SDP Gateway issue partner formerly on UC moving in with client on ESA

Sorry to keep on about this one.  We have had a written statement from ESA setting out a view about the coupling up.  A factual error in the response is that the partner was on UC on the day they moved in.  This wasn’t the case.  The claim had been closed , although within the same assessment period that the couple formed.  CPAG helpline have given me advice that the timing of the claim being closed is very significant .  However this doesn’t seem to be the approach the DWP have taken as to why the ESA claim could not be updated by reporting the change of circumstance. 

I’m not sure really what to do next?  Suppose we could ask for a reconsideration of this letter?  It dose have any appeal rights stated on it. 

Edited, forgot the attachment

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Again sorry for keep bumping this thread, but i just feel confused with it all and like I totally don’t understand the situation. 

We have now had a response from the local complaints team via the MP.  The significant discrepancy is that on the day they coupled up there was no UC claim. 

There seems to be a suggestion that UC terminates legacy benefit forever (even when you are just being added onto an existing claim).

wbamic - 29 July 2020 04:13 PM

Again sorry for keep bumping this thread, but i just feel confused with it all and like I totally don’t understand the situation. 

We have now had a response from the local complaints team via the MP.  The significant discrepancy is that on the day they coupled up there was no UC claim. 

There seems to be a suggestion that UC terminates legacy benefit forever (even when you are just being added onto an existing claim).

Sure that’s not right. It is new claims for legacy benefits that are prevented by all the UC regulations. Adding a partner to an existing DWP legacy benefits claim is a change of circumstances, not a new claim.

Like I suggested before, a SAR might be useful in clarifying what actually happened. You can be quite broad in your request, and DWP can’t generally refuse. For example, you could ask for any details of the UC claim in the relevant period, including background data that the claimant can’t normally see.

I think the issue Charles raised is relevant, but might be less so if it isn’t the grounds DWP relied on to block adding the partner to ESA.
As far as I understand the FOI response, it is only DWP guidance, meaning it might not actually show on their IT system that the claim is still effectively running until the end of the AP. Meaning there might be a datafield that says ‘claim terminated on date XX’. If that date is before the ESA CiC that might be a useful detail.

You might dig up some grounds for appeal or JR.