hi everyone
back after a long absence and my brain has gone very soggy.. can anyone help wiht this query.

an on line claim for DLA was submitted and the reference number obtained. but the DLA seem to have lost the claim and a search submitted after an MP query never located it. this was all abot a year ago.

if there anyway to backdate the new claim? the printed copy of the form whereas previously there was no proof

thanks
elane

Good cause must be continuous for the period you want benefit backdated, how come a new claim was not submitted whilst all the searching was going on?

It would have been a good cause then, i.e. new form submitted when they said they could not locate it. And then once you found the print off getting backdated from the difference.

You could also try and argue that you were waiting for them to find it, but did they send you a response saying .... your claim cannot be located? Or was it all verbal?

Regards

Why not submit a "duplicate" claim. You have evidence that the original claim was made, i.e. the reference number, and mislaid by DWP. With a duplicate claim the question of backdating doesn't arise.

Wed 13-May-09 12:08 PM by Tony Bowman

There is no backdating provision for DLA (s.76(1) SSCBA) so good cause doesn't come into it. However, it sounds relatively easy to show that a claim was actually made and was 'delivered' to the appropriate office (the reference number should achieve this) which should satisfy the requirment of the claims and payments regs.

So the right approach is not to seek backdating on a new claim, but to pursue the claim already made (as suggested by Tony G), which remains valid until such time as it is deemed deficient or is adjudicated upon. Of course, the PDCS will still require the information about the disability so another claim pack will have to be completed, but this shouldn't be confused with the making of a further claim.

If the DWP have mislaid the initial claim form (no surprise there, then), one additional option is to make a new claim (this time keeping a copy!) and if this succeeds, to write to Customer Services, asking for a Special Payment equivalent to the amount which would have been paid on the initial claim, plus a Special Payment to compensate for the delay. This would need to be supported by evidence a claim was made (eg statement from you, evidence of receipt).

It really is quite amazing how much post the DWP manage to "not receive". Where does it all go?

thanks for that
it was not posted tho, it was an on line claim.
the customer service unit failed to find it anywhere and did send out a new claim form but the person didn't respond to that

i will still try for special payment i just wondered if anyone else had dealt with an on line claim that is all completed and says is accepted but then is just not responded to and dissapears off the system

as bank details are given its a worry!

elane

Surely if you can prove that the claim was made and reached the appropriate office, but hasn't yet been decided, it is still open and can still be decided? This happens.

However I can never remember which claims can actually be MADE online or by phone, and which still need the completed form to be signed and submitted to the office: if DLA is in the second category then there has only been an attempt to claim which normally must be perfected PDQ.

The online application through the government gateway is ‘electronically signed’ you should receive a letter within 2 weeks of submitting the application to say that the DWP have received it and is being processed.

You are given a reference number when you create the application online, this does not mean you completed the application, you have 6 weeks to complete the application online as with paper applications.

If you have a print out of the completed application along with the reference number then you can say that the application is still live.

I don’t see why the claimant can not log into the government gateway and view the application; the applications do not disappear from the list of applications you have made. Also the view online will show if it has been submitted or not. I am not saying this is the case, but did the client ensure that s(he) had electronically signed and submitted the application? If not then no claim was made, also DWP statistics show more e-claims are refused than paper claims.

Regards