What DWP benefits have been underpaid and can I claim compensation for missed prescriptions and disability payments?
70,000 of Britain's poorest have been underpaid as much as £20,000 each. Here is how to find out if you have been underpaid and how to get your money back.
THOUSANDS of severely disabled and ill people claiming Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) have been underpaid up to a total of £500 million since 2011
A blunder by the Department for Work and Pensions meant that people who qualified for ESA were given the wrong benefits, on average losing out on £5000 per person.
Those most likely to be affected are those with the most limiting illnesses or disabilities, who transferred to ESA from older-style benefits between February 2011 and the end
of 2014.
When transferring from benefits to ESA there are two different types of ESA that you can receive, either contribution based ESA or income related ESA.
Crucially, income related ESA entitles you to premium payments of £32.55 a week for single people and £46.60 a week for couples.
It also entitles you to free prescriptions, free school meals, free dental care, free glasses, severe disability premiums, enhanced disability premiums, carer premiums, pensioner premiums and more.
The transfer process from old style benefits to ESA was an automated system that wrongly categorised over 70,000 people as needing contribution based ESA, meaning all those people missed out on premium payments as well as free prescriptions and school meals.
If you transferred over from older style benefits to contribution based ESA at at any time between 2011 and 2014 you may have been underpaid up to £20,000.
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Claiming compensation
Unfortunately all you can do for right now is wait. If the DWP thinks you might be affected they will contact you at some point between now and the first few months of 2019. Once the DWP has contacted you they estimate it will take 12 weeks for you to get the money owed to you. The DWP are aiming to pay everyone they think has a claim by April 2019.
- Identifying your case: The DWP will look at your records and assess wheter you have been underpaid.
- Sent Letter: Once the DWP have decided you were under paid you will be sent a letter. You have to respond to this letter to continue this process. If they can't contact you by post the DWP will try and get in touch by phone or post again, There will also be home visits for vulnerable claimants. There will eventually be a system for the next of kin of a claimant who has died to to get back the money their family member was owed.
- Claim assessment form: After you have got in contact with DWP they will send you a Employment and Support Allowance 'Claim Reassessment' form. This form details your income and can be filled out over the phone necessary.
- Decision made: With the 'Claim Assessment' form filled in and snet back, the DWP will then assess how much you are owed.
- Get Paid: Once the DWP has decided how much you are underpaid the DWP will pay you how much you are owed and if applicable adjust your future weekly benefits payments.
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