ESA/SDP Stopped And Forced On To UC Twice!! PART 2

PGN67

This is what happened after I was put on to UC for the 2nd time.

On 10 May 2019 I was put onto UC and I had asked that it be back dated to  when I first went onto UC on 10 April 2019. After verifying  my identity at the jobcemter on 21/5/19 I asked for advance of £588 that was paid the same day. On the 22/5 case worker wrote in my journal I was owed £588.65  from April and I was paid same day. Then on the 29/5 I asked for the rest of the new claim advance of £608.97 and was paid. But then I received a noticed saying on  17 May 2019 I wil be paid £588 and another saying I will get my first UC payment of £1197.62 on 17 May 2019 by 8pm. I called UC to tell them I did not get the £1197.62 on 17/5/19 so it must be owed to me  if it had been written in my payments in journal. They said I was paid but in two payments. On 17/5 I was paid £588 so for accounting purposes the £608.65 on 29/5 was added to the £588 to make £1197.62. WRONG!!!  I did not get paid anything on 17/5 and the £608.65 on 29/5 was a new claim advance.

As you can see none of it makes any sense so I told them false accounting must be illegal and if the system puts out the payment advice them someone got paid and it was not me. So I asked for MR on 31/5/19  and  was told it was submitted. I called every week asking for the decision and was told it can take months. 7 months later I  Dec  I find that it was not even submitted. My pay day is 17 of the month and I fell behind on Bill's and debts. Not once have Dwp   called or written to apologize  instead they accused me of not telling the truth. So I have the bank statements and all evidence from my journal that I want to complain to Dwp.  But like the first time...do you think they will admit to the big mistake  and cover up?

PGN67

If you look at the £588 and £1197.62  to be  paid on 17 May 2019 you would wonder how the payment system would say that when my UC was only verified on 21 May 2019?? And the £588 was an advance applied for on 21/5 and paid on 21/5.

Joanne_Alumni

Hello @PGN67,

Did you make a rapid reclaim to UC? If so then your claim would not go through the whole verification process again and can be put back into payment using your old payment date.

Could that explain why the payment was put down for 17th May?

Joanne

PGN67

Hi  Joane

My first UC claim was closed before I could verify my identity  due to being in receipt of Sdp. The 2nd claim assessment period was 10/5 - 10/6 with first  payment on 17 June 2019.  When it was back dated to 10 April 2019 they say my first payment of £1197.62 would now be paid on 17 May 2019. I did not get a penny from Dwp on that  day so I asked them where the payment is and could it be paid to me as stated in my journal. I asked for MR on 31/5 and it was never submitted by my case worker. I was told it could take months so be patient.  

That is why I am here now.

P

woodbine

My advice would be to take all your evidence to your MP and ask them to liase with the DWP, surprising sometimes how that gets them to sort things out...worth a try.

PGN67

Woodbine

Thanks for your advice. Isn't there a DWP complaints process that has to be followed with the aim to make you give up before taking it to MP? If I do ask them for help won't I be put in a Que that could take a while?

If doing that will get my case looked at I will do it tomorrow.  As I wrote in Part 1 I lost my SDP and was refused back pay and transitional protection because I was outside the 30 day claim period when I was forced onto UC so I will include it as well.

poppy123456

There's no complaints procedure you have to follow before contacting your local MP.

Joanne_Alumni

Hi @PGN67
I agree with @poppy123456 and @woodbine. Contacting your l0ocal MP is probably the best thing to do next. Let us know how you get on, I hope you manage to get it sorted out.

Alice_Holt

Just picking up on your comment that you put in an MR, but this was not actioned. Could you explain the "it was not submitted" comment. 
By telephoning the DWP and chasing it, I think the DWP should have interpreted this action as an MR request in its own right.

It may be useful to request a Subject Access Request: 
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-your-personal-information-from-the-department-for-work-and-pensions
  

There is a tactic that CPAG have been promoting which is a pre-action judicial review letter. The advantage of this is that you send it directly to the DWP legal term, who are obliged to respond within 14 days. Here is some info on this:
 https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights/judicial-review

 CPAG have a specific letter template to deal with MR delays. I do think if you told the call-handler that you wanted them to look at their decision again - then you did lodge an MR - particularly if they told you  "it can take months.":
 JR10 UC delay in providing UC MR decision 

This may be a route you could go down with the help of your local advice agency / Citizens Advice.
It would get the matter before the DWP legal team, who tend to have more knowledge and discretion than the DWP Decision Makers and the Complaints Dept.
This action would be in addition to getting your MP involved, and a DWP complaint.

