First The ESA3 Form And NOW The ESA3FI Form !

Waterfall

What seems like an eternity ago, DWP sent me a form ESA3 to complete.
Clearly, they were well aware that they had underpaid an army of claimants several hundreds of pounds and they were  'obliged'  to hand this over.
Why claimants had to complete this form is something of a mystery, the many questions contained on its many pages were asking for information they were SURELY already in possession of !
Perhaps this was DWP's  'clumsy'  way of deterring claimants from claiming what was rightfully theirs ?
However, I did complete the ESA3 and now TEN WEEKS later, they have sent me a  'supplementary'  form ESA3FI requesting  'Further Information'  and demanding a response within TEN DAYS !
Once again, to my dismay, they ask questions they SURELY already know the answers to.
For example, question 1 asks if I paid any services charges for the place where I live between 28/3/12 to 18/6/13 and if so, I was to supply documentary evidence of this.
Questions 3 & 4 ask about claims for Housing Benefit & Council Tax reduction and NONE of these apply to me - I am NOT the head of my household and therefore not liable/eligible for any service charges or Housing/Council Tax Benefits and DWP should be well aware of this already !
Again, perhaps this is another  'clumsy'  attempt to dissuade claimants from pursuing what is rightfully theirs !
Honestly though, they know they're sitting on thousands of pounds which DOESN'T belong to them, yet they seem determined to put as many obstacles in the way to prevent this money being distributed to the people they  'unwittingly'  short-changed years ago !

poppy123456

Hi,

The reason for all those questions in that form is because the Income related top up is a means tested benefit and claiming this depends on many different things. As you were claiming Contributions based ESA there's absolutely no reasons why they would or should know any of your other circumstances because Contributions based benefits are not means tested.

The procedure for claiming this income related top up has always been this way and the ESA3 form is a standard form that needs to be completed correctly, otherwise DWP can't assess you. I personally don't think they are trying to dissuade anyone from claiming anything that's owed to them, otherwise they wouldn't be contacted everyone that transferred across from IB.

I realise it's annoying and stressful but it's a means tested benefit and if you want to be assessed they need to know all of your circumstances.

The current waiting times for decisions for the underpayments was between 12-20 weeks but this was a few months ago. It could have very likely increased quite a lot since then. Once a decision's been made they will send a decision letter to you.

wilko

Hello the forms sent out by DWP cover all situations and having a form or forms that just relates to your circumstances would be a nightmare, hence why we all get the standard form weather it's to register a car mobility scooter if it does not apply to yourself just write NA, and remember the DWP like their replies in black Ink don't anoy they by replying in blue, green or Red. 

OverlyAnxious

Waterfall said:

Honestly though, they know they're sitting on thousands of pounds which DOESN'T belong to them

I'm not sure they are 'sitting on' this money are they?  I doubt it's just spare & sat in an account making them a load of interest.  In fact, I'm fairly sure these recent DWP refunds are what's causing more PIP refusals than ever before!  The money has to come from somewhere, there isn't an endless supply of it.   

One of my relatives recently received a large lump sum which should've been paid to one of their now-deceased relatives several years ago.  Seems mad to me that they're still so willing to hand that out to someone that really doesn't need it but refuse so many that are in need right now. 

poppy123456

OverlyAnxious said:

One of my relatives recently received a large lump sum which should've been paid to one of their now-deceased relatives several years ago.  Seems mad to me that they're still so willing to hand that out to someone that really doesn't need it but refuse so many that are in need right now. 

I'm sorry but i totally disagree with you here.

Whether a claimant is still alive or not, it makes no difference, they were still entitled to it when they were alive, it's just extremely sad that there's people no longer here to enjoy such large sums of money.

There's some very sad stories on here recently and i won't mention any names but if they see this i'm sure they will know who they are. My heart goes out to them because they seen their loved ones struggle endlessly for no reasons at all, especially when there was no need for them to struggle. The families of loved ones have every right to claim back what everything that's owed to them.