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Chronicle of a Disgraceful Decision
This is a breath-taking tale of poor decision making and naked contempt for the claimant and for the appeals process.
November 2018 - Claimant ‘naturally migrated’ to UC from Support Group IRESA owing purely to change of address – loses SDP and EDP in the process. Claimant is vulnerable and very easily distressed.
Claimant is told by DWP that she will get transitional protection – which does not exist at this time.
DWP messes about with MGP3 form (or whatever it is called) for three months and pays IRESA and UC at the same time, holding claimant liable for the eventual overpayment. Having been told she would get transitional protection, claimant was confused by her payments to say the least – DWP insists she should have known she was being overpaid.
Backdating request made as claimant did not know about UC and applied for HB instead; both this and ill-health that confined her to bed delayed her claim.
Backdate refused December 2018 – DWP’s response is that it is the claimant’s responsibility to ‘ensure she is tasking the correct course of action when claiming another benefit’, that ignorance of the system is no excuse, being misinformed is no help to her, and that adequate information is available on gov.uk. It also accuses the claimant of ‘inactivity’ (ill in bed!)
Appeal lodged December 2018 pointing out:
• the claimant is disabled and is in the most severely disabled category of claimants (she was in the ESA Support Group and receives PIP at the highest rate for both daily living and mobility)
• there was no change in her circumstances other than her address; her disability is unchanged as are her support needs
• she did not choose to make a claim for UC, this was forced upon her by the rules regarding ‘natural migration’ to UC
• she claimed at the earliest possible time when she received advice from the Local Authority
• UC is a brand-new benefit and its provisions are most confusing, not least the provisions for ‘natural migration’
• The decision attempts to blame the claimant for not gathering correct information, and yet she was misinformed by DWP about entitlement to Transitional Protection, which indicates that the rules are not clear to the department itself
• The decision mentions Regulation 26 of the Claims and Payments Regulations but does not attempt to address 26(3)(b) – ‘the claimant has a disability’ or that ‘as a result of that circumstance or those circumstances the claimant could not reasonably have been expected to make the claim earlier.’
• The decision attempts to thrust responsibility entirely upon the claimant: amongst other things, DWP should show where a claimant can easily read and understand the provisions for ‘natural migration’ on its website.
April 2019 – Directions Notice issued by Tribunal as no DWP response to the appeal.
July 2019 – hearing date, still no DWP submission. Hearing adjourned.
November 2019 – New appeal date received – DWP has still not complied with Directions
26th November 2019 – Claimant is informed that the appeal has lapsed as a new decision has been made.
We are now seeking a copy of that decision, as DWP never send them to us.
DWP still refuses to budge on the overpayment, the complaint about incorrect advice, and has yet to pay the SDP transitional payment.
Just been at a hearing this morning where exactly the same issue re continuing payment of IRESA led to a UC overpayment. Direction given for SoS to produce an adequate response with the comment “for the avoidance of doubt the existing response is not considered adequate”. No further response. Unfortunate PO given the file this morning - absolute clueless but not entirely his fault. Appeal allowed and overpayment not recoverable as no evidence of a decision revising/superseding the ESA award.
Nothing like as bad as your case and the claimant has a corporate appointee and has been unaware of the whole thing - and has now received his SDP compensation.
The SDP compensation arrears were paid in full with no offset for the remaining overpayment which has been recovered from the UC award each month. Now to see if they will repay it; I’m not holding my breath.
This is a case you might be able to get transferred back onto legacy. It’s worth a word with the SDP team to see whether they could work their magic.
Hi Dan - How does one contact them? I was told they were not contactable!
What would be the legal basis of the request -?
Or am I thinking of the SDP transition payments people being un-contactable….?
Or am I thinking of the SDP transition payments people being un-contactable….?
3:39? You work too hard…
You’ve got mail!