PGN67

Joanne_Scope said:

Hi @PGN67
I agree with @poppy123456 and @woodbine. Contacting your l0ocal MP is probably the best thing to do next. Let us know how you get on, I hope you manage to get it sorted out.

Dwp say first complain, then take it to a resolution manager then to ice and then to MP. We'll I complained online on 28 Feb 2020 and have had no reply. I am going to complain again today. 

PGN67

Alice_Holt said:

Just picking up on your comment that you put in an MR, but this was not actioned. Could you explain the "it was not submitted" comment. 
By telephoning the DWP and chasing it, I think the DWP should have interpreted this action as an MR request in its own right.

It may be useful to request a Subject Access Request: 
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/request-your-personal-information-from-the-department-for-work-and-pensions
  

There is a tactic that CPAG have been promoting which is a pre-action judicial review letter. The advantage of this is that you send it directly to the DWP legal term, who are obliged to respond within 14 days. Here is some info on this:
 https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights/judicial-review

 CPAG have a specific letter template to deal with MR delays. I do think if you told the call-handler that you wanted them to look at their decision again - then you did lodge an MR - particularly if they told you  "it can take months.":
 JR10 UC delay in providing UC MR decision 

This may be a route you could go down with the help of your local advice agency / Citizens Advice.
It would get the matter before the DWP legal team, who tend to have more knowledge and discretion than the DWP Decision Makers and the Complaints Dept.
This action would be in addition to getting your MP involved, and a DWP complaint.

O.n 31/5/19 I wrote in journal asking for MR on how I lost sdp due to esa being stopped on 4/4/19 but back dated to 13/2/19 stating that I was not given the chance to transition to jsa in the next 30 days as I was told after 43. Every week I asked about the decision and was told it could take months. In December I asked for DM and was told no MR was submitted even though it clearly shows in my journal. I was told I had to talk to SDP advice and that is when I was told I did not qualify for top up and back pay

PGN67

@Alice_Holt
Thank you for the links that I've looked at and I feel it is time to take further action. I am a victim of dwp maladministration and  having no reply to my complaint shows they are no at all concerned about my well being. I've only ever wanted the amount that I lost from sdp but seems I'm getting no where on my own. 

woodbine

I would maintain that you have nothing to lose by getting your MP involved, they usually concentrate minds at the DWP with an MP dangling the possibility of him/her involving the sec. of state.

PGN67

woodbine said:

I would maintain that you have nothing to lose by getting your MP involved, they usually concentrate minds at the DWP with an MP dangling the possibility of him/her involving the sec. of state.

Thanks again. Its 5.22am and this whole thing is destroying my life as i cant sleep. With the amount of reading i have done it clearly shows i have been hard done by by dwp. My mistake was thinking they would admit they were wrong and correct it because in a number of phone calls i had been told i had a valid claim. So i will take your advice and write to ny MP. 

PGN67

UPDATE:  On 26 February 2020 I made a complaint to dwp about the MR I asked for on 31 May 2019 that was never submitted by my UC case worker.  By 20 March 2020 i had not received a reply. So I then went to the next step and made my complaint  to the complaints manager and awaiting a reply.

I also wrote to esa and asked for a MR on the  way my esa got stopped on 4/4/19 then back dated to 13/2/19 as it took me out of the 30 day period for sdp transitional protection.  It also took away my right to transition to jsa /sdp.  And when I was given that chance by having my jsa transition back dated to 13/2/19, it was also taken away when I was forced on to UC on 10/4/19.

I also wrote to UC asking for the MR I asked for on 31/5/19 be looked at because when my first UC claim on 10/4/19 that had been back dated to 10/3/19 was cancelled  because they  said I received my last sdp payment within the last 30 days from 27/3/19,  I should go on jsa. But in doing that it actually took me out of the 30 days from when I was last eligibal for sdp which was the 13/2./19.

I'm sure you are confused by all this so I will say that i am convinced that I have been taken out of getting sdp transitional protection and the top up pay 3 Times on purpose because I complained about the DM that's took 48 days to  stop my esa. I await the outcome.