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Incapacity Benefit to Attendance Allowance
- Mel B
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10 years 3 weeks ago #119530 by Mel B
Replied by Mel B on topic Incapacity Benefit to Attendance Allowance
Top man thank you very much . 
Mel B
Mel B
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9 years 11 months ago - 9 years 11 months ago #120625 by Mel B
Replied by Mel B on topic Incapacity Benefit to Attendance Allowance
Hello again
I was wondering if you can help me please again as I am finding myself in a strange place with the DWP.
As you know I have recently moved back from the Isle of Man to Norwich and when I moved I informed the Isle of Man DSC of departure, new address and found out the correct address for them to send all documents for my IB claim in the UK. They did this on 27th March 2014 to the post handling site.
After a few weeks of not hearing anything I called the IB help line and they had nothing on record ! I checked with the Island and the docs had been sent recorded and signed for.
After another 6 phone calls over 3 weeks I finally got a call back and they now have found the documents they had been sent to one location who dealt with IB no one new what to do with them so they were sent to another part of the UK who deals with ESA they dont know what to do either !!
This is what I have been told on the phone so at the moment the dept who deals with ESA are going to send them back to the other side of the country who deals with IB for some kind of decision / reduce my IB to the lower ESA rate / keep me on IB at the rate I am on now till I retire in mid December this year / or something else like fill in ESA questionaire for a new claim !!
I have not recieved any payments for 5 weeks now.
Where is the difficulty the gentleman from the DWP who phoned me said it should be a straight transfer no issues / left on IB till retirement, but he could not authorise it !
Someone will make the decision and he will phone me back soon !
What a mess from DWP no one in authority know's what to do with this !! Is this rocket science?
Any comments or advise please much accepted and apprieciated.
Cheers
Mel B
I was wondering if you can help me please again as I am finding myself in a strange place with the DWP.
As you know I have recently moved back from the Isle of Man to Norwich and when I moved I informed the Isle of Man DSC of departure, new address and found out the correct address for them to send all documents for my IB claim in the UK. They did this on 27th March 2014 to the post handling site.
After a few weeks of not hearing anything I called the IB help line and they had nothing on record ! I checked with the Island and the docs had been sent recorded and signed for.
After another 6 phone calls over 3 weeks I finally got a call back and they now have found the documents they had been sent to one location who dealt with IB no one new what to do with them so they were sent to another part of the UK who deals with ESA they dont know what to do either !!
This is what I have been told on the phone so at the moment the dept who deals with ESA are going to send them back to the other side of the country who deals with IB for some kind of decision / reduce my IB to the lower ESA rate / keep me on IB at the rate I am on now till I retire in mid December this year / or something else like fill in ESA questionaire for a new claim !!
I have not recieved any payments for 5 weeks now.
Where is the difficulty the gentleman from the DWP who phoned me said it should be a straight transfer no issues / left on IB till retirement, but he could not authorise it !
Someone will make the decision and he will phone me back soon !
What a mess from DWP no one in authority know's what to do with this !! Is this rocket science?
Any comments or advise please much accepted and apprieciated.
Cheers
Mel B
Last edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Gordon.
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9 years 11 months ago #120632 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic Incapacity Benefit to Attendance Allowance
Hello again
There are actually two issues here, I'll try and help with both of them.
If you are satisfied that you have spoken to someone with authority in regard to your IB, then there is probably little more that you can do if your papers need to be in the right place, however, if you have only spoken to the call centre staff, then I would call again and ask to speak to a Customer Manager, this normally requires a call back.
You may be entitled to Hardship Payments, these are normally only payable when a claimants payment is subject to a sanction, but as you are not receiving anything it may still be possible to get one, I am afraid this will also require you to phone the DWP.
As far as I can see the problems are all the fault of the DWP so you might want to make a formal complaint to them, especially if you have incurred charges that you would not have done if your payments had been made on time.
Complaining to the DWP
With regard to your IB claim in the future. The legislation offers no discretion to the DWP, you meet the criteria for transfer to ESA so their is no Decision (big D) for them to make, however, the transfer process is now so far behind schedule that are now probably a relatively large number of claimants like you who are very close to State Retirement age and they may make the decision (small d) to defer these transfers to the end of the process in the expectation that the claimants will retire before they need to transfer them.
