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ESA decline, no income, told to get a wheelchair
- Aloevera
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6 years 7 months ago #197603 by Aloevera
ESA decline, no income, told to get a wheelchair was created by Aloevera
Hello,
I wander if I can get some help. I applied for ESA, went to the assessment and my son drove me there, he came into the centre but he had to leave to return to work. I have a letter as evidence from my doctor that I can walk no more than 50 m and have to stop. I have osteoarthritis in multiple joints including my hands and numbness in my fingers and thumbs.
The DWP has written saying that I can get a wheelchair from the NHS, go back to work and if I have a storage problem, I can store my wheelchair at my place of work! I also suffer from IBS and I have at least one accident a week. My doctor also put that in his letter. DWP said that my pads can contain, and I can then change my clothes at work because I always carry a change of clothes with me. At home I have to wash and then change my clothes. I told the Assessor that my pads are insufficient, and she has ignored what I said.
I also told her that one of my medications gives me side effects. She has written "no side effects". She even put down a drug on the report that I have never heard of, and do not take! She also stated that I sat in a chair with no arms which is untrue. I sat in a chair with arms. I am unable to cope with a chair with no arms. HELP.
I need to do a Mandatory Consideration and I don't know how to do this. I have no income coming in because I am still waiting to hear about my PIP application. I phoned CABS and they told me to apply for Universal Credit. What should I do?
I also suffer from depression and anxiety and even though I take medication, this situation is not helping me.
I look forward to a reply. Thanks.
Regards
Aloevera
I wander if I can get some help. I applied for ESA, went to the assessment and my son drove me there, he came into the centre but he had to leave to return to work. I have a letter as evidence from my doctor that I can walk no more than 50 m and have to stop. I have osteoarthritis in multiple joints including my hands and numbness in my fingers and thumbs.
The DWP has written saying that I can get a wheelchair from the NHS, go back to work and if I have a storage problem, I can store my wheelchair at my place of work! I also suffer from IBS and I have at least one accident a week. My doctor also put that in his letter. DWP said that my pads can contain, and I can then change my clothes at work because I always carry a change of clothes with me. At home I have to wash and then change my clothes. I told the Assessor that my pads are insufficient, and she has ignored what I said.
I also told her that one of my medications gives me side effects. She has written "no side effects". She even put down a drug on the report that I have never heard of, and do not take! She also stated that I sat in a chair with no arms which is untrue. I sat in a chair with arms. I am unable to cope with a chair with no arms. HELP.
I need to do a Mandatory Consideration and I don't know how to do this. I have no income coming in because I am still waiting to hear about my PIP application. I phoned CABS and they told me to apply for Universal Credit. What should I do?
I also suffer from depression and anxiety and even though I take medication, this situation is not helping me.
I look forward to a reply. Thanks.
Regards
Aloevera
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- Gordon
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6 years 7 months ago #197623 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA decline, no income, told to get a wheelchair
Aloevera
Tackling your questions out of order.
If you are in a Universal Credit area then I would recommend that you get face to face advice before you make a claim, once you are on UC then you will not be able to return to what are now called "legacy benefits", payments for UC do not kick in for at least six weeks and you may still be required to seek work while waiting for an appeal.
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.
The ESA continence Descriptor has six elements all of which need to be met before you will score points, have a look at the ESA Claim guides for more information.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1
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
You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report (ESA85), if you have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.
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.
When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.
Gordon
Tackling your questions out of order.
If you are in a Universal Credit area then I would recommend that you get face to face advice before you make a claim, once you are on UC then you will not be able to return to what are now called "legacy benefits", payments for UC do not kick in for at least six weeks and you may still be required to seek work while waiting for an appeal.
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.
The ESA continence Descriptor has six elements all of which need to be met before you will score points, have a look at the ESA Claim guides for more information.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1
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
You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report (ESA85), if you have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.
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.
When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum 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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- Aloevera
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6 years 7 months ago #197632 by Aloevera
Replied by Aloevera on topic ESA decline, no income, told to get a wheelchair
Thanks Gordon
I am unable to propel a wheelchair. I am seeing my doctor next week, and I will ask him for a new letter. Here in Kent, these cost me £15 each time. I will also ask him to include my IBS problems, and this was in a letter sent with my ESA forms, but it only states my conditions. I want him to state how my condition affects me. There are so many LIES that the Assessor has put in my report. It angers me and I feel that this surely must be illegal. I suppose I cannot fight the DWP system. The Assessor will probably deny that I never said something when she failed to record it.. The ESA and PIP application process causes so much stress and anxiety. I applied for PIP last year and even went to court, but I was turned down. I now wait for my second PIP results. Gordon, thanks for your website and the guides that you kindly provide. They are a great help.
Best regards
Aloevera
I am unable to propel a wheelchair. I am seeing my doctor next week, and I will ask him for a new letter. Here in Kent, these cost me £15 each time. I will also ask him to include my IBS problems, and this was in a letter sent with my ESA forms, but it only states my conditions. I want him to state how my condition affects me. There are so many LIES that the Assessor has put in my report. It angers me and I feel that this surely must be illegal. I suppose I cannot fight the DWP system. The Assessor will probably deny that I never said something when she failed to record it.. The ESA and PIP application process causes so much stress and anxiety. I applied for PIP last year and even went to court, but I was turned down. I now wait for my second PIP results. Gordon, thanks for your website and the guides that you kindly provide. They are a great help.
Best regards
Aloevera
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