thanks, Gordon. I do understand that HB is not dealt on these forums.

'' there appears to be no legal limit on time that HB can be paid due to nil income''

This is really all I need to know. As I always say, all I care about is what the law says I can do, and what the law says I cannot do. All the rest is just noise.

I think this might be similar to when sellers on ebay, say, will write 'sold as seen, no returns'.
They can write that, but legally would not stand up to scrutiny.

The Jobcentre does a similar thing with their : 'no recording equipment allowed'. But again, though they can write that, there's no legal requirement that says I must comply.

I think the Local Authority is possibly doing something like that. In other words, it's just their policy, not a law. Just a last thought. I won't mention it anymore

ok, after all the mess already mentioned, I followed your (good) suggestion and two weeks ago still sent a request of an explanation about the decision and how that affects my payments. They didn't reply to that either, and this on top of the other several complaints and mandatory reconsiderations for sanctions I have never incurred.

I also wrote to the council about my HB, and they are continuing to send me letters as if they haven't received anything from me. I know HB not dealt with here, just mentioning all this to say that once again I wrote and did all I could do, only to get nothing at best, or my benefits stopped.

So, now it's time for me to act quickly. My understanding is that if I don't receive a reply within 15 days to my requests of explanations about decisions (decisions I have never received in writing anyways), I can contact my MP, am I correct? What's the procedure to get to the Ombudsman stage? I need to bring up all the issues I have been having with the DWP, old and new, once and for all.

Thanks.

Schopenhauer


There's no wait time for contacting your MP.

Contacting your MP

The next stage with the DWP is the Independent Case Examiner

www.gov.uk/government/organisations/independent-case-examiner

Gordon

ok thanks. Can I send my complaint to both the MP and ICE? The problem with ICE is that they write on their website that a complaint is different than 'complaining about a decision'. I have been fobbed off by these organizations before because they say I have to exaust the process of the DWP, and when I tell them that I have sent complaints but received no replies, I get inconclusive answers. The CAB says vague stuff like: 'they have to answer'. Useless.
I contacted another Ombudsman (not the Parliamentary and Health one) some time ago and got fobbed off when I said I didn't receive replies to my complaints. That one case was quite astonishing, the Ombudsman said things like 'we are busy'. So I complained about them too. Then they assigned another person to my case and everything went smoothly, and they upheld all my complaint; the Council paid me £ 250, in the end. But the first attempts to get anyone to do their job, was maddening.

Any suggestions about what I should do in my current case? Maybe I could start writing a complaint that I can send to both the MP and ICE? Thanks.

the ICE writes:

''We can’t treat a complaint as a challenge to a benefit decision''

I have never received a benefit decision in the first place. From what I understand, this must be in writing. The DWP said to the CAB , 3 weeks ago, that they sent me a decision letter before they ended my ESA, which I never received. Which begs another question, as they first suspended my benefits and then they ended them altogether. Should I have not received two letters?

And to the CAB they said they would resend it (one) , which of course I have never received either.

I just struggle to believe that the DWP can end benefits in that completely bogus way, and then they can't reverse that, which is what I want to challenge. If they want me to do all that work again, they'll have to do it themselves....I am not going to. Once is enough, the law agreed I get the benefits, and that's it. Just because some crazy noobs decided to end my benefits ,and they never let me know before or after, should not mean anything.

So, this is what I want to challenge, i.e. I want their 'decision' to be reversed. First, it's bogus, and second, I was never informed in writing. That I don't receive one letter, it's not improbable, although I have received all my mail. But that I don't receive two letters? That sounds improbable.

I also am collecting and trying to read all the reports from the Ombdusman and ICE. It seems that the Ombudsman can request the DWP to show evidence that a letter has been sent. I am really curious about that one.