Gordon
There are actually two issues here, I'll try and help with both of them.
If you are satisfied that you have spoken to someone with authority in regard to your IB, then there is probably little more that you can do if your papers need to be in the right place, however, if you have only spoken to the call centre staff, then I would call again and ask to speak to a Customer Manager, this normally requires a call back.
You may be entitled to Hardship Payments, these are normally only payable when a claimants payment is subject to a sanction, but as you are not receiving anything it may still be possible to get one, I am afraid this will also require you to phone the DWP.
As far as I can see the problems are all the fault of the DWP so you might want to make a formal complaint to them, especially if you have incurred charges that you would not have done if your payments had been made on time.
Complaining to the DWP
With regard to your IB claim in the future. The legislation offers no discretion to the DWP, you meet the criteria for transfer to ESA so their is no Decision (big D) for them to make, however, the transfer process is now so far behind schedule that are now probably a relatively large number of claimants like you who are very close to State Retirement age and they may make the decision (small d) to defer these transfers to the end of the process in the expectation that the claimants will retire before they need to transfer them.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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9 years 11 months ago - 9 years 11 months ago #121054 by Mel B
Replied by Mel B on topic Incapacity Benefit to Attendance Allowance
Hi Gordon
Mel b here.
Not getting anywhere really with this issue of IB to ESA. I was given a number to call to start a new ESA claim and was asked over 40 mins various questions after which a week later a statement arrived with all my answers on it and asking for medical evidence to enclose and send back plus a sick note from the doctor covering me for this period.
They have a sick note from my doctor in the Isle of Man and that covered me till July this year but I have also sent them a uk doctors sick note as well covering me till June this year.
they told me they would self certify me for 7 days from the date of my claim but they already have one till July !!?
I have been told by the centre that the IB claim stopped on the 5th April as the Isle of Man has no reciprocal agreement with the UK which is rubbish they do and was told once by them the Isle of Man is abroad again incorrect !!
So it looks like they are not transfering over my IB but stopped it and replaced it with ESA and will only pay me the lower rate for ESA and not the transitional addition on conversion as required.
It does state that the DWP will use existing data held for IB to determine entitlement to ESA and pledged continuity of payments are maintained.
They have also deducted the first three days as its a new claim !! Today I recieved a claim form to fill in ESA 50.
I think I am being done here well and truly and stiched up.
I think and agree with you I qualify under the ESA rules fair enough but as I retire on the first of December this year and it reads if retirement is close you might be put in support group till retirement. Then paid the same amount as my IB under the Transitional Addition on conversion end of !!
I would appriciate your expert opinion please.
Kind regards
Melb
Mel b here.
Not getting anywhere really with this issue of IB to ESA. I was given a number to call to start a new ESA claim and was asked over 40 mins various questions after which a week later a statement arrived with all my answers on it and asking for medical evidence to enclose and send back plus a sick note from the doctor covering me for this period.
They have a sick note from my doctor in the Isle of Man and that covered me till July this year but I have also sent them a uk doctors sick note as well covering me till June this year.
they told me they would self certify me for 7 days from the date of my claim but they already have one till July !!?
I have been told by the centre that the IB claim stopped on the 5th April as the Isle of Man has no reciprocal agreement with the UK which is rubbish they do and was told once by them the Isle of Man is abroad again incorrect !!
So it looks like they are not transfering over my IB but stopped it and replaced it with ESA and will only pay me the lower rate for ESA and not the transitional addition on conversion as required.
It does state that the DWP will use existing data held for IB to determine entitlement to ESA and pledged continuity of payments are maintained.
They have also deducted the first three days as its a new claim !! Today I recieved a claim form to fill in ESA 50.
I think I am being done here well and truly and stiched up.
I think and agree with you I qualify under the ESA rules fair enough but as I retire on the first of December this year and it reads if retirement is close you might be put in support group till retirement. Then paid the same amount as my IB under the Transitional Addition on conversion end of !!
I would appriciate your expert opinion please.
Kind regards
Melb
Last edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Gordon.
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9 years 11 months ago #121059 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic Incapacity Benefit to Attendance Allowance
Mel
I am going to recommend that you get face to face advice as you now need someone who can represent you in your communications with the DWP. Do an internet search for "welfare advice" with your postcode, town or county.
