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Short Term Benefit Advances
We are hoping to do some social policy work on the fact that we have been unable to get even ONE of our clients a STBA. We are stuck in a loop of DWP refusing STBA saying client needs to get Local Assistance and LA saying client needs to get STBA.
I know there are some circs where STBA cannot be paid but even our experienced advisers who know how to argue the point are not getting anywhere when we feel payment should be made. Even getting nowhere with escalation number.
Does anyone out there have more positive experiences or is it the same everywhere?
Funny, as a member of our local authorities Welfare Rights team popped into our project yesterday saying the same thing.
She was promised STBA twice by JC+ for a client but they always found some mickey mouse excuse to get out of paying it.
She asked us if we ever managed to get an STBA.
No.
Ditto here.
Has anyone? Surely one of us must have had a STBA success at some point…anyone…?
Tumbleweeds…..................................
Yes I have helped get a tenant a STBA. She had an ESA claim in and hadn’t had a decision so I rang with her present and they gave her a £80 STBA pending benefit being paid.
Our Local Authority have a recorded message when people ring them saying something along the lines of - If you are ringing for local welfare provision and need money because you are waiting for your ESA/JSA/Income Support claim to be processed please call the Jobcentre to request a short term benefit advance.
Initially I understand Jobcentres were telling everyone to ring the LA for anything that sounded like a Crisis Loan but now accept if money is needed due to their delay in processing new benefits claims it is for them to pay a STBA.
Is it because of delays in getting benefit that your team are requesting them? Can you request MR’s of STBA decisions? Haven’t needed to look in to this yet.
Ditto here.
Has anyone? Surely one of us must have had a STBA success at some point…anyone…?
Oxfordshire abolished it support fund from 1 April. Our experience is now that DWP look down an on-line list, see that there is no alternative fund in our area and will consider and award a STBA!
Perhaps you should all ask your local authorities to abolish their provision?
There is no right of MR or appeal against a refusal of a STBA because, according to the DWP, you can’t apply for one and there is no decision issued. It is a discretion for them to make a payment. We have had endless arguments at Operational Stakeholders with them about cases where they may get it wrong and that there needs to be a way of challenging. A lot of the problems seem to arise because you can only get one if you are ‘likely to be’ awarded benefit. The cases which take the longest to process, and therefore most likely to need a STBA, are where there is a problem and there has to be an assessment about likelihood eg producing paperwork in DV cases, proving R2R - the DWP refuse to accept that wrong decisions could be made particularly in such cases.
At the moment all you can do is complain but we have recently acquired a contact relatively high up in the DWP JC+ who says he is happy to be emailed where there are problems with the customer journey - I think these problems would apply.
The email address is .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Hope that helps - would be interested to hear how you get on
Agree with Daphne about the lack of appeal rights, however unless ousted by statute there will usually be a common law right of review against decisions made under discretionary powers of public authorities.