Client with no income at all. What is generally faster, lodging an appeal or starting a new claim?

Hello,

Hope everyone is well!

I have a client who has no income. He has applied for CA but they have a long waiting list so it will be after Christmas until this is sorted. This obviously means he can’t claim IS yet.

His partner previously got IS and CA for caring for him. This ended at the end of last month when his DLA ended (he failed the transfer over to PIP). As a couple they now just have his partner’s PIP.

He has been turned down for ESA and PIP. He lodged appeal for ESA back in Feb this year, however it looks like the form went missing in the post as the Tribunals service have just told us that no appeal has ever been lodged. This means he obviously can’t get paid ESA pending appeal. PIP appeal has been lodged successfully.

I am a bit reluctant to tell him to go and sign on at the JC as I worry this will then tie him in to UC, as his JC has just gone full service at the end of Nov. Is this right?

I am going to lodge late appeal for the ESA asap but is this the quickest option? Or should I just tell him to sign on for UC after all? Short term benefit advance on the CA an option too?

He has run out of food so keen to get something sorted asap

Thank you

My vote for quickest way to get cash is (unfortunately) UC claim and application for an advance. Make sure he claims as a carer - he can do this even though the CA claim hasn’t yet been processed.

Late ESA appeal is an option - but it might be rejected so with that option you’ve got a wait of at least a few weeks which might not result in any money at the end.

(the late ESA appeal might still be worth it for other reasons).

Thanks Jane.

Seems like you may be right. Do you think an advance on his CA is an alternative route?

Don’t think there’s any provision for an advance payment of CA. That said, the claim is still likely to be processed sooner than the UC claim…..

What was the date of the original ESA decision? I know you gave February as the date he submitted the appeal himself, but just checking that the late appeal is a goer. Assume he’s got nothing to prove he did submit the original appeal?

Just for the record, an IS claim might have commenced prior to the full UC date, without any CA in place, because you can claim IS (without a carers premium) on the basis of providing regular and substantial care for a person on the right disability benefit. If he tried to claim IS at the time and was wrongly turned down, there may still be scope to challenge that decision. Probably won’t be quicker than just claiming UC though.

Re advance payments, CPAG doesn’t include CA on the list of benefits excluded from payments on account, so I guess there’s nothing to lose by asking…

I would imagine that in most cases you can get a UC advance payment in less time than it would take for ESA to restart pending appeal, so UC is probably the way to go if your client is only concerned about getting their next payment ASAP.

That said, if there are going to be issues with residence or similar to be addressed which would slow down a UC claim, ESA could be quicker.

Your client does need to bear in mind that claiming UC permanently gets rid of the possibility of getting ESA with double SDP if both appeals work out in his favour.

Thanks very much all.

I saw the client this morning. We called ESA and it turns out that a ESA recon request never even went through back in Feb after all! So we can’t even lodge an appeal until that has been done.

I requested a benefit advance on his CA. They put a referral through for him so he is waiting for a call back from this.

Regarding UC/IS. He never actually applied for IS. His wife had an IS claim as she is also carer for him. This ended when his PIP claim was disallowed. Annoyingly her IS ended literally 3 days before full service UC came in at his JC (they had an 8 week run on period).

I presume IS is now definitely not an option for him at all due to just missing the point of no return for UC full service? That’s very annoying!

Client went to JC. JC said they can’t help him apply. I was told multiple times on the UC line they 100% can help people at the JC who don’t have computers apply. I was very sceptical about this claim and it seems I was right to be. I had no choice though as we ran out of time to do the claim at the appointment with me.

Client now has no way to apply for UC and £0 income. I can’t fit him in before Christmas. UC told me he can’t apply over the phone in any way at all. I was sure it was possible to do this in certain circumstances but I was told by 3 different lines that it isn’t.

He doesn’t even have an email address as he’s never used a computer in his life, UC said ‘use someone else’s’. He doesn’t have any one else’s to use. Unless I give him mine to use but this sounds unwise.

It’s a silly system alright.

The Jobcentre will be able to help him make a claim.  He may need to sign up to a personal email address though - I’m sure they send an email within an hour that has to be accessed so that the claim is processed.  All Jobcentres should have PCs available with support as well; he may need to book a time slot or his local JC may have a designated drop-in time that he can access.

I thought they could still take phone claims, in special circumstances but I haven’t come across this personally so I’m not sure how that works in practice.

Official position is generally as per the DWP reply here, which includes:

We would actively encourage people to use the service in a digital manner in every instance but we understand there are circumstances in which this is not an appropriate means of claiming and so alternative routes are on offer such as telephony or visiting a Jobcentre where a work coach is on hand to offer support and assistance.

Do you know which organization(s), if any, are meant to be providing “assisted digital support” in your area? Anyway, if JCP outright refused to help where the claimant clearly needed it, he could consider asking his MP to intervene.

By the way, I don’t know if anyone in the country has managed to make a full UC claim by phone?

edit: also for ref, from http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2016-0778/New_claims_v3.0.pdf

Universal Credit claims are made online via GOV.UK
If a claimant needs support to do this, help is available by the following means:
- telephone
- face to face support from a partner organisation
- in the office
- exceptionally, through a home visit

JAS1 - 15 December 2017 03:23 PM

Client went to JC. JC said they can’t help him apply. I was told multiple times on the UC line they 100% can help people at the JC who don’t have computers apply.

Have you complained to your Universal Credit Partnership Manager about this?