Am I being paranoid

kaansnana

I am worried sick I can't eat or sleep, I am registered disabled and I get ESA cb and I am in the support group, 2 years ago my then partner withdrew money from a pension he got £19k we were claiming UC at the time and I got my ESA CB and PIP he worked part time I phoned the UC and came of it and I phoned ESA and informed them, after the money in the bank got below 6k I applied for UC again which we got, then in April this year I have had a letter from ESA asking me for bank statements for myself and my now husband (we got married last year) it said we had told them about 19k savings we had. I phoned them straight up and said we no longer have any savings we came of UC and used that money to live on and I didn't think it was relevant anyway as it is contribution based ESA? she said ah it must have been sent by mistake but I could send in statements anyway. I didn't as I didn't think I had to, then Yesterday which is a Sat after the 4 day bank holiday I got another letter from them saying they had asked for information but I had not replied, I had replied I spoke to them over the phone it said they needed bank statements and I must reply before the 3rd it didn't arrive until the 4th! the letter was dated the 27th May obviously there was a delay in me getting it due to the queens jubilee. It is now the weekend and I feel sick with worry, have I done anything wrong? I have just been approved a DRO as I was in so much debt my mental health is really bad at the moment. I don't know if I am being paranoid. I have got a gambling addiction and I am currently getting help for this but I do have a lot of gambling transactions on my bank statements and my husband doesn't know. I feel like killing myself right now.

Biblioklept

Any letter from DWP is stressful so it makes sense how this is making you feel. You probably already know you should have sent them the letters anyway. It will be they are wanting evidence of when it went over and under and to ensure you haven't been overpaid. It doesn't sound like you will have been as it sounds like you were honest with them and kept them updated. Call them on Monday and explain you only just received the letter and ask if you can have a bit longer to put the stuff together and explain how your mental health is at the moment. Just get the bank statements together for them ASAP and don't worry about the gambling on it. 

But please do tell your husband a bout the gambling, you shouldn't have to be fighting addiction alone. I bet that's really scary but he loves you and it isn't your fault.

kaansnana

Thank you so much for your quick reply, I have been through a lot over the past couple of years and my health is really bad at the moment I have to go to hospital twice a week my anxiety is just on overload at the moment. I will phone them at 8am tomorrow. I have been talking to gamban and I have been doing some online counselling I am getting there. Thank you again. x 

poppy123456

If you were claiming Universal Credit at the same time as the ESA then your ESA would be entirely contributions based/New style ESA of which both are not means tested. Savings/capital do not affect either of those. 

The only thing that will affect your ESA is a pension drawdown of a weekly amount over £85. For every £1 over this amount your ESA would reduce by 50p. 

I have no idea why you’re being asked for bank statements unless they want to check to see whether you have an income from the pension.

Ross_Alumni

Hello there @Kaansnana and welcome to the community.

Thank you for speaking so honestly about what you have been through, and I'm sorry to hear of everything you have going on at the moment. I am about to head off for the evening, but I will be sending you an email from community@scope.org.uk beforehand to see if we can support you at all. 

Please give it a read and get back to us, and I'll follow up with you tomorrow