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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Decision making and appeals  →  Thread

Experiences of DWP offering a new award after an appeal is lodged

shawn mach
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From Advicenow:

Law for Life & Advicenow want to get a better understanding of how the DWP are resolving appeals before the hearing. We are concerned by reports from our users about some of their experiences.

For example, we have heard from several claimants who, after submitting an appeal, have been contacted by the DWP with a better offer than their first award if they drop the appeal. We have also heard from a number of claimants who felt the DWP was trying to pressure them into accepting a lower award than they believe they are entitled to.

If this has happened to your clients, we’d love to hear about it in our survey.

ClairemHodgson
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weren’t their reports of that a few years ago?  re PIP?

anyway, it’s not a contract scheme, for goodness sake, where concepts of offer and acceptance apply…

shawn mach
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ClairemHodgson - 16 January 2019 04:10 PM

weren’t their reports of that a few years ago?  re PIP?

Yes, here’s some related threads:

PIP Negotiating / bargaining to avoid tribunal

Are there circumstances when DWP would pay claimants to withdraw PIP appeals?

PIP decision changed following Mandatory Reconsideration – No payment due to appeal

 

shawn mach
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In the Guardian today:

Vulnerable and disabled people are being pressured to accept unrecorded telephone “deals” paying thousands of pounds less in benefits than they may be legally entitled to, charities and lawyers have said.

The Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of making “decide right now” offers to people who have appealed against a decision to deny them benefits. In some cases the people say they were told the offer would be withdrawn if they did not accept it within minutes.

It is claimed that by making the lower offers over the phone, the DWP is trying to settle cases that could lead to payments of significantly more each year if they go to a tribunal. Around 70% of such appeals go in favour of the people who bring them.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/02/dwp-accused-of-offering-disabled-people-take-it-or-leave-it-benefits

 

Mike Hughes
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Is anyone going to dare to say that some element of this is untrue?

- being offered lower than you would clearly get at appeal (even in represented cases) including nothing at all on one component for which you obviously have an entitlement.
- being offered exactly the correct rate but for a foreshortened period which you know has a chance of being accepted because, although it’s wrong, it’s longer than any current award.
- the total failure to advise on the right to accept an offer but proceed to appeal anyway and what that would involve.

[ Edited: 3 Mar 2020 at 10:02 am by Mike Hughes ]
Benny Fitzpatrick
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Interesting that the press have only apparently picked this up now.  After all, it’s been going on for some time.

Daphne
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At stakeholder forum and disability benefits here - they would like NIno of any claimants that were made phone offer - if anyone has one can they direct message me and I can pass to them so they can investigate - thanks

NAI
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Unclaimed Benefits Campaign, Middlesbrough CAB

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It is so irritating that issues such as this take so long to come to the attention of ministers. This has been a longstanding problem and I find it unbelievable that managers and senior civil servants did not know about this. I also refuse to believe that this was not an intentional managed policy/operation. Simply saying it “should” not happen isn’t good enough.

Clearly the best way to get through is to get an issue in the press as I did with the exotic dancing jobs UC guidance and with this practice (abuse) being highlighted in the Guardian.

The people responsible for these abuses “should” lose their jobs.

Rant over.

[ Edited: 10 Mar 2020 at 10:18 pm by NAI ]
Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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I’m sure that in Work and Pensions oral questions on Monday, Justin Tomlinson replied to a question by saying they were going to stop this practice now but I can’t find it in Hansard.

Daphne
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Paul_Treloar_AgeUK - 11 March 2020 09:03 AM

I’m sure that in Work and Pensions oral questions on Monday, Justin Tomlinson replied to a question by saying they were going to stop this practice now but I can’t find it in Hansard.

https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/welfare-rights/news/item/dwp-practice-of-offering-potentially-lower-value-awards-to-some-pip-and-esa-claimants-awaiting-appeals-is-not-something-that-should-be-happening-minister-says

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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Thanks Daphne, good to know I’m going crackers….

Matthew Ahluwalia
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Public Law Project, London

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Public Law Project (PLP) are working with Law for Life and a couple of other charities on the DWP’s ‘offers to settle’ or ‘lapsing’ practice. Claimants are made time sensitive offers if they agree to withdraw their appeals. Troublingly, the right to MR/appeal the new ‘offer’ is not always understood.

Please get in touch with Hannah Moxsom .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) if anyone wants to speak to us about their experience, particularly if they received such an offer/telephone call in the last few weeks.