3 December 2009
A Benefits and Work member has had their employment and support allowance suspended, seemingly on the grounds that they are unable to travel through time.
Last week our member, who was in receipt of ESA, received a letter from the DWP dated 25 November 2009.
The letter informed him that his ESA had been suspended with effect from 8th November 2009 because of his failure to return a work capability questionnaire.
The letter went on to tell our member that the questionnaire had been sent to him on 25 November 2009, after which he would have had six weeks in which to complete and return it.
It added that a reminder to return the questionnaire had been sent to our member on 25 November 2009, after which he would have had a further two weeks to complete and return it.
In fact, our member never received any such questionnaire, let alone a reminder or, for that matter, a key to the tardis.
On the face of it, this is an entertaining error by a government department that seems to be falling apart before our very eyes. The reality, of course, is that not only has our member’s ESA been suspended in the run up to Christmas, but that other benefits such as housing benefit and council tax benefit may also be affected.
Any claimant who has had to try to clear up this sort of administrative mess will know just what a nightmare it can quickly turn into.
If it isn’t put right rapidly, we very much hope our member will follow the example of the claimants we featured in last week’s article: How some claimants get thousands of £££ in DWP compensation.
