ESA claim turned down!!!!!

janie68
janie68 Member Posts: 1,186
edited 15. Sep 2009, 08:21 in Living with Arthritis archive
Well I applied for ESA a couple of weeks ago, and got the letter on Friday to say that I have not paid enough NI contributions!!

Well that is a bit strange as I have been in full time employment since 2006 and have been paid well I will say approx over £19k each year so that's not right is it??

I have found out my P60 for the tax years they are referring to and will send then recorded delivery tomorrow.
I think it is a ploy by the govt so that you will go back to work if thery say you won't get ESA.

It creates unneccessary stress for people this does and I will be complaining about it.

:x :x

Janie

Comments

  • sharmaine
    sharmaine Member Posts: 1,638
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Janie
    I'm currently receiving ESA. How many years of NI contributions do you have to earn? I didn't know that NI contributions mattered. Why don't they tell you these things before? I worked full time for 3 years (I had a year off before that) and worked on/off for 15 years prior to that.

    Good luck and I hope you get sorted soon.

    Wars/weapons are expensive and I suppose the government will be making cuts anyway they can to ensure the books balance.

    Regards
    Sharmaine
    janie68 wrote:
    Well I applied for ESA a couple of weeks ago, and got the letter on Friday to say that I have not paid enough NI contributions!!

    Well that is a bit strange as I have been in full time employment since 2006 and have been paid well I will say approx over £19k each year so that's not right is it??

    I have found out my P60 for the tax years they are referring to and will send then recorded delivery tomorrow.
    I think it is a ploy by the govt so that you will go back to work if thery say you won't get ESA.

    It creates unneccessary stress for people this does and I will be complaining about it.

    :x :x

    Janie
  • woodbon
    woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    HI, I get ESA, but my first applicaion was turned down for the same reasons. As I'd beeb employed and paying contributions since leaving school, (I'm 54) I immediatly rang the number on the letter. They told me that the reason they turned me down was they had LOST my P60, which they insist you send the orginial of, for me they wanted 2006 to 2007 and the next year 2007 to 2008. Luckily, I had photocopied the orginal documents before sending them, so I had a record, otherwise they wanted pay slips for the year 2007.

    The outcome was I sent a copy of a copy and they accepted that. I sent it by recorded delivery, just in case! I have been awarded the £64 a week, backdated to the orginal claim!!! :D I could have fainted when I opened the letter. Anyway if I where you, I'd phone them straight away and ask the exact reason and how much you need to earn, if they seem cagey, as they did with me.

    Their is another way of claiming, and that is on income and savings and so is means tested. It means I would'nt have quailifed as my husband works and earns too much. Now theirs a joke for you :!:

    The very best of good luck and I really hope that you can get something sorted, don't forget DLA either. Lots of love Sue
    PS sorry for the long story, but it seems the best way to explain it :!:
  • frogmorton
    frogmorton Member Posts: 29,971
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    Hi Janie
    That is a b***er!!!
    I hope you have solved the problem for them by finding your P60s.
    Good luck and I will cross my fingers for you.
    Toni x
  • shelleymogui
    shelleymogui Member Posts: 88
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    We had exactly the same thing. before my Dad went and worked over in Spain he phoned people up re: tax, NI and pensions to ask if there was anything he needed to do before leaving or if he had to set up any automatic payemnts.

    Everything came back and NI had said 'no no you have paid the maximum amount', we didnt realise this was for the pension, not the normal NI. When we applied for ESA they refused on NI contributions. We went to the Jobcentre and they told us to send the form anyway with the original sick notes (which i was cagey about doing and photocopied EVERYTHING just incase)

    Anyway turns out they carried on with the forms as they would do but they try you for means tested and what have you so we are still carrying on now with whatever forms they send us (Have just had a random one about property......he is living with me!). Have just finished the ESA50 form and so hopefully will have medical assessment soon. Also while you are being assessed for ESA you should be receiving money anyway, which we arent. When dad phoned about this they said that they had a big delay as alot of applications but when they do get to your case it is back logged to your first sicknote......I damn hope so cos its getting tough now haha.

    It really is a con at the beginning, the forms themselves are a test to see if you'll keep going and have will and determination to do it all.

    Hope all works out for you and keep us posted.

    xx
  • topcatt
    topcatt Member Posts: 63
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    There is an excellent website called 'benefits and work' which has guides to all these problems about benefit and I would recommend them as they were a great help to me when I had to go to appeal. Unfortunately the only way thru is to keep lugging away and keep phoning etc., because each time you do someone will tell you something different and you just keep going until you get someone to tell you something right!!! Contributions also depend on whether you paid a married womans stamp or full stamp as far as I know and of course if you had child benefit you would have been credited with NI contributions during that period. Hope this helps :)
  • woodbon
    woodbon Member Posts: 4,969
    edited 30. Nov -1, 00:00
    I didn't realise you'd lost your P60. They can find out what you've paid, they do have records, its just that they don't like it. I know because I asked them, I said if you don't have records of the income how can the tax office send bills and does all the money you collect go down a black hole never to be seen again. She told me it took time for them to do a search, and they didn't like doing it. Luckily I had a copy of the P60 I had sent and so I copied it again and sent it. When they wrote with the correct ESA and backpay, they sent back the p60 they had lost with a note saying it had been mislaid! :shock: Don't give in yet, carry on fighting! Some of the staff are good but some hopeless. Love Sue