Has anyone got any help or advise please…
I was told yesterday by a very rude employee at the ESA dept, that I have not been entitled to ESA that I have been receiving, they want me to pay back to them 8 months money…The reason for this is because I failed the medical they sent me for, and did not go to the tribunal in June last year, how can they do this? Surely this can’t be right. I have been geeting sick notes from the Dr and sending them in, and in return they have been paying me £67.00…I have been through mastectomy, chemo, had my gall bladder removed, had some repair work done on my chest, moved house and now going through a very messy divorce.I am now on anti-depressants,to help me get through this period because I have been feeling very very low.I could not sleep last night having been told this only yesteday, I have a very bad migraine this morning and feeling really rough…
Can they really make me pay back money which I honestly thought I was entitled to?
hi there,
i dont know personally the in and outs of this sort of thing, but if i was you i would ring the helpline on here or the one on macmillan site to see if they can advise you. also i think citizens advice will probably know about this type of issue and advise you accordingly.
hope you get this sorted out.
TTM xxx
I wasn’t entitled to it, and have had nothing to live on sinse september last year.
We had almost identicle thing happen with tax credits a few years ago, and yes we had to pay it back.
Northern bird
ring the ESA again speak to CAB and also Macmillan,
I have had a battle to get ESA and am sure will have problems in the future…
The more advice you can get the better, ask the ESA to put in writing their reasons for request to repay and then you can take this to the CAB or macmillan
good luck
julie x x
Thank you for both replies, Im going to citizens advise next week…
So sorry you had this horrible experience; ESA seem to be the pits when it comes to humanity, compassion or a flair for customer service. Realistically even if they are in the right - and i’m not saying who is right or wrong, it’s very complicated - but they know you would not be able to repay eight months money all in one go, and they would have to accept a reasonable offer of instalments. Even debt collectors have to go by this. So in the meantime, work out what level of minimal payments you might be able to afford if it went their way; then if it goes your way, it’s all gain. Macmillan and or CAB could guide you as to what level of instalment would be seen as a reasonable offer based on the amount in dispute and your other resources (if any).
Do check with macmillan too, they are brilliant, and all the very best of luck.
Thank you for your reply…
Hi Northern Bird
I haven’t posted on the forums for over a year or so but felt the need to do so to try and put your mind at ease.
I was in the situation as you are in May, I was also told they were looking into me paying the money back as after the tribunal decision I should not have had anymore ESA.
As it happened I didn’t have to pay anything back. I was doing exactly the same as you, sending sicknotes so really fault was at there end as it was upto them to stop the benefit and advise me accordingly, and I would have claimed Job Seekers as my job had been made redundant.
I was also just getting the basic which is the same as Job seekers.
I hope this helps a little