I've been paid SSP alongside ESA. Have I done something wrong?

Yvette48

I'm feeling rather anxious as I was told by my manager last month that I would no longer get ssp. I applied for esa which I have had a payment for and now I've looked at my wage slip for this months pay and I've been paid ssp. Please can someone help me I'm worried sick that I've done something awful and I already have really bad anxiety. 

poppy123456

Have you contacted your employer about this? your employer could have paid you by mistake. If you haven't then you'll need to do this. To claim ESA you would have needed the SSP1 form, which should have had the start and end date of your SSP on it.

Yvette48

Thankyou for your reply, I phoned him last month to ask him to check how much ssp I had left. He told me that 20/08/2021 was the last payment. I haven't been sent any forms from work and the esa didn't ask for any when I claimed. I will phone tomorrow to tell them what has happened but I'm quite worried that I will have to pay what they have paid me all in one go. Can you actually get in trouble for fraud even with it being a genuine error? 

poppy123456

I don't see any fraud here. You should contact your employer before contacting DWP. Usually you need the SSP1 form to claim New style ESA because your employer would have needed to fill that in, so i'm surprised that DWP haven't asked for it.

You should keep some money aside just incase you need to pay back the ESA. Although they can also deduct money from your future ESA payments for any overpayment.

Yvette48

Thankyou so much for your reply, I haven't slept for most of the night worrying about it. I will get in touch with my employer today. 

[Deleted User]

Hi @Yvette48

Thank you for sharing this with us.  I’m sorry to hear about the stress you have experienced, and hope you are managing ok. 

Hopefully speaking to your employer will help to ease some of your concern about this. 

Please do keep in touch, and let us know if you have any further questions. 

Yvette48

Thankyou so much for your replies, I'm waiting on my union rep to get back to me and I know she will get it right because she is amazing. I just hope that when I phone esa on Monday that they don't stop my money, I'm so stressed and anxious as it is, I am also waiting on a pip decision after my phone assessment on Thursday. 

poppy123456

Try not to worry, i know that's easier said than done but the worst that can happen here is that you have a small overpayment from your ESA claim which would need to be repaid back. If your SSP hasn't yet ended then your ESA will restart once it's ended.

Yvette48

Thankyou so much, I had backpay too which really helped me to pay bills that I have got so far behind with. I have a meeting with my manager next week and I'm going to ask for him to move my I'll health retirement forward so I can just concentrate on getting better physically and mentally. 

Yvette48

Hi just  an update on my post yesterday. I've spoken to my manager and he said I shouldn't have been paid ssp because they've worked it out again and I'm not entitled from the 20/08/21. The only thing he can think of is because I've done 25 years service it's renewed it. 

poppy123456

SSP is only paid for 28 weeks. 

Yvette48

Thankyou poppy, it's probably a mistake then. I will phone esa on Monday. 

calcotti

If your employer has paid you for more than 28 weeks it is no longer technically SSP but could be treated as a good will payment on account of your long service. I suggest you ask your employer to issue you form SSP1 with the correct date your SSP entitlement ended shown.

Yvette48

Thankyou, I have a meeting with my manager next Friday regarding ill health retirement I will ask him then. Am I best ringing esa now or waiting till I get proper confirmation. Thankyou. 

poppy123456

As calcotti has advised,  ask your employer for the SSP1 form, which they should have gievn you anyway. This will then confirm the exact end date of your SSP.

calcotti

Yvette48 said:

Thankyou, I have a meeting with my manager next Friday regarding ill health retirement I will ask him then. Am I best ringing esa now or waiting till I get proper confirmation. Thankyou. 

You must do what you are comfortable with but if I were in your position I would wait until clarifying things with your employer.

Yvette48

Thankyou. I'm just so anxious that they are going to take me off esa altogether and then I'll be back to square one. I'm already way behind with my bills and the stress it's causing me isn't helping my health. 

Yvette48

Hi poppy, I've asked him today about ssp1 form and he said he will try and find out for me. 

Yvette48

Hi everyone, I've phoned esa this morning and they've suspended my payments which I knew they would. The lady on the phone said it is my managers responsibility to find out how much ssp I have left and fill the whole form out. She also said that I might not have to pay it back as I was advised by my union rep to claim it when I was told I wasn't entitled to anymore ssp. I've phoned my manager and told him that he needs to sort it out because they have suspended my money. Hopefully I will hear something back soon. I was also told by esa that I should still send any new sick notes in which I have done today. It's going to be another rough few weeks and I hope my anxiety can take it. 

poppy123456

Yvette48 said:

 She also said that I might not have to pay it back as I was advised by my union rep to claim it when I was told I wasn't entitled to anymore ssp.

Please be aware that the person you spoke to is someone from a call centre and not someone that works at DWP. They wouldn't know whether the money you received doesn't need to be repaid back, they read from a screen and have very little (if any) benefits knowledge.  If you weren't entitled to it because your SSP was still being paid then you will likely have to repay it back.

Yvette48

@poppy123456 Thankyou for your reply and I do realize that I will probably have to pay it back. I'm just annoyed because if my manager had told me about the ssp1 form in the first place I wouldn't have put in for esa. I've only got about three weeks before they have to let me go anyway as my Dr isn't letting me go back as I'm still struggling with the after effects of a blood clot in my lung and dead lung tissue. It doesn't help that I have asthma and copd overlap either. But Thankyou for your reply.