Help with a complaint after I was wrongly migrated to ESA contribution benefit

angel_16

Hi you wonderful and wise people in the community I am hoping that someone can help me. I was one of the group who were wrongly migrated to ESA contribution benefit and in 2019 I got a letter saying I had in fact been entitled to Income related since being migrated to ESA. By not being on income related I had no longer been eligible for mortgage interest support anymore so this came as a financial blow. When all the letters came from the DWP telling me their mistake I asked about the mortgage and was told someone from a different department would either contact my mortgage provider or me. I then heard nothing. I called again and was told the same thing. I contacted CAB and was advised by a specialist advisor there to make a complaint and send to the DWP complaints dept. I did that and heard nothing and two months ago I wrote again forwarding the original letter. I realise that SMI was stopped or changed but for a number of years I should have been entitled to apply for it. Can anyone help me to take this further please? I have researched and not found anyone asking a similar question. You guys all know so much and I would appreciate any help you could give me. Thank you so much.

Tori_Scope

Hi @angel_16  

I'm afraid I'm not too familiar with the process, so I'm not able to confidently tell you what your next step should be. Have you spoken to an expert advisor about this? You can find expert advice local to you by searching on advicelocal.uk. 

I've also marked your post as unanswered so that other members will know you haven't had an answer to your query yet. 

calcotti

It is likely that your complaint is stuck in a backlog. 
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure

Our priority is to make sure customers continue to receive their payments and to process new benefit claims. 
Unfortunately, this may affect the delivery of some other services. This includes responding to complaints, which may take us longer than usual. In these exceptional circumstances, we ask anyone who has already submitted a complaint to be patient and we will respond to you as soon as we can.

angel_16

Thank you so much everyone, as always. Not sure who Leigh Day is or how to contact, any help hugely appreciated. You are all amazing and I am grateful to be part of this community. 

Tori_Scope

It looks like they're a law firm @angel_16 If you google 'Leigh Day solicitors' their website should come up. 

angel_16

Thanks so much Tori

chiarieds

Hi @angel_16 -  as Tori says, Leigh Day are solicitors who may be able to help. Please see: https://www.leighday.co.uk/

CPAG: https://cpag.org.uk/welfare-rights

Public Law Project: https://publiclawproject.org.uk/what-is-public-law/how-can-public-law-help-me/