The DWP are saying that you cannot bring your IB claim from the Isle of Man to the UK, I cannot comment on whether this is the case or not, this is part of the reason that you need a trained advisor, but to offer a guess, there may by no agreement to export NI Contributions, I know this is the case for N. Ireland, if you can't export your NICs you cannot claim IB.
If you cannot migrate your IB to the UK then you are not eligible for transfer to ESA, therefore your claim for ESA is a new one and as a new claim you are only entitled to the ESA Assessment rate until a Decision is made on the claim. The first 3 days of a new ESA claim are not payable.
To be clear, the ESA Transitional Regulations do not apply.
I am afraid you will not be placed in the Support Group unless you meet the SG criteria, so it will depend on what you put in the ESA50 and the medical evidence you supply, you may also be required to attend a face to face assessment.
Have a look at our ESA Claim guides for assistance on how to complete the ESA50.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa
Gordon
I am going to recommend that you get face to face advice as you now need someone who can represent you in your communications with the DWP. Do an internet search for "welfare advice" with your postcode, town or county.
The DWP are saying that you cannot bring your IB claim from the Isle of Man to the UK, I cannot comment on whether this is the case or not, this is part of the reason that you need a trained advisor, but to offer a guess, there may by no agreement to export NI Contributions, I know this is the case for N. Ireland, if you can't export your NICs you cannot claim IB.
If you cannot migrate your IB to the UK then you are not eligible for transfer to ESA, therefore your claim for ESA is a new one and as a new claim you are only entitled to the ESA Assessment rate until a Decision is made on the claim. The first 3 days of a new ESA claim are not payable.
To be clear, the ESA Transitional Regulations do not apply.
I am afraid you will not be placed in the Support Group unless you meet the SG criteria, so it will depend on what you put in the ESA50 and the medical evidence you supply, you may also be required to attend a face to face assessment.
Have a look at our ESA Claim guides for assistance on how to complete the ESA50.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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9 years 11 months ago - 9 years 11 months ago #121111 by Mel B
Replied by Mel B on topic Incapacity Benefit to Attendance Allowance
Hi Gordon
Thanks for you reply yesterday I have looked in the link you have sent me that will help if I have to fill in this ESA 50.
I called the NI Government dept today and they confirmed as I have always had the same NI number whilst in the uk and the IOM all NIC are transferable but take a few months to organise. So thats one area put to bed.
I called the help centre and they got me a call back from a manager who is acting as a go between .
He works in new claims ESA and has been trying to sort things out for me over the last fe weeks.
We talked over the issue of coming from the IOM / my close retirement date and what is says on the DWP site, that if close to retirement there will be no transfer to ESA .
He understands the issues and will send me what he recieved from the decision maker as they have sent him a link for him to read on the IOM situation.
He has asked me to comment on this and if I disagee send in a letter stating the reasons. He said due to this strange issue they could possibly be wrong and have not made the right decision, in that case complain for a new decision based on your view of the situation. He is very helpful indeed.
As my wife transfered her DLA over from the IOM with no issue , he said there should be no reason why this IB issue has become a problem !!
So I await the document .
Any comments please? welcomed.
Cheers
MelB
Thanks for you reply yesterday I have looked in the link you have sent me that will help if I have to fill in this ESA 50.
I called the NI Government dept today and they confirmed as I have always had the same NI number whilst in the uk and the IOM all NIC are transferable but take a few months to organise. So thats one area put to bed.
I called the help centre and they got me a call back from a manager who is acting as a go between .
He works in new claims ESA and has been trying to sort things out for me over the last fe weeks.
We talked over the issue of coming from the IOM / my close retirement date and what is says on the DWP site, that if close to retirement there will be no transfer to ESA .
He understands the issues and will send me what he recieved from the decision maker as they have sent him a link for him to read on the IOM situation.
He has asked me to comment on this and if I disagee send in a letter stating the reasons. He said due to this strange issue they could possibly be wrong and have not made the right decision, in that case complain for a new decision based on your view of the situation. He is very helpful indeed.
As my wife transfered her DLA over from the IOM with no issue , he said there should be no reason why this IB issue has become a problem !!
So I await the document .
Any comments please? welcomed.
Cheers
MelB
Last edit: 9 years 11 months ago by Gordon.
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