Mandatory closure of ESA during recon?

Im scratching my head here following a discussion with Jobcentre Plus, and im now starting to doubt myself!

I have a 64 year old client who failed his conversion from IB to ESA. Dont know why they bothered as he gets his state pension in march, but there you go.

His benefit ceased on 9th December and i requested a mandatory reconsideration.

He called in yesterday with a letter dated 13th January revising the decision and putting him in the support group until november 2014 (even though his srp kicks in March 2014)

He has been living on small savings and money from his sister and wanted to know if or when his money would be paid.

I called jobcentre plus to ask when payment will commence and be backdated and they told me his claim had been closed on the 15th january. I asked on what basis and they said “he failed his medical”. They had no record of the mandatory recon, or the decision to revise.

I was promised a return call next day, which i got this morning. The lady at JC+ said they would arrange a payment urgently, which is fair enough.

I asked her on what basis the ESA claim had been closed. She told me it was due to a low score, and claims are always closed when such a decision is made.
I told her the claim should not have been closed as a final decision hadnt been made as we asked for a Mandatory recon. She told me it didnt matter, and that every single ESA claim gets closed without exception after failure to score 15 points.

She then quoted verbatim about how the new MR / appeal system worked, assesment rate following appeal granted etc etc etc. I told her she was missing the point and that the claim should always be left open until a FINAL determination is made, either at MR stage or tribunal.

She wouldnt have it and insisted that ALL claims are automatically closed 4 weeks after low score, regardless of wether the decision is challenged or not.

Any thoughts guys and gals ??

What is thought to be the implication of a claim being closed? As I understand it this has no official meaning - if the decision has been revised, that is a legally recognised outcome and overrides any internal processes.

That was my point when i was discussing it with Jobcentre Plus. They said they had every right to close every claim following a decision to give a low point score.
My argument was that this should not be considered a final decision if it is challenged, as no final determination has been made.

Jobcentre said it made no difference : ALL claims are closed regardless, which in my opinion is nonsense. I was asking for clarification and all i got was her repeating the same stuff time and time again, rather than actually discussing it!

So it seems there are two possibilities of what they think it means for a claim to be ‘closed’:

1. A ‘closed’ claim cannot be successfully revived via revision: if they think this, they are wrong and acting unlawfully.
2. A claim is ‘closed’ if entitlement ends, but can be re-‘opened’ upon revision. This seems broadly correct, notwithstanding that they are using an unofficial term.

I agree with MrFinch. A “closed” claim doesn’t mean anything special. It just means DWP stops paying attention, removes all reminders for review and sends any current paperwork for archiving in Belfast (or wherever).

It doesn’t seem to make any difference in respect of appeal rights, but I do concede that it is a misleading way to talk about claims as it could discourage people from exercising appeal reconsideration/appeal rights.

P.S. Check p.688 of CPAG - it says the DM will consider IB claimants for ESA unless they turn SRP age before 6/4/14 - this applies to your client, n’est-ce pas?

I’m not seeing the problem with an ESA claim being “closed” on the DWP system when a claimant is found fit for work. The real issue is surely in how quickly/automatically it can be “re-opened” if and when a decision is reconsidered in the claimant’s favour.

Whether the claim is “open” or not, we know that a claimant can not actually receive assessment-rate ESA while a claim is being reconsidered. In fact many claimants would not want a non-paying ESA claim remaining “open” on the DWP system, as it would probably prevent them making a successful JSA claim in the meantime (this is a practical observation based on how the DWP computer system seems to work, rather than a consequence of regulation).

She told me it didnt matter, and that every single ESA claim gets closed without exception after failure to score 15 points.

If this was a DM, I hope she is aware of the non-functional descriptors, reg 29 etc…

Is claiming Pension Credit an option for your client?

PC applicable from end of March 2014.

Your client appears to be of PC age now (64)- any reason why he has to wait until end of March to claim?

My apologies. I got my facts a bit mixed up regarding his age. His pension credit entitlement is from march, not his SRP. He is 62, not 64. Sorry for any confusion. Im having one of those weeks!