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esa support group
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6 years 10 months ago #192089 by ambofoster
esa support group was created by ambofoster
Hi I am new on here - been on ESA since April 2016 - ESA contributory finished this year on 24th April 2017 as only allowed money for 52 weeks - had five assessments from oct onwards cancelled on me - two of which i turned up on the day and they then said couldnt do - eventually - after ESA finished and no more payments received after end of april - I finally got my assessment on 26 May.... got decision on phone on 16th June saying i was fit for work albeit it limited capability of perhaps an hour a week - the lady on phone said!! I then got letter - with all the hassle of payments being stopped etc and their mistakes various over the year too each of which ive had to ask for assistance to help sort out etc - my friend typing this for me tonight as want to get mandatory reconsideration letter done tonight too - not happy with the report of the assessor too - as she quite clearly doesnt know me - made her own assessments on what i said and what she observed too - can anyone assist me please - ?? seen that there are exceptions too under sec 29 of the ESA regulations which may apply not sure how up to date these are ??
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6 years 10 months ago #192090 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic esa support group
Ambo
Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is
Welcome to Benefits and Work
I have had to move your post to it's own topic, you have replied to a post from four months ago!
The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our ESA MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the ESA area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1
Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;
"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"
than their opinions
"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.
I would go through your ESA50, the assessment report and our ESA Claim guides to make sure that you meet the criteria for an award.
Do you know whether you would meet the criteria for Income Related ESA? If you don't then the only award of ESA that will put your claim back into payment would be if you are placed in the Support Group.
If yo have further questions then please reply to this post and we will do our best to help.
Gordon
Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is
Welcome to Benefits and Work
I have had to move your post to it's own topic, you have replied to a post from four months ago!
The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our ESA MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the ESA area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1
Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;
"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"
than their opinions
"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.
I would go through your ESA50, the assessment report and our ESA Claim guides to make sure that you meet the criteria for an award.
Do you know whether you would meet the criteria for Income Related ESA? If you don't then the only award of ESA that will put your claim back into payment would be if you are placed in the Support Group.
If yo have further questions then please reply to this post and we will do our best to help.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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6 years 10 months ago #192113 by ambofoster
Replied by ambofoster on topic esa support group
Thank you Gordon. Yes we went through your esa claim on line and it actually assessed me into the support group. One of issues I have is the gastric reflux. Causes me to choke when eating not all the time as I'm very careful what I eat too. But am anxious when out and eating which is very rare. The assessor put can clearly eat and drink using right hand no problems seen. She didn't observe me dong either. It even a glass of water. I advised her to of reflux problems but all she's put is on medication and careful what she eats.
It seems this is a exceptional one that's given me the 15 points.
As regards walking from being dropped off which was prob just over 100 yes and coming down steps to front foot. She put managed to walk unaided and down ten steps. What she didn't see was me using the wall as support and stopping a few times too. And the steps yes I got down them but in pain and using handrail for support. !!
There are a few contradictions too in her reporting where she's clearly just cut and pasted text to another section and not listened to what I've said.
I will look at link thank you for now.
I've just used voice record on phone to do this so much easier lol.
It seems this is a exceptional one that's given me the 15 points.
As regards walking from being dropped off which was prob just over 100 yes and coming down steps to front foot. She put managed to walk unaided and down ten steps. What she didn't see was me using the wall as support and stopping a few times too. And the steps yes I got down them but in pain and using handrail for support. !!
There are a few contradictions too in her reporting where she's clearly just cut and pasted text to another section and not listened to what I've said.
I will look at link thank you for now.
I've just used voice record on phone to do this so much easier lol.
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6 years 10 months ago #192133 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic esa support group
Ambo
Two things for you to consider.
The Chewing or swallowing food or drink activity uses the word "cannot", it may be possible to argue that this does not mean "never", but you would need to show that you are affected in this way for a significant portion of the time, far greater than the normal majority of the time, your post does not suggest that this is the case.
ESA is not a walking test, it is a Mobility test! In addition to your walking it considers your ability to self-propel a manual wheelchair over the same distances, you do not need to be using a wheelchair or even to own one for it to be considered. SO even if you can show your walking is restricted, unless you can also show that you cannot self-propel the wheelchair you will still not score points.
Gordon
Two things for you to consider.
The Chewing or swallowing food or drink activity uses the word "cannot", it may be possible to argue that this does not mean "never", but you would need to show that you are affected in this way for a significant portion of the time, far greater than the normal majority of the time, your post does not suggest that this is the case.
ESA is not a walking test, it is a Mobility test! In addition to your walking it considers your ability to self-propel a manual wheelchair over the same distances, you do not need to be using a wheelchair or even to own one for it to be considered. SO even if you can show your walking is restricted, unless you can also show that you cannot self-propel the wheelchair you will still not score points.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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