Benefit rates help

Hi All
I moved over to E.S.A and have been awarded both contribution based and income related employment and support allowance, i received a letter telling me of the changes and the new rates being £72.40 and £15.55 because of the disability income guarantee and then the £35.75 because i am in the support group, this brings it to £123.70 a week

but when i went this week to collect my benefit i only received £216.30 for the two weeks benefits not the £247.40 it should be for the two weeks benefits. when i phoned the job-centre they tell me its because i get contribution based and i have not LOST the £15.55 a week disability income guarantee, does any one kindly know if this is correct? I move over and I am not out of pocket by £30.10 every two weeks when i get paid any advice please?

patman wrote: Hi All
I moved over to E.S.A and have been awarded both contribution based and income related employment and support allowance, i received a letter telling me of the changes and the new rates being £72.40 and £15.55 because of the disability income guarantee and then the £35.75 because i am in the support group, this brings it to £123.70 a week

but when i went this week to collect my benefit i only received £216.30 for the two weeks benefits not the £247.40 it should be for the two weeks benefits. when i phoned the job-centre they tell me its because i get contribution based and i have not LOST the £15.55 a week disability income guarantee, does any one kindly know if this is correct? I move over and I am not out of pocket by £30.10 every two weeks when i get paid any advice please?

Hi pm,

From the figures quoted this equates to £247.40/Fortnight. (ESA is paid fortnightly in arrears)

See : Benefit payment dates

If you only received £216.30 for the preceding fortnight this equates to a shortfall of £31.10, which in turn equates to 2 weeks of The Enhanced Disability Premium (EDP) (2 X £15.55) which is denoted in your letter as :

"£15.55 because of the disability income guarantee"

We have heard of problems with first payments of ESA from other members.

You should contact The DWP to query this :

THE ESA PHONE NUMBER DWP : 0345 608 8545 Press Option 3 for ESA.

If they have made an error, they can usually sort it out pretty quickly, although I doubt that this would be today.

It may be best to ring up around 8.30AM in the morning.

Please update us here when you have contacted them.

As you have recently been transferred over to ESA, you may find the following interesting:


ESA FAQ’s

&

IB, IS, SDA, Migration to ESA FAQ’s

bro58

Hi
Thanks for the reply, i have phoned them just now and was told it's because i am not getting contribution based and this out ways the income related so I now lose the Disability income guarantee of £15.55, so i told her that the letter i have in front of me says I will get £123.70 a week and I have received NO letter telling me any different in the amount, she just said well that's your new amount now I can send a letter if you want but, you lose the £15.55 when you get the contribution based of E.S.A is she correct or wrong please?

patman wrote: Hi
Thanks for the reply, i have phoned them just now and was told it's because i am not getting contribution based and this out ways the income related so I now lose the Disability income guarantee of £15.55, so i told her that the letter i have in front of me says I will get £123.70 a week and I have received NO letter telling me any different in the amount, she just said well that's your new amount now I can send a letter if you want but, you lose the £15.55 when you get the contribution based of E.S.A is she correct or wrong please?

Hi pm,

You can receive CB ESA with IR ESA Premium top-ups.

Entitlement to the IR ESA Premiums would be dependent on whether you could pass the IR ESA means test with respect to household income, capital, assets, savings and any hours worked by a partner if you have one.

You say that you have been transferred over to ESA, if you were previously in receipt of Income Support (IS) on the grounds of incapacity for work, Incapacity Benefit (IB) with IS top-ups or SDA with IS top-ups and your personal/financial circumstances haven't altered, then you should be entitled to IR ESA.

Any IR ESA entitlement is the minimum amount that the government state that you need to live on with respect to your own personal circumstances, hence the statement :

"£15.55 because of the disability income guarantee"

Your CB ESA entitlement and any other household income would be deducted from that amount, and any shortfall should be made up with IR ESA.

We have just been discussing similar with another member : Here.

bro58

Hi
Thanks for the reply, but am still confused about it all, yes i was on income support nothing has changed in my circumstances with the D.W.P they just said i am not longer entitled to the disability income guarantee end of, i just don't know if they are right or not?

patman wrote: Hi
Thanks for the reply, but am still confused about it all, yes i was on income support nothing has changed in my circumstances with the D.W.P they just said i am not longer entitled to the disability income guarantee end of, i just don't know if they are right or not?

Hi pm,

If you were definitely in receipt of IS (even a penny) prior to transfer, and "nothing" has changed then you should definitely be entitled to the IR ESA Premiums.

Further, as you were successfully transferred over to ESA you are covered by Transitional Protection, where you can not be paid less than you were receiving prior to transfer, but you may receive more, see :

What will I be transferred to?

&

What will I be paid?

When you call the ESA telephone number, your first point of contact is a Call Responder, they have very limited knowledge of ESA legislation and are infamous for giving out false information.

You should ring back early in the morning and request an escalation to a Supervisor/Manager.

This will involve a call back, hence the advice to call first thing.

You may then get more sensible advice in the call back.

Please return to update us.

bro58