They have stopped all my benefits — Scope | Disability forum
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They have stopped all my benefits

Jesshanginon
Jesshanginon Community member Posts: 6 Listener
Hi to everyone I am new to this site and have no idea what to do. So I have bipolar 2 and ptsd and I had the dreaded pip reassement and when the results came in I score 0 on the living component but the lower rate for mobility. They joyfully decided to do this over the Easter weekend and before informing me. After and hour on the phone waiting they told me I had to wait for the letter before I could start a reconsideration. Over 10 days later I received said letter and the f2f report which left me utterly shocked. Not only are there some serious twisted truths in it but also comments like she struggles on some days to get out of bed or dress but it's ok because she doesn't have any visitor's. Comments like she struggles to make meals some days so has shakes in for thoses times but I have decided that as she shows no signs of malnutrition so can eat and cook. There were some comments on there that do include my problems yet when reading the decision letter none of these are taken into account. I have now sent off the mandatory reconsideration forms and medical records but the same day I received the pip decision from I also received a letter from esa and housing benefits reducing those too because of the pip decision which I didn't even know this was a thing. Even though I had my esa reassement done 2 months before and passed all their hoops and got my award again. So after this I had really bad manic episode and lost myself for a while but after a few doctors visits started to calm down and focus on the fight ahead. But now I have just checked my bank and they have not paid me any esa or pip for over a month. The world has opened up again and I am falling how can they just stopped everything without telling me? Has this happened to anyone else? Why write to me saying they reducing it and now find out they have stopped it all together. Yet again bad timing as bank holiday weekend but seriously how is right? I am sorry if this is a bit of a waffle post but I am completely at my wits end here please can someone give me advice on what to do?
Many thanks, Jess 
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Comments

  • CockneyRebel
    CockneyRebel Community member Posts: 5,209 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi Jess

    Were you receiving severe Disability Premium with your ESA ?
    If so , that would be why your money went down
    Unfortunately it is a bank holiday so you can do nothing until tuesday, only DWP can tell you why your money has stopped.
    Are you still getting Housing benefit or has that stopped ?

    Be all you can be, make  every day count. Namaste
  • zakblood
    zakblood Community member Posts: 419 Pioneering
    sorry to hear the bad news, and yes same happened to me, with 5 previous assessments, also scored zero and tbh they should give you 1 point for just turning up, but jokes aside, no money is awful, and yes in the same boat there as well, as i was just on ESA being moved over from incapacity a while a go now, so minus £448 a month came as a shock, and with nothing to live on until the MR is sorted, assessment date was 19th March 2019, failiure letter sent on 15th of April, MR sent a few days later, still not heard anything, and phoned to see if any progress after a month, with none to report as yet, so asap it's going to be Tribunal time, if i last that long money wise, friends and family are great, but what ever gets borrowed, has to be paid back, so no free rise there either, with no housing costs myself, i'm not as poor as some, but it's enough to cause stress and without the ability to get anything else either, as advice atm was don't go onto UC, or you will never get off it and always will be worse off, so seems there's plenty of us, with 0 scores, and the DWP cares less about it or us 
  • clarkjohnson
    clarkjohnson Community member Posts: 210 Pioneering
    All these reports are shocking what has this country become things need to change these people who are making people s life a misery should be held accountable we’re all human 
  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 10,821 Scope online community team
    Hello @Jesshanginon and a warm welcome to the community. 
    Have you managed to give the DWP a call today to enquire why your ESA hasn't been paid? As @CockneyRebel said, they may have taken away your severe disability premium with PIP being stopped but it shouldn't cancel your ESA completely. 
    Community Manager
    Scope
  • Jesshanginon
    Jesshanginon Community member Posts: 6 Listener
    Thank you all for replying. So I have managed to call both esa and pip. Esa just said there was a problem there end and they were sorry and would put my money straight back into my account and carry on with normal payments minus the SD payment until pip is resolved. I then contact pip straight after, firstly I was questioned why my last payment was only £13.26. I told them when I had called before the woman said because my pip had now changed there was a chance I now owed them money but she couldn't tell me anything until I had received my decision letter. I said but if we are paid in 4 week arrears and the decision was only just made why didn't I get my last full payment and she said no this is all correct. The man I spoke yesterday said nope this is wrong and in fact I was right my last payment was not correct and I do not owe any money. I ask where this month's payment was and he said there was a problem there and they would fix it. I said this is not really acceptable that I was given false information before and now had my money stopped completely with an apparent fault and no real explanation. He said would you like someone to call you back and explain to you properly to which I agreed. I also inquired where my mandatory reconsideration was at seeing as I had posted it to them over two weeks ago he checked and all of a sudden I received the text they had got that? I also asked that I know they have lot of people doing these but could I have a rough guess as to when I would hear from them? He said well we have had a mass influx of these so realistically 10 weeks before anyone even looks at it. I thank him for his time and double checked I would be receiving a call and he said yes.
    Well surprises surprise here we are 24 hours later no phone call nor no pip payment? Excuse me here but ****! I have had no money from 2 departments for over a month because of a mystery 'fault' one has stay true and paid me the money but the one who has balls everything up with thier bs assessment still is yet to fix that or have the decency to give an explanation. All we want is to be treated fairly and if we mess up or put something in late to them boy do we know about it. Yet they seem to keep getting away with treating people like trash? I don't understand how the system works or if what happens is right but at least expect them to tell the truth when you call for advice? Is there a way complain properly with them to stop this happening to others because they can't just keep getting away with this surely? 
    I will be calling the pip people again to try and find what's happened again and be tortured by that music again but hopefully be successful this time. 
    Many thanks again Jess 
  • FaryBerguson
    FaryBerguson Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    Best of luck with this. I read through your post utterly aghast - it's horrible.

