My client gave up his job in 1999, because the job involved driving and his eyesight deteriorated so he could no longer drive. At that time he went to his Jobcentre and social security office, but says that he was told that he couldn't claim anything because he owned his home and had an occupational pension. Since then, his only income has been the occupational pension of £600 per month.

Obviously this was incorrect advice and he should have claimed IB in 1999. Assuming he passed the AWT, if he had claimed IB in 1999 he would still be getting it now and until he reaches pension age, unaffected by his pension under the transitional rules. (He's 46.) He can't claim IB now because he doesn't have the contributions, and his income is too high for IS.

I am wondering if it is worthwhile making a complaint to DWP and asking for compensation? It will be difficult to prove with just the client's word against theirs, after 5 years. But on the other hand the client has possibly missed out on huge amounts of IB. He's also missed out on credits towards RP, unless he pays voluntary contributions.

Does anyone have any experience of similar claims? Is it worth asking for ex gratia compensation, or would this just be falsely raising the client's hopes?

I had a couple of thoughts, which might be worth reading while the well-informed are sharpening their pencils.

I didn't understand the point about credits - if he can demonstrate IFW, can't he claim backdated credits?

Is it worthwile claiming IB and arguing his period of IFW begain in 1999 so the relevant benefit years are OK contribution-wise? I've heard of this argument but never seen it in practice.

In terms of raising a client's hopes, that's a very difficult thing to deal with. But on the other hand, it seems to me that an adviser can't avoid informing a client in these cirumstances of the possibility of making such a complaint. The client has everything to gain and nothing (in financial terms) to lose. It's the client's choice at the end of the day, isn't it, and perhaps all you can do is stress the possibility that it might come to nothing?

Just my 2p - good luck!

My twopennworth...(not sure if anyone would actually pay for this advice):

I suggest your client, if eyesight was such that he would have passed the all work test at the time, should submit a form for IB, claiming from the date he was unable to work. If at all possible he should get a sicknote or some sort of medical evidence confirming his visual impairment as running from this date. As Sue suggests this then means there is no problem with the contribution conditions, as the relevant years are the period before the period of incapacity began.

When completing the form the claim should include information explaining why he did not claim sooner (stressing the fact that he sought information about his entitlement and was misadvised by BA staff - as they were back then.)

If the claim is successful, incapacity benefit should be awarded. You may find the decision says client is incapable of work since 1999 but they can only pay backdated benefit for three months.

You can now show the loss he has suffered in order to claim an ex gratia payment for compensation, ie you have proved the date he was incapable from, and that he missed out on benefit between then and the date IB was finally awarded from.

So those are the hoops I think you need to jump through. If the visual impairment was such to pass the test, it's worth a shot.

Of course, if he wasn't incapable from this date, he should have been advised to claim JSA instead? While the non-means tested element is timelimited, continuing to sign on would have been an alternative route to ensure him the credits towards his RP.

The job centre staff really didn't do very well that day, did they?

I think it's worth trying for ex-gratia payment once you've gone down the route of making a backdated claim. I've had occassional success in similar cases where very bad advice has been given by BA staff, even where the only evidence of bad advice is the client's statement. One case involved ex-gratia payment of 3 years DLA, so quite a lot of money.

Obviously you need to tell the client that it's a long shot and try not to build his hopes up, but he's got nothing to lose.

Slightly off the point and nothing to do with the DWP, but was he claiming SSP when he gave up work? If so, did his employer issue him with an SSP1. If they didn't he would have a potential claim against his ex-employer. If they did, then you would need to address his failure to complete it when you claim compensation.

Public Law Project helpline 0808 808 4546 very good for help with tactics and stuff on this kind of issue for people with legal aid contracts.