The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) says 1,000 people could be eligible for a special payment due to a mistake by the agency. Scores of people received less money than they should have done after being told to claim the wrong benefit.
Those eligible to claim are those who made a claim for Income Support due to a disability or health condition on or after January 31 in 2011. The DWP told these claimants to get Income Support, but they should have been told to get Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), the Mirror reports.
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If you are still receiving Income Support, you will be entitled to a payment if both of the following apply:
- You made a claim for Income Support on or after January 31, 2011 because of a disability or health condition
- You were not getting Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) when you made the Income Support claim
If you have moved onto income-related ESA or Universal Credit, you will be eligible if the following apply:
- You made a claim for Income Support on or after January 31, 2011 because of a disability or health condition
- You were not getting Incapacity Benefit or Severe Disablement Allowance when you made that Income Support claim
- You had a Work Capability Assessment when you moved from Income Support to income-related ESA or Universal Credit and you were found to have "limited capability for work" or "limited capability for work and work related activity"
Those eligible can contact their local Job Centre and ask about the "income support claims review exercise." The DWP will investigate and if they find you were paid less than you would have been, you will be paid the difference.
The DWP told the Mirror that it expects the overall cost of the payouts "to be low" but could not give an estimate for what the average payout would be. The scheme will be offered "as long as there are applications" and if the DWP has not received applications for six months, it will review it.
A DWP spokesperson told the Mirror: "We have identified an administrative error affecting a small number of Income Support claimants and encourage anyone who thinks they may have been affected to check if they're eligible for a special payment."
