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Additional condition to existing claim

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Pete01xx
Pete01xx Community member Posts: 3 Listener
edited January 2019 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Hi i am confused and hoping someone can explain the complex rules of ESA, in January 2018 i submitted a claim for ESA i had been made redundant due to my ill health osteoarthritis in both knees and hips, and cough syncope (  blackout every time i cough badly , upto 30 times a day ) my partner works 28 hours a week i had the assessment and was put in the work based group, i appealed as there is no way i can work at the moment due to the blackouts this was denied, since the initial assessment/claim my health has worsened including severe depression and anxiety, and also the arthritis in now in my arms and i have now been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome i rand DWP to advise them of the additional medical conditions and was told i would have to submit a new claim form, i did this in august, i have since had the medical assessment ( a joke in itself i asked for a centre that is 1 mile from me and i was sent an appointment to Marylebone assessment centre i said i cant make it there due to blackouts, they insisted and said they will provide transport this then turned out to be a 3 hour journey there and 2 and a half hour journey back i was a complete wreck for about 2 weeks after this.

Anyway to cut to the chase i finally received a letter today saying that due to changes in my claim and recent assessment i am now in the support group and they have backdated my payments to the 18th of December, i rang to question them about the backdated payment (only 1 hours 13 minutes waiting in the queue )  and should it not be from when i informed them of the further conditions and was told no , i have worked out it was 16 weeks from when i sent the recorded delivery to them informing them of the change, completed forms and medical evidence to when they backdated my payments 

Many thanks 

Pete 
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Comments

  • clarkjohnson
    clarkjohnson Community member Posts: 210 Pioneering
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    Hello Pete yet another story of the lack of the human touch to people who are suffering life changing conditions in their lives . I'm no good with forms and red tape mate but I wish you well . 
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  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,793 Disability Gamechanger
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    Hi @Pete01xx, thank you for sharing this with us and I'm so sorry to hear about your experiences. It sounds like you've had a tough time of it recently and I'm truly sorry to hear that you've been dealing with this on top of everything else.

    Hopefully our community members will be able to advise: do you have any specific questions about your ESA at the moment?
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  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
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    Pete01xx,
    Thanks for posting - I'm glad at least that you have got into the support group as it's clearly the right decision.

    As regards backdating, you say that you submitted a new claim in August. Leaving aside whether this was the right advice (I don't think it was, as you had an existing award which still had some time to run at that point, so I think it didn't need to be a whole new claim), you clearly have an argument that your increased award should go back to the August date or earlier (to the date you rang and informed them of your deterioration and new conditions, or arguably, to the date that you got worse if you told them within a month of that). 

    I would ask for a mandatory reconsideration pointing out that:

    a) I was advised to make a new claim in August although strictly speaking I already had a claim and was awarded ESA in the work-related activity group and I was seeking a supersession due to having got worse/developed new conditions

    b) as a result my arrears should go back to August at the latest, the date of my 'new' claim, or more correctly the date of the change to my existing entitlement (under the Social Security (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 1999, reg 7(2)(a), which says that a change of circumstances advantageous to the claimant takes effect from the date of change if I report it within a month, which I did).

    It will obviously help if you can be more specific about the dates and I'd suggest that if possible, you quote:
    the date you sent off the August claim
    the date you rang the DWP to inform them of the change
    the date you think you felt you were worse enough to be in the support group (it may be difficult to pinpoint when this was, but if you reported it within a month, you can argue to go back to this date). 

    I hope this helps and I hope you are successful in getting your arrears backdated further, as there is no reason for them to go back only to 18.12.18.

    Will
    The Benefits Training Co:

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  • Pete01xx
    Pete01xx Community member Posts: 3 Listener
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    Many thanks for your support and replies, good news after contacting the DWP they rang me back a few days later and said the Assessor was wrong not to back date my claim and that it will be back dated to july ( when i originally contacted them and i would receive the extra money in a few days ) 
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