Author Topic: ESA and Pension Credit  (Read 24012 times)

Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #45 on: Mar 19, 2017, 10:37:42 PM »
Well the Independent Case Examiner partially upheld my complaint against the DWP , unfortunately the only penalty for the DWP  was to issue an apology to me in writing so to be perfectly honest I wish I hadn't bothered.
The good news is we sold the house and moved, I claimed Pension Credit and along with my DLA award thing were ticking along nicely for 18 months.The bad news is that I reached retirement age recently (65)  and the DWP have decides to end my DLA and make me apply for PIP instead, which is fine but it is subject to the same  procedure (Atos assessments etc.) and I have nightmares about going through the whole procedure again. My wife still has a couple of years to go before she reaches State Pension age.

zoony

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #46 on: Mar 19, 2017, 10:46:28 PM »
On the upside Pronk, you're both alive and fighting. Know your enemy and relish the conflict.
"Listen to the wind, it cleans the mind."

"Never use money to measure wealth, son"

                                           cowboy wisdom.

cheddar-caveman

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #47 on: Mar 20, 2017, 12:21:14 PM »
A simple question, is it worth fighting for? If yes, join the battle, if not, walk away!
This post is my opinion, which you may not like, but I'm entitled to it.
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JCBDriver

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #48 on: Mar 20, 2017, 01:25:26 PM »
I sympathise. We had same issues with BIL when he turned 65 and went from ESA to state pension.
There just doesnt seem to be any joined up thinking. I never got a reply when I queried why we had to supply the same information again when they already had it on the system with in the DWP but in a different area.
520

Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #49 on: Mar 20, 2017, 10:35:20 PM »
HI JCB Driver,
I am not surprised they didn'reply. I experienced the same thing on many occasions when sending them medical evidence. In the end I resorted to using recorded delivery but they still denied receiving it. I guess their reasoning is that they don'have to review  the situation if they can deny being in posession of evidence to support my claim.
I am hoping they don't  start playing the same game with my PIP application , I certainly wouldn't put it past them!

Phil

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #50 on: Mar 21, 2017, 08:59:46 AM »
HI JCB Driver,
I am not surprised they didn'reply. I experienced the same thing on many occasions when sending them medical evidence. In the end I resorted to using recorded delivery but they still denied receiving it. I guess their reasoning is that they don'have to review  the situation if they can deny being in posession of evidence to support my claim.
I am hoping they don't  start playing the same game with my PIP application , I certainly wouldn't put it past them!

Since it's fairly obvious to me that the DWP central mailing centres get thousands of letters per day, I always send any document via Special Next-Day Delivery which is far more secure than Recorded Delivery & this is the advice I always give out on the Carers UK forum.

We've gone through a DLA claim & two PIP claims for my wife (I'm her DWP appointee) & we've never had any issues whatsoever.

Her first DLA claim was rejected but I asked for an MR & ATOS arranged a home visit assessment by a doctor & her claim was allowed.

When her DLA claim expired we had to claim for PIP & she was assessed,at home, by a nurse & her claim was allowed.

We recently had to complete a paper interim review but as there'd been no improvement her PIP claim was continued until Sept 2020.

All the DLA / PIP horror stories don't reflect the experience that we've had.
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

Paraphrased from George Carlin

JCBDriver

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #51 on: Mar 21, 2017, 02:09:48 PM »
Phil, I guess you must be an exception then as unless you have a straight forward issue the DWP can be very difficult to deal with to put it mildly.

My wife and I had to take them on when my BIL stopped working as a result of a head injury which left him with a mental impairment. The DWP took an age to recognise my wife as his representative despite the medical evidence provided to them.

They insisted he was fit for work even tho he had not had an assessment by them.

At one point they arranged a computer course for him as a condition of continued payment of his ESA.  Even after we explained he would not be able to understand the content due to his condition they insisted he attend.

When he changed address, because we managed to get him into sheltered housing, they simply stopped his payments without prior warning because of a "change of circumstances".

We had the same level of disruption when he went onto state pension. Given that its the same dept you would expect the transition from work to retirement would be a routine matter. However they seem not to have a cogent process to deal with this.

My SIL works for the CAB and says most of their time is taken up with benefit related issues, so your experience seems to be mild in relation to some and certainly that of my BIL. 
520

Phil

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #52 on: Mar 21, 2017, 05:51:08 PM »
Phil, I guess you must be an exception then as unless you have a straight forward issue the DWP can be very difficult to deal with to put it mildly.

My wife and I had to take them on when my BIL stopped working as a result of a head injury which left him with a mental impairment. The DWP took an age to recognise my wife as his representative despite the medical evidence provided to them.

They insisted he was fit for work even tho he had not had an assessment by them.

At one point they arranged a computer course for him as a condition of continued payment of his ESA.  Even after we explained he would not be able to understand the content due to his condition they insisted he attend.

When he changed address, because we managed to get him into sheltered housing, they simply stopped his payments without prior warning because of a "change of circumstances".

We had the same level of disruption when he went onto state pension. Given that its the same dept you would expect the transition from work to retirement would be a routine matter. However they seem not to have a cogent process to deal with this.

