Severe disability premium

nick_73

Hello guys I'm new here but I need some advice about the SDP backdated payments, I am on IR esa and recoved a pip award in 2017, I also put in for SDP in 2017 bit heard nothing back so I wrongly assumed I wasn't entitled, turns out I was and haven't recived any payment of SDP, recently I rang them and enquired about why I hadn't been paid this premium and was told they owe me the money and would try to get it added to my normal esa payment, then person was very helpful and said someone would ring me back, they never did, so I rang again only to be told there were no notes on the system about my previous call and they would log it again but I'd have to wait another week before I could find any information about this payment, I'm so confused by all this and am at the point of just giving up but its been 4 years so I guess another week won't make a lot of difference, it just feels like they are taking their time to find a reason to deny me the back payment and I'm not sure what to do next..any help or experience or advice in this matter would be gravely appreciated ? 

nick_73

Sorry gratley appreciated.. 

poppy123456

HI,

When applying by phone under normal times it only takes about a week to be added onto your exisiting ESA claim. To make sure you qualify you need to live alone, if any other adults live with you, they must all be claiming a qualify benefit such as PIP daily living, DLA mid/high rate care or Attendance Allowance. Or be registered blind. No one must be claiming carers allowance or carers element of UC for looking after you.

If you're definitely entitled then i see no reason why it can't be backdated, lots of people have successfuly been backdated the SDP. If you don't hear anything within the next week all you can do is ring them again. If you have no joy after this then contact your local MP and they maybe able to get things moving for you.

All this is assuming you're not claiming New style ESA, which is a contributions only based benefit.

nick_73

Thank you for your quick reply poppy I really appreciate that, since I posted I recived a phone call from the DWP asking about if I was good with money as the arrears could be quite substantial and making sure I wasn't going to rush out and spend it all on magic beans or have a heart attack at seeing money in my bank, she said her colleague was processing it today and it would need to go to something called quality control so I've no idea what that is but it sounded positive so I guess now I just have to wait and see?

poppy123456

It's normal for them to ask those sort of questions when it's considerable amount of money. It will certainly be more than £10,000 if it's 4 years that's owed.

nick_73

They have said from 2018 so 3 years.. another question do they take into account the 9 months in 2021 aswell when calculating the amount to reimburse? Thank you so much for the help, I have massive social anxiety and struggle even just asking questions here so if I sometimes sound muddled or I get it wrong I apologise..

calcotti

nick_73 said:..do they take into account the 9 months in 2021 aswell when calculating the amount to reimburse? 

They should calculate it from the date you met the qualifying conditions to now.

You said your PIP award started in 2017 so do you understand why they have said they are only paying SDP from 2018?

nick_73

Hello calcotti I was first told my pip stared in 2017,today they said 2018 I have spent hours going through paperwork but for the life of me cannot find the award letter, I was going to ring pip and ask them for the date my pip started so I was better armed with the information as I suffer from memory loss and cannot remember very far back because of my C-PTSD so maybe I made a mistake.. 

calcotti

PIP will certainly tell you if you can face ringing them and you ask (but it is likely that ESA have it correct).

nick_73

calcotti said:

PIP will certainly tell you if you can face ringing them and you ask (but it is likely that ESA have it correct).

I'm sure they have it right aswell, I'm not going to challenge them on it as it's been delayed a long time already, I'm just going to be grateful to get anything backdated to be honest.. thank you for all the help I'm a little lost when it comes to benefits and the related information 

nick_73

OK so a quick update on the SDP, they only went back 2 and a half months and reimbursed me 673 pounds I'm confused.. I had pip and IR related esa since 2018 when I was awarded pip so I'm not sure what's going on..

poppy123456

You will need to ring them and ask why they didn’t backdate it to the start of your PIP award.