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ESA arrears not paid due to overpayment recovery
A warning to fellow advisers and also a request for ideas.
I won an appeal for a client with mental and physical health problems who was in severe financial hardship and who had placed all her hopes on winning the appeal and paying off some of the accumulated debts which had been adding to her distress.
Five weeks have now passed since the appeal and the JC+ office have not yet even paid her the increase in her ESA but they have informed her that she will not receive any arrears whatsover as these will all be taken by one of the DWP debt management offices to pay towards an overpayment that she was already paying off at around £8 per week.
My client is devastated by this decision as she had financially and emotionally depended upon getting these arrears. She had not been able to make any progress with the two offices who, as far as I understand, are presenting this outcome as a ‘done deal’.
It seems to me that someone has failed to exercise their discretion to take account of the impact of not paying any arrears to a vulnerable individual who has already had to try to survive on less than a subsistence income for many months. But what can be done? Judicial review? (and how?), anything analogous to first right of appropriation?
Any suggestions would be most welcome. Thanks for reading this.
Hi Kurt
According to Reg. 16 (3) SS (Payments on Account, Recovery of Bens) Regs, recovery “shall apply without limitation to any payment of arrears of benefit other than any arrears caused by the ………making of payments which have been suspended.”
Presumably without limitation means recovery in full through keeping the arrears of benefits? They could be asked due to exceptional circumstances, other debts, not to recover in this way, but I would not hold my breath.
As it is also a debt issue, I don’t know whether there is an argument re first right of appropriation. Perhaps someone could clarify whether this is a potential avenue to go down.
I posted a similar query a couple of weeks ago :
See thread