Hi, my name is JazzaG!. I need help regarding backdating Income Support..

JazzaG
JazzaG Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
edited January 2020 in PIP, DLA, ADP & AA

I used to get middle rate care and higher rate mobility when I was on DLA, when I transferred to PIP I was originally awarded enhanced care and lower rate mobility.
I had a PIP review in March, and was only given 6 points for daily living, reduced from 19 points on my previous assessment, despite my condition worsening.
As a result of this my Husband lost his care allowance (CA), then his Income Support (IS) was stopped after an 8 week run on.
I asked for a MR and in May I was awarded an extra 2 points, giving me lower rate care. We then asked for my Husband's CA and IS to be reinstated. We were told to sort the IS out when the CA was reinstated, because the IS would not even look at our claim until the CA was sorted. Unfortunately it took 13 weeks to get a decision on the CA, taking us into October. We had been living on my PIP and Child Tax Credit for 6 months. The CA was backdated to the date it was withdrawn, so I called DWP to have the IS reinstated and backdated. I was told that IS was now closed for new claims, and I would have to claim UC instead, which we did. 
UC refused to backdate our claim. We received our first payment on 14 November. I asked for an MR on the IS decision which refused to change the decision, so I have appealed to the tribunal, I am still waiting for a date.
If anyone has any suggestions to support my case, I would be very grateful. I'm sorry for the length of the above, thank you for taking the time to read it all.

Comments

  • steve51
    steve51 Online Community Member Posts: 7,121 Championing
    Hi @JazzaG

    Good Evening & Welcome it’s great to meet you today.

    I am one off the Community Champion’s here at Scope.

    Sorry to hear about your Benefits Probs.

    Can I please ask my good friend Poppy help you with these!!!!

    Hi @poppy123456

    I hope that you don’t mind me forwarding this post onto you!!!!!

    Many thanks.

    @steve51
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    Thank you @steve51 for the tag and sorry for the delay in replying.

    HI and welcome @JazzaG

    Unfortunately, because your IS claim had closed then DWP are correct in telling you that you won't be able to make a new claim for this now because all areas are now a full UC area. Also the UC won't be backdated for those 6 months because UC can only be backdated for a maximum of 1 month and then only in extreme circumstances.

    Hope this helps.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    Thank you @steve51 for the tag and sorry for the delay in replying.

    HI and welcome @JazzaG

    Unfortunately, because your IS claim had closed then DWP are correct in telling you that you won't be able to make a new claim for this now because all areas are now a full UC area. Also the UC won't be backdated for those 6 months because UC can only be backdated for a maximum of 1 month and then only in extreme circumstances.

    Hope this helps.
  • JazzaG
    JazzaG Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
    It doesn't seem right that we lose our IS for 6 months due to being given the wrong advice when we applied for the CA, I mean we should have been told then to apply for UC. Also, I have been forced onto UC without a change of circumstances, but because some idiot assessor decided not to award the points I needed for daily living, which caused this domino effect. All things being equal,I should have been managed migrated and received transitional protection. I have been in the same circumstances since 2007, and it is only this error that caused the change of circumstances.  
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    edited January 2020
    Unfortunately, i can only tell you the rules. Transitional support protection isn't in place yet for anyone that moves across. 
  • JazzaG
    JazzaG Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Hi @poppy12345, I meant that if this mess hasn't happened, my circumstances would not have changed, I would have been manage migrated in the future and received transitional protection.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    May i ask who gave you that advice to start with? Once your IS ended because it no longer exists in most cases, you wouldn't have been able to re-apply. Only those that claim a severe disability premium in another benefit can apply for those old legacy benefits.  UC should have been claimed once it stopped.

    May i also ask if you're sending in fit notes from your GP to start the limited capability for work process off for UC? Your PIP award doesn't automatically entitle you to limited capability for work.
  • JazzaG
    JazzaG Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Hi @poppy123456, you've been helping me with that problem in another thread https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/67885/help-concerning-universal-credit#latest
    When my Husband CA stopped, his IS was stopped, the IS letter told him to claim job seekers allowance as he no longer qualified for IS. He couldn't do this because he was still caring for me, just not getting CA for doing it. When I got the daily living component back, he applied for his CA decision to be amended and backdated, which was done without having to make a new claim. This is what we were told would be done with our IS. We thought the decision to stop the IS would be revised or amended without the need for a new claim. We have since been advised by Welfare Rights that that is what should have happened. We did not claim UC until we were told that we could not get our IS back.
    When I say my circumstances haven't changed, I mean that my daily living and my husband's CA are back in payment. If I had been given the extra 2 points that I needed for daily living, the CA and IS would have continued to be paid, or, if the IS had been reinstated the same as the CA, my circumstances would have stayed the same until the DWP moved me over to UC sometime in the future, and I would receive transitional protection.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    Ah yes, of course i am, i didn't think of checking past threads, which i do sometimes before asking a question.

    Of course i'll be very happy to be proved wrong here with the IS and i really do hope that the Tribunal rule in your favour. Do come back and let us know the outcome, if you can please, i'd really appreciate it that. Good luck!
  • JazzaG
    JazzaG Online Community Member Posts: 13 Listener
    @poppy123456 of coarse I will let you know what happens at my appeal, although I am still waiting for a date, which I an told could be 12 months away, so I won't hold my breath.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    Thank you. Yes, backlogs are huge in most areas :(

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