I made a claim for income support on 08 April 09 for a client in residential care home because of her disabilities. The claim was made by telephone and a claim pack was sent for the client to sign and send back. However the JCP never received a claim pack.
I did check with the home to see if anything had been sent back by the client and they believed it had and it had been done by the client.
I did not know until August 09 that there was no claim in payment at which point I had to make a new claim. The decision was that claims and payments regs 19 (7) and 19 (5) have been used not to backdate income support. Does anyone have any ideas to get paid back to telephone claim. Client has Schizo-affective disorder depressive type.

Up to 3 months backdating can be made, in your client’s case, under reg 19(5)(b) of the Claims and Payments Regs if “the claimant was ill or disabled, and it was not reasonably practicable for the claimant to obtain assistance from another person to make his claim”.

The phrase “not reasonably practicable for the claimant to obtain assistance from another person to make his claim” means that the emphasis is on the inability of the claimant to seek assistance and not whether there are people around who are in a position to offer assistance (see CIS/2057/1998). Assumptions cannot be made either way. Each case will turn on its own facts and supportive evidence will normally have to be adduced, although this is not a rule.