ESA support pension withdrawal

joynes

Hi my husband is on esa support and pip we have withdrawn money from his private pension does this affect it we have received a compliance letter and are worried 

poppy123456

It will help to know what ESA he's claiming. Is it Income Related or contributions based/New style ESA. If he receives more than £117.60 per week then at least part of it is income related.

Did he withdraw a lump sum or a weekly/monthly drawndown?

joynes

He withdrew lump sums from his pension draw down then we closed it took it all out he gets less than £117 

poppy123456

ESA Support Group contributions based is £117.60 per week unless you have weekly pension that's more than £85 per week. Does he have any deductions from his ESA at all? If not, are you sure he's in the Support Group?

joynes

His pension was 400 a month 

poppy123456

joynes said:

His pension was 400 a month 

So he's receiving a monthly income as well. If you can tell me how much his ESA is per week then it will be easier to advise you.

joynes

£112 the pension as now finished we Took it all out

poppy123456

Thanks. Then that confirms he's claiming contributions based which isn't affected by any savings/capital. He was receiving a deduction in his ESA for the £400 per month income, which is why he's only receiving £112/week.

If the pension income has now stopped then he can contact ESA and tell them and his weekly amount will increase.

The compliance interview is probably just a random benefits check, which they do sometimes. You can ring the number on the letter and ask them what it's regarding (If you can get an answer) they are very difficult to get hold of.

joynes

Hi had interview going to review if we have been overpaid stressed can they stop esa or is there a maximum amount they can take off she said can take up to 5 weeks for a decision 

poppy123456

For contributions based ESA pensions of up to £85 per week do not affect it. For every £1 over this there's a 50p per week deduction in the ESA. There's no maximum amount they can deduct.

For Income Related ESA a pension will reduce it £1 for £1.

joynes

I’m talking about repaying any overpayment due to withdrawal of lump sums 

poppy123456

Lump sums are classed as savings and don't affect CB ESA. However, if you withdrew regular lump sums then DWP may consider this as a regalur income and could affect the CB ESA. You will need to wait for the decision to made. I'm afraid i don't know how much the maximum weekly recovery amount would be each week.