Hi, my name is manowarman! ESA support group backpay not paid

manowarman
manowarman Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
edited June 3 in Employment & Support Allowance (ESA)

Hello. I have a big problem. I have been processing an application for inclusion in the support group for 3 years and on 7.4.2026 I was officially included in the support group. The problem is that to this day I have not received a refund for those 3 years or any 14-day payment to my account. I contacted the DWP department several times where on 18.5.2026 they told me that the payment had been sent and I should expect payment within 10 days, however, nothing like that happened and last Friday, 29.5.2026, I was written off that the payment had not been sent due to an error in their payment system and that the payment would be sent again that day. Today is Wednesday 3.6.2026 and I still have nothing at all from the DWP in my account and on Monday 1.6.2026 the PD completely stopped communicating with me, even with the complaints department. It was also reported that on May 18, 2026, an official letter with calculations and a decision was sent to my address in the Czech Republic, however, to this day I have nothing in my mailbox. I don't know what to do anymore, everyone is getting very stressed and it's very exhausting and frustrating. Please give me advice and help on what to do. Thank you Aleš

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  • Rachel_Scope
    Rachel_Scope Posts: 3,779 Online Community Team

    Hi @manowarman and welcome to the community. I'm sorry you're going through this. Can you just clarify exactly which benefits you're referring to please?

  • manowarman
    manowarman Community Member Posts: 5 Listener

    I was placed in the Support Group and was awarded ESA benefits. I don't know more because I didn't even receive a letter from them that they supposedly sent on May 18, 2026.

  • Rachel_Scope
    Rachel_Scope Posts: 3,779 Online Community Team

    Thanks @manowarman. If you've already filed a complaint then the next step is an Independent Case Examiner or Ombudsman. Here is some information about how to contact them https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/complaints-procedure

    With regards to the amount of backpay (refund) you will receive, typically you would only receive up to 3 months. Have they said they would pay you more than this?

    Here's the information I found:

    "You’ll usually get your first ESA payment a few weeks after you apply.

    You can check how much ESA you’ll get.

    The DWP will usually pay up to 3 months ESA to cover time when you had limited capability for work before you applied. This is called 'backdating'."

  • manowarman
    manowarman Community Member Posts: 5 Listener

    ​Hi Rachel,

    ​Thank you for the information. Just to clarify, this is not a regular backdating request before application.

    ​My application has been processing for 3 years, and I was retroactively placed in the Support Group for that entire period. The DWP has already calculated and officially awarded me the 3-year arrears (backpayment). The problem is that they failed to actually transfer the money to my account due to their internal payment system error, and now the Complaints Team has stopped communicating.

    ​Since they are ignoring my urgent emails, I will follow your advice and escalate this to the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) tonight.

    ​Thank you so much for your help!

  • Rachel_Scope
    Rachel_Scope Posts: 3,779 Online Community Team

    Thanks for clarifying @manowarman. I really hope you're able to get this sorted and I'm glad the information has helped!

  • manowarman
    manowarman Community Member Posts: 5 Listener

    Thank You Rachel @Rachel_Scope

  • manowarman
    manowarman Community Member Posts: 5 Listener

    Hello, this is the response from ICE

    but DWP has stopped communicating with me so I don't know what to do...


    Thank you for contacting us about the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

    We’re unable to accept your complaint, at this time, as you haven’t provided us with confirmation that DWP has given you a final response to the complaints raised, which signposts you to this office.

     

    If you have received a final response from DWP (dated within the last 6 months), either in writing or by telephone please contact us again, providing a copy of the letter or date of the telephone call and we will consider if we can accept your complaint.

     

    We will not reply to any further correspondence until you provide a final response.

    We appreciate you may have contacted DWP many times and still not received a final response to your concerns – please note that we cannot act on your behalf to obtain a response.

    If you haven’t yet raised a complaint with DWP, you can do so using the following contact details:

    Post:DWP Complaints

    Post Handling Site B

    Wolverhampton

    WV99 2GY

  • Rachel_Scope
    Rachel_Scope Posts: 3,779 Online Community Team

    I think you'll need to go to the Ombudsman. They have a complaints checker that you fill in to see if they can help you. Let us know how you get on, fingers crossed they can help. Sorry this is such a frustrating process for you.

    Here's the link https://complaintform.ombudsman.org.uk/complaintchecker?_gl=11wqfsqv_gaMTAzMzUzMDEzMS4xNzQ4ODU3MzYy_ga_X5H4BJVPZG*czE3NjE2NDcwNDQkbzEyJGcwJHQxNzYxNjQ3MDQ0JGo2MCRsMCRoMA..

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