IB (Y) decision 8 years ago

My client is 28 and has been on income support (now ESA) since the age of 19 due to ME.  When she applied for benefit aged 19 she was told she didn’t have enough contributions for IB and was put on IS.  IB(Y) was not mentioned or suggested to her, though it seems to me she was entitled to it.  She still has the letter from the Jobcentre.

Now, she is moving in with her partner (a full time student), and realises will lose her benefit…  which wouldn’t have happened obviously had she been on IB(Y).  I know it is way too late to appeal - but does she have any redress at all with the Jobcentre, who clearly misadvised her, and as a result of which she has lost out.

Or is it just a lost cause?
Any thoughts very welcome.

If your client has something in writing from the DWP confirming the advice they gave and you believe it may have been negligent, then I’d be reaching for a new file marked ‘compensation’.  Quantify the losses past and present and get it in to the DWP, it’s only right they should consider it. 

Good luck with it!

Is there a down side to this challenge? Have they claimed any other benefits on the basis of receving a means tested benefit? Also IBY cliamants will cease to qualify from April 2012 if they are not in the Support Group.

The DWP failed to send out an IBy22 form to your client after the 196 day qualifying period.

This was their error, the cases I’ve dealt with were exactly the same (IBy entitlement not being picked up as client was over 20 when 196 day period ended) This left the clients on IS.

The law is that your client made a claim for IB. There is no regulation saying they then had to make a subsequent claim for IBy 196 days later.

The IBy22 form sent out by the DWP is just for their processing/administration.

Ask for any time review due to official error.

Your client would (probably) have eventually move off IS due to the rates of IB increasing (STHR, LT) plus their age addition.

The DWP calculated the difference over the time & paid arrears accordingly.

Is there a down side to this challenge? Have they claimed any other benefits on the basis of receiving a means tested benefit? Also IBY claimants will cease to qualify from April 2012 if they are not in the Support Group.

Any benefits which would not have been paid if the client had been correctly placed on to IBy cannot be reclaimed as there was no way the client could have known & any O/P would be as a result of DWP official error

We had a client who had been refused IB(Y) and put onto income support but given the wrong information about doing exempt work. She had at various times done such work, in amounts and for periods that were within the exempt work rules, but had not realised she needed to declare them. Her condition is narcolepsy - she can only work short hours becsaue she has irrestistible periods of sleep if she gets only a bit tired. This started when she ws about 15, but was only finally diagnosed at 19, after a long medical investigation. This would happen in the middle of an interview in the Burea, for example.
She then got anoverpayment demand for about £2,000, since she had much of the time earned nearly as much as her income support. We appealed and put in with the appeal evidence to support the point that she should have been awarded IB(Y) which she wa refused initially on the basis of no contributions.
The advantage of this was not only that the overpayment disappeared with a non-means-tested benefit, but that the amount of IBY was very much higher than the under 25 rate of IS. So DWP ended up paying her nearly £2000 rathr than the other way round!

Thank you all for your very helpful replies.  I was looking forward on the basis of what you have said to taking this on; but in the meantime, my client is pursuing this with the help of another advice agency, due to our long waiting list.  However, I have let her know your thoughts and I hope she will keep me informed of progress.
Thanks again.