Governemnet ESA back paymemt scandal

General health and lifestyle
1

Just hearing about the refunds due to many people transferred from disability to ESA (I think)
How on earth would anyone know if they are affected (pretty sure I am not but thought others would be interested) and how can anyone be sure if their benefit amount is correct in general? Pretty scary stuff when you reliant on the system.
Link to the story

(https://)https://)Benefits errors trigger £5,000 refunds for ESA claimants - BBC News

2

You need to understand how the ESA transfer happened back in 2013.

The department that dealt with all Incapacity Benefit claimants did not check if the claimants were entitled to “Income Related” or “Contribution based” ESA. This led to thousands of claimants not having the correct amount of ESA per week.

I was changed over to Contribution-based ESA in the Support Group from Incapacity Benefit in 2013. I must say we struggled for many years, thinking it was correct because I used to work many years ago, hence was paying National Insurance, etc.

However, I found out about the Government owing £540 million to numerous ESA claimants. I even phoned them to check if I was owed anything back in March 2018 - I was informed I was not due anything apart from what I was currently already claiming. So, I left it - and did not pursue it.

Then around June 2018 I received a letter from ESA stating that I maybe on the incorrect ESA payment amount per week, and I should contact them if I wanted them to check further into the matter.
The following day a woman phoned me and asked me questions dating back to December 2013 when I was changed over from Incapacity Benefit to Contribution-based ESA in the Support Group.
I would know the outcome within 5-10 days, if there had been a administrative error on their behalf.

About 2 weeks went by, then I received 3 brown envelopes.

  1. It stated the claim was incorrect and had been since December 2013. I was not supposed to be on Contribution-based ESA, it was meant to be “Income-Related” ESA in the Support Group. This led to them owing me a back-payment of £6,691.15 and my rate going up by over £30 per week.
  2. A letter stating they can only transfer £5,000 each time via the BACS system.
  3. Another letter stating another payment of £1,691 had been made into my bank account.

So, now I am on the correct amount, some claimants are owed upto £20,000. Even if you are owed more than £16,000 you do not need to inform them that you have this amount in your account because you were owed it in the first place. This is stated in the letter if you are owed additional ESA.

I hope that explains it better.

Regards,
SteV3.

3

Hi,

This all started way before 2013 and for a lot of people it was a long as 2011 and even before that date. DWP are currently backdating people to November 2011.

To know if you qualify will depend on your circumstances. Do you live with a partner that works? Do you have savings/capital? both of these will determine whether you’re entitled to the extra money in your ESA. Even if you don’t qualify now, have you always lived with a partner that works since you transferred from IB to ESA.

How will they know if you’re entitled? Bank statements need to be sent, yes all those bank statements is a lot! I never claimed IB all those years ago but if i did and i was owed thousands, years of bankstatements wouldn’t worry me in the slightest.

4

hi do you have to contact them to find out sorry if stupid question

5

hi i rang them up and asked as had to quay something eles lady said i was on the right one when i changed over from incapacity benefit but i cant remember

6

If you are one of those that are owed money then DWP will contact you sometime in the future. If you did transfer across from IB it will totally depend on your circumstances.