    P.S. your phrase 'tortured by that music' is very apt - I've spent hours cursing that tinny cacophony.

  • Jesshanginon
    Jesshanginon Community member Posts: 6 Listener
    Honestly that music is like they are trying to recreate scenes from clockwork orange it's in my nightmares now ? 
  • clarkjohnson
    clarkjohnson Community member Posts: 210 Pioneering
    Lol blimy jess that’s an old film ? 
  • Jesshanginon
    Jesshanginon Community member Posts: 6 Listener
    It maybe old but very apt for the description I feel ? 
  • FaryBerguson
    FaryBerguson Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    Yes! That's what it made me think of too. Gorgeousness and gorgeosity it is not.
  • clarkjohnson
    clarkjohnson Community member Posts: 210 Pioneering
    Yes very true both I wasn’t clued up in the benefit s world until I had cancer but I thought aye I’ve worked over 40 years paid up my national Insurance remember that song what kinda fool am I 
  • FaryBerguson
    FaryBerguson Community member Posts: 7 Listener
    Rampant injustice doesn't make anyone a fool! At the very worst - overly trusting. There must be a song for that?
  • clarkjohnson
    clarkjohnson Community member Posts: 210 Pioneering
    Yes the back stabbers by the o jays 
  • stonker01
    stonker01 Community member Posts: 51 Connected
    So if your no longer entitled to pip should your last payment be a full one because my partners was halved on her final payment
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,357 Disability Gamechanger
    It will totally depend on when the decision was made.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Jesshanginon
    Jesshanginon Community member Posts: 6 Listener
    My decision was made 3 days before my payment was due so the 3weeks before should be at the pervious higher rate. Otherwise the decision would have been made the month before and would have got the lower rate for the full 4 weeks not just 3 days worth. They can't just wipe off the rest of the month before a decision is made if you already receiving from a previous claim. This was my point with them yesterday on the phone which he said was correct. Yet the previous phone call was told it was because I owed them money which is why I only got 3 days which I fact is not true. So if they made the decision for you to stopped it half way through the 4 weeks before your payment then that be why you only got half? Hope that explains it a bit better ? 
  • Bevers1959
    Bevers1959 Community member Posts: 56 Connected
    I had my pip stopped went to appeal and won i was on working tax credit when pip stopped all my benefits stopped ,i phoned them when i won my appeal , suprise suprise they dont reinstate working tax credits unless you are severely disabled,i had my assessment in dec and won last wk 5mths waiting,and now they say claim uc, and it could take 6wks for back pay , its totally wrong ,if i stopped working my 24hrs i would be better off ,i need to work but am penalized every step if the way
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,357 Disability Gamechanger
    I had my pip stopped went to appeal and won i was on working tax credit when pip stopped all my benefits stopped ,i phoned them when i won my appeal , suprise suprise they dont reinstate working tax credits unless you are severely disabled,i had my assessment in dec and won last wk 5mths waiting,and now they say claim uc, and it could take 6wks for back pay , its totally wrong ,if i stopped working my 24hrs i would be better off ,i need to work but am penalized every step if the way
    Hi,

    I just looked back at your previous posts and see that you've already claimed UC and that's the reason why you can't go back onto tax credits. You can't claim limited capability for work under UC because you're working more than 16 hours per week.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • Bevers1959
    Bevers1959 Community member Posts: 56 Connected
    I was told that you can now only claim wtc if you are severely disabled ,as now it doesnt exists, and they dont reinstate even if appeal was won ,but they said that i would prob qualify for limited work with reports i have from specialists even though i work 24hrs
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,357 Disability Gamechanger
    edited May 2019
    I was told that you can now only claim wtc if you are severely disabled ,as now it doesnt exists, and they dont reinstate even if appeal was won ,but they said that i would prob qualify for limited work with reports i have from specialists even though i work 24hrs
    Has your PIP payments started back up after winning the Tribunal? If they have then you can claim Limited capability for work for UC but you will need a sick/fit note from your GP.

    You will eventually be sent a work capability form to fill in and return with all your evidence to support your claim. You'll most likely have to attend a work capability assessment.

    Once a decision is made if you're given limited capability for work related activity (LCWRA) then you'll receive an extra £336 per month from the 4th month of your claim starting from when you sent in your first sick note.  You'll also receive a work allowance which means you'll be able to earn a certain amount of money before you start to see any deductions in your UC.

    If the decision is limited capability for work (LCW) then you won't receive any extra money but you will still receive the work allowance.
    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.

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