Overpayment of ESA

[Maggie]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Oh Timd I suffer your Pain and I am so sorry to hear of your predicament but please don't give up and let them beat you.

i haven't posted here in a while as not a lot has changed since my previous posts. Pompeyfaith I'm sure will offer you some good advice as he did us regarding requesting SARS etc. You will have the right to ask for a reconsideration and if this fails then the right of appeal so I suggest you do that if you you do indeed receive a letter telling you of the overpayment.

one thing I will add is that we contacted our local MP who along with his caseworker has been most supportive. He has written to the DWP himself telling them how appalled he is over my husbands situation. I might add that he is a Tory MP too. We are still waiting to hear regarding the reconsideration.

The whole process is extremely stressful I agree, my husband is now suffering mental health issues as a consequence and suffers acute anxiety every time he receives a brown envelope in the post. I am determined to not give in easily, if we have to pay it back then so be it but we will certainly not make it easy for them when we believe it is their own mismanagement.

Gold plated Pensions!! Don't make me laugh. The media and a majority of the public would have you believe that public sector workers retire on mega bucks and lead a life if indulgence....I wish

Take care my friend and keep posting, you are not alone.

One more thing, if you are on FB take a look at a group called Fightback, very helpful and informative.

[Timd]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Oh Christ, I have read this after seeing a Compliance Officer today, my case almost mirrors this, though not as much, I had Brain Cancer last year, the same was retired, though my gold plated public sector pension was a rip off, don't believe the press.

Notified DWP by phone when pension awarded in February, they advised not necessary, today Compliance Officer homed straight in on my pension, Now have to wait for the wheels to turn to see what I owe. Inland Revenue say I owe them tax on what I received last year. I cannot cope with this, believe me Fighting and recovering from Cancer is less stressful than this, I notified Working families Tax Credits at every step last year, they say I owe them £1300, I really wish I had not survived after today.

[Maggie]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

He does not only WRAG Group is subject to Work Focused Interviews, I am seeing a lot of this lately and you should raise it in your letter to the Area District Manager as you can see the DWP has been put under so much pressure from Govt many mistakes and errors are being made.

You are not wrong there PF. He will be putting it into his email to the DM.

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

He does not only WRAG Group is subject to Work Focused Interviews, I am seeing a lot of this lately and you should raise it in your letter to the Area District Manager as you can see the DWP has been put under so much pressure from Govt many mistakes and errors are being made.

[Maggie]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Yes, I know he gets his NI contributions paid whilst he is on ESA and these are being paid, but whilst still in the support group (which he is) why would he need to attend work focused interviews?

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Yes correct outline the reasons why you believe the overpayment to be wrong.

When you are awarded Contribution ESA you still get NI credits awarded whether you get any money or not so although he is not getting any money he is still having his NI paid

P45?

[Maggie]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Another question PF

When he sends his letter requesting a reconsideration of the overpayment, should he outline the reasons why he disagrees with the decision or leave that for the appeal process. He is of the opinion that he should include this info at the reconsideration stage otherwise they will just stick with their original decision. What are your thoughts?

Today he received two further letters from them.

1. You are no longer entitled to ESA because of your occ pension...You may need to attend a work focuses interview to continue to receive your ESA...WTF? Have they any idea what they are doing? He is still in the support group at present, ok he gets no money but he is still in this group for now. Why would he need to attend a work focused interview? Lol Barmy buggers.

2 His P45???

[Maggie]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Did you know that you can submit late appeals and you in fact have 13 months in which to submit a late appeal although the grounds for submitting a late appeal have to be good.

Was told this by JC+ themselves funny how they keep that a secret.

Thanks again PF we are both very grateful for your advice and support.

No, I didn't know about the 13 month thing but then again as you say they are unlikely to broadcast that. I hate that organisation with a vengeance, not just for what they are putting us through but for all decent people people who are being victimised and tormented at the hands of these people. Then again they are following government orders aren't they?

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Did you know that you can submit late appeals and you in fact have 13 months in which to submit a late appeal although the grounds for submitting a late appeal have to be good.

Was told this by JC+ themselves funny how they keep that a secret.

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Thanks PF that is a great help at least now we know which steps to take first. He will get the email to the DM off tomorrow fist thing, also the reconsideration letter outlining why he believed he shouldn't have this overpayment. He has prepared the letter for the SARs which will be posted tomorrow.

Michelle said in her message she was tied up until end of next week, how best is it to contact her to keep her updated?

Fantastic!

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Send her a PM Maggie and say I sent you

[Maggie]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Thanks PF that is a great help at least now we know which steps to take first. He will get the email to the DM off tomorrow fist thing, also the reconsideration letter outlining why he believed he shouldn't have this overpayment. He has prepared the letter for the SARs which will be posted tomorrow.

Michelle said in her message she was tied up until end of next week, how best is it to contact her to keep her updated?

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Pension income rules

If you receive contribution-based Employment and Support Allowance and have a gross pension income of more than £85 a week, the amount of benefit payable will be reduced by half of the excess.
The excess is the difference between £85 and the actual pension income. For example, for a pension income of £100, the excess is £15. The amount of Employment and Support Allowance payable is reduced by half of that, which is £7.50.
If you receive income-related Employment and Support Allowance, any pension income you have will be taken into account, regardless of the amount.

[pompeyfaith]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

1. The email I gave you is for the District Area Manager he deals with all cases of high importance for residents of that area he will liase with the office handling your claim if he needs too.

You can ask for a reconsideration what will happen is you will get a further 30 days to lodge your appeal from the date of reply to your reconsideration request as the reconsideration can be appealed also, my appologizes as I thought you had already gone through the reconsideration process.

So yes request a reconsiderations via letter setting out the issues why you believe a reconsideration to be just and at the same time get the SAR requests off as that will give you more time should the reconsideration not work and also give Michelle time to take on your appeal should it be needed.

I would inform Michelle of this course of action and that if a reconsideration not work you will be needing her services down the line.

Whether to claim contribution ESA will depend on how much pension he gets a week:

"The amount of contributory ESA you get will be reduced if you have an occupational pension of over £85 per week. There are some exceptions to this rule"

I will find out what the exception to the rule is for you.
Regards

[Maggie]

Re: Overpayment of ESA

Good evening all

P F A couple of questions which we need advice on.

1. You have kindly given me the email address of the DM of JC in Lincs where we live and suggest we contact them urgently regarding our situation. The JC who have been dealing with his ESA claim and the letter concerning the overpayment are dealt with at the Cardiff office? It used to be Sheffield but was then moved. Should we still send it to Lincs or find out the DM of Cardiff office and contact them?

2. The letter regarding overpayment again from Cardiff says we can ask for a reconsideration and we can of course appeal, bearing in mind that we have 30days from date of letter 18th Sept. to lodge an appeal. Do we go straight for appeal or a reconsideration? Worried if we ask for a reconsideration and they take their time, then we will be out of time for appeal

A bit like the ESA50 malarkey eh!
There seems very little point in claiming the ESA as he is not entitled to any money anyway! Regardless that he meets the criteria. Just don't think we should roll over and make it easy for them.

thanks