My SIL works for the CAB and says most of their time is taken up with benefit related issues, so your experience seems to be mild in relation to some and certainly that of my BIL.

I applied to be my wife's appointee & we were interviewed a fortnight later, at home, & the paperwork was done at the time of the interview.

We weren't asked to provide any medical evidence.

As regards your BIL's change of address I would consider that a change of circumstance.

The only difference I can think of to explain the smoothness of our experience is that we asked the DWP for advice or kept them informed at all stages of the process as opposed to playing catchup after the event.
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

Paraphrased from George Carlin

Plonk

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #53 on: Mar 21, 2017, 08:21:39 PM »
Hi Phil,
Whilst I am happy thay your application went smoothly you shouldn' assume that others are so fortunate.
AsI i explained earlier I was asked to attend aATOS assessment, the assessor lied about my health condition and failed to pass on the medical evidence to the DWP ( I had recently been discharged from hospital). After reading the assessors report it was clear that the assessment had been rigged for me to fail. Fortunately I was able to prove ATOS had lied and as a result they (ATOS) admitted as much and rec8mmended that I be re assessed. The DWP refused to do so , I was also able to produce evidence that my MP had informed them of my heath problems but the DWP had not bothered to enter these details  on my file.I concluded that the DWP could not have made an informed decision on my claim because tuey had not been made aware  of the medical evidence. I then proceeded to make them aware of this evidence on numerous occasions and even offered to email or fax it to them but this fell on deaf ears.Whilst I will readily accept that the occasional letter goes astray it defies logic that all of my letters should go astray. My scepticism was reinforced when they also denied receiving correspondence from my M P but they came unstuck on that point when I provided copies of the correspondence.
As for what form of postage to use I am slightly confused by your point unless you are blaming the Royal Mail for non deliveyr. I get the impression you are laying the blame at the door of the DWPdue to the sheer volume of mail in which casr the type of postage is irrelevant surely?  Once the correspondence is in their posession they are just as likely to 'lose' it irrespective of how it was posted to them. If the Royal Mail standard delivery is considered to be  unreliable it begs the question as to why the DWP provide a 2nd class envelope to teturn the documents.Sad to say these underhand practices are not unique to the DWP , some years ago when I was a self employed Electrician I received a letter from HRMC claiming I hadn't returned some tax vouchers, the thing is they had waited 9 months to inform me and were imposing a £900 (£100 per month) fine on me, luckily I had been forewarned of how HRMC operate and had ensured I alwayd had proof of postage so they had to cancel the fine. Maybe I am becoming cyn7cal in my old age but when dealing with these organiations I start from the premace that they do not have my best interests at heart.

Phil

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Re: ESA and Pension Credit
« Reply #54 on: Mar 21, 2017, 08:32:47 PM »
Hi Phil,
Whilst I am happy thay your application went smoothly you shouldn' assume that others are so fortunate.
AsI i explained earlier I was asked to attend aATOS assessment, the assessor lied about my health condition and failed to pass on the medical evidence to the DWP ( I had recently been discharged from hospital). After reading the assessors report it was clear that the assessment had been rigged for me to fail. Fortunately I was able to prove ATOS had lied and as a result they (ATOS) admitted as much and rec8mmended that I be re assessed. The DWP refused to do so , I was also able to produce evidence that my MP had informed them of my heath problems but the DWP had not bothered to enter these details  on my file.I concluded that the DWP could not have made an informed decision on my claim because tuey had not been made aware  of the medical evidence. I then proceeded to make them aware of this evidence on numerous occasions and even offered to email or fax it to them but this fell on deaf ears.Whilst I will readily accept that the occasional letter goes astray it defies logic that all of my letters should go astray. My scepticism was reinforced when they also denied receiving correspondence from my M P but they came unstuck on that point when I provided copies of the correspondence.
As for what form of postage to use I am slightly confused by your point unless you are blaming the Royal Mail for non deliveyr. I get the impression you are laying the blame at the door of the DWPdue to the sheer volume of mail in which casr the type of postage is irrelevant surely?  Once the correspondence is in their posession they are just as likely to 'lose' it irrespective of how it was posted to them. If the Royal Mail standard delivery is considered to be  unreliable it begs the question as to why the DWP provide a 2nd class envelope to teturn the documents.Sad to say these underhand practices are not unique to the DWP , some years ago when I was a self employed Electrician I received a letter from HRMC claiming I hadn't returned some tax vouchers, the thing is they had waited 9 months to inform me and were imposing a £900 (£100 per month) fine on me, luckily I had been forewarned of how HRMC operate and had ensured I alwayd had proof of postage so they had to cancel the fine. Maybe I am becoming cyn7cal in my old age but when dealing with these organiations I start from the premace that they do not have my best interests at heart.

In future please do me the courtesy of not connecting me with assumptions that I haven't made.

This is an open forum read by visitors who may never join but who may be worried about all the negativity posted about the various benefits so it's only fair that such negativity should be balanced by some positivity.

People will deal with the DWP as they see fit which is what I did.

Some people will struggle & some won't.
"I've stopped arguing with idiots. They will only bring me down to their level and beat me with experience.”

Paraphrased from George Carlin