Income support question

[AppleBlossom]

I applied for income support on 5th Feb and, because I am a single parent, had an interview at the job centre the week after. They told me I'm eligible but because I was on maternity allowance I might as well wait until it was up as I got more of that a week than I would income support. I have just rang up and they have taken my details off the system, which has annoyed me because after the 40 minute call they made to me to take my details where they knew I was on MA and still I had to go for an hour and a half interview just for them to tell me to re-apply at the end of it all. The guy on the phone told me I would have to make a new claim. I have done it online and sent it off but I just thought they aren't going to backdate it are they? I was really relying on that money being backdated from my original claim as I am struggling at the minute. Is there anyway I can still get it backdated or will they just backdate it from today when I had to send off a new claim? They do have proof I claimed earlier because although they didn't have my details they still had my interview details on file

 

[FierceAngel]

i would apply to have it backdated and if they dont then appeal..

hope they do backdate it for you

i had all this but the other way round coming off incap benefit onto ma.. IB took four weeks to close my claim so tht MA could start paying me! they stopped paying my IB straight away though!

 

[AppleBlossom]

Thanks, if they dont backdate I'll appeal, it's not my fault they decided to put me through the entire process only to tell me there was no point in me getting it yet!

 

[Always&4ever]

Yes if they don't backdate it then send in a letter explaining and they should sort it for you x

 

[Abz1982]

Can you get MA and Income support at the same time tho? As if you are currently on MA, which is higher, and then once that ends you get Income support - surely they will only backdate it to the end of the MA.

https://www.dwp.gov.uk/advisers/ni17a/ma/ma_13.asp

It says here that the MA would reduce what Income support you would recieve, there for if the guy said that MA is better as its more, then there isn't really anything to be backdated.

 

[AppleBlossom]

If that's the case though, my mat allowance ended on March 19th so I guess I would still get a quite a bit backdated? Will just see what they say when I go to the interview again

 

[babezone]

yer al the time u were recieving nothing they shud bak date it.....but thn thy cud say its ur own fault for not putting the claim in just as MA was ending...obv if u did put in a claim in march u shud b fine hun xx

 

[Mynxie]

If MA is higher than IS, you won't be able to claim both, and if I'm right, they wouldn't backdate it anyway.

 

[Serene123]

They won't backdate it because you didn't claim as soon as your MA was up x

 

[Always&4ever]

Ooh I thought you had re-claimed after your MA was up, sorry hon