GROUP INCOME PROTECTION AND IMPACT ON CB ESA

Thank you Gordan -

The form I have just received is definitely a ESA5 04/13 and is 6 pages in length and asks for information regarding Pension Income .

I will contact dwp urgently in view of letters crossing to establish current status.

Thank you

Just spent half a day being passed around various offices, waiting for return calls - it has probably been the most frustrating stressful day that I have had all year.

This morning I finally received a formal reply to the ' complaint ' letters that were sent almost 4 weeks ago. The letter completely ignored all of the pertinent issues that I made and merely stated that the DWP had a responsibility to make sure claimants were receiving the correct amount of benefits. Apparently the reason for the delay was that my letters were bouncing around their internal system's and offices between here in Kent and Belfast !

To cut a very very long story short the fact that my son's ESA claim was closed and then reopened triggered a general review hence the reason why the esa50 was received. I should have been informed that this form was going to be sent way back at the time when it was confirmed that the claim had been incorrectly closed. The deadline for return of the esa50 was the 17th December and we requested additional time in view of the confusion and Xmas period - which would make securing the additional medical information a lot more time consuming. After arguing the point and going round and round in circles and after requesting to speak to a senior manager it was confirmed that they would allow until the 3rd week of January,2015. Absolutely NO sympathy, Empathy or concern and it makes you wonder if the whole process is designed to totally frustrate and wear people down so you eventually give up ! Absolute disgrace ... I requested confirmation in writing that additional time would be granted and although I was told that this was not standard procedure they would send something. I am not holding my breath !

Thank you Gordan.

Upon reflection and in view of the conflicting information received from the DWP during my dealings with them today and past month - we are going to try our utmost to get this form back within the original dead line. We will also gather as much medical supporting info' as possible to include with the form.

Thank you

PS : I am still absolutely amazed, from the general attitude of the people we spoke to today, that the DWP and their actions and the subsequent consequences appear to be totally unaccountable to any party / entity.