and to qualify for this on top of the above you also need to live alone or be classed as living alone and no one must be claiming carers allowance for looking after you. You must also be claiming a qualifying benefit such as mid/high rate care DLA.

Whether or not there's any backdated money owed will totally depend on his circumstances during the dates in the letter. It's impossible to give a definite answer on an internet forum. Decision waiting times are around 20 weeks, possibly longer but once a decision's been made they will send a decision letter to you. If money is owed they pay it to you. Hope this helps.

Ciara55

Thank you...the lady on phone (from sensitive case team) told.me.it appears he was seriously underpayment for which they apologise... my dad lived alone ..
No savings ...no pension.. only received his esa ..and high rate care and mobility dla no one claimed carers for him ..i just cannot understand how they cannot have known he qas underpaid by such an amount .

poppy123456

You're welcome. It was a huge DWP error and he's not the only one that was massively underpaid. People have received huge amounts of backdated money and the largest amount i've heard is £20,000.

Ciara55

poppy123456 said:

You're welcome. It was a huge DWP error and he's not the only one that was massively underpaid. People have received huge amounts of backdated money and the largest amount i've heard is £20,000.

Hi sorry to be a pain but do u know or have heard of form br3330 ive been told alls been checked but one if these must now be signed by me

poppy123456

I'm sorry but i have no idea what that is.

Ciara55

I spoke to them today and lady said its a form for me to fill in with my bank details and questions re funeral etc xx strange x

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Ciara55, I really hope they can get this sorted out quickly and I appreciate how difficult it must be to do. If there is anything we can help with then please do let us know.

Ciara55

Chloe_Scope said:

Hi @Ciara55, I really hope they can get this sorted out quickly and I appreciate how difficult it must be to do. If there is anything we can help with then please do let us know.

Thanks chloe thabk you xx yeah it defo brought a lot of memories to the front of my.mind again ...i got the form today it just said they owed my dad money and asked for my bank details and to confirm i was his next of kin said to return asap...it didnt have arrears amount on it but im assuming payment should be released pretty quick when they get form back xx

Chloe_Alumni

I hope so @Ciara55! Thank you for updating us.

Ciara55

  another update ...got a call yesterday saying they are just waiting on the bank details i returnes showing in oldham system and payment will be released they need no more info everything is finalised and underpayment has been calculated as £16.268 and that may take upto 3 weeks to be in my account ..although im obviously delighted to be receiving this it is tinged with great sadness and guilt that my dad never had it....thank you for all the help and advice ive had on here xxx

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Ciara55 and thank you for updating us. I can understand why this would be bittersweet news, but I am glad it has now been sorted.

Adrian_Scope

To echo Chloe, I can definitely see why the news would be bittersweet. But I know as a father, I would be so glad my child now has access to the money @Ciara55. I hope they deal with it quickly for you and that the rest of the process runs smoothly. 

Chloe_Alumni

Hi @Ciara55, how are you doing?

We have had press request from The Independent who are interested in speaking to someone about ESA being underpaid to a loved one, and then backdated to their next of kin. If you'd like to be involved then please email the community on community@scope.org.uk

If you are not interested then that is no problem at all! Thanks.

Charo

Hi Ciara, I've been reading your story it is very similar to ours. We had the letter and phonecalls at the start of September processing began at the start of October. How long was your wait from start to finnish? Also how did you get to Speak to some one in the sensitive case dept? I can't get past the main people??? X

Adrian_Scope

Hi @Charo and welcome to the community. I'm just going to tag @Ciara55 directly, so hopefully she'll see your message!

zowie666

I'd like to know how long from start to finish too. Returned the letter with bank details 3 weeks ago and have heard nothing since. 

poppy123456

zowie666 said:

I'd like to know how long from start to finish too. Returned the letter with bank details 3 weeks ago and have heard nothing since. 

HI and welcome,

Anything up to 20 weeks and possibly longer but there's really no timescales for any decision. Once a decisions been made you'll receive a decision letter.