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Taken Off ESA 0 Points

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7 years 5 months ago #169612 by elainep
Taken Off ESA 0 Points was created by elainep
Hi
Its my first time on the forum. My son received a phone call saying that his ESA was ending because he scored 0 points on his assessment. He has been on ESA for about 2 years and on the enhanced rate of both parts of PIP. He is waiting for the official letter from DWP. My questions are should be apply for JSA straight away? Will his housing benefit be affected? If he wins his appeal(s) will he receive his original ESA payment or will it be treated as a new claim?

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7 years 5 months ago #169625 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Taken Off ESA 0 Points

elie wrote: Hi
Its my first time on the forum. My son received a phone call saying that his ESA was ending because he scored 0 points on his assessment. He has been on ESA for about 2 years and on the enhanced rate of both parts of PIP. He is waiting for the official letter from DWP. My questions are should be apply for JSA straight away? Will his housing benefit be affected? If he wins his appeal(s) will he receive his original ESA payment or will it be treated as a new claim?


The ESA team usually book an appointment for the claimant with their local JC+ office when they have made a Fit for Work Decision, did they for your son?

Claiming JSA (or Universal Credit if he is in a Digitally Live area), is up to your son, however, there is not other benefit that he will be eligible for. If he is going to challenge the Decision then once he has made a claim and it has been accepted then he can present a Fit Note and should be excused from any Job Search requirement. It's 13 weeks for JSA, I don't what it is for UC but believe that it is less.

His HB will stop but if he contacts them immediately and explains the situation then he should be able to make a nil income claim and if he claims JSA or UC it should be re-activated.

An MR or Appeal re-makes the original Decision so it would be a continuation of his original claim. What he receives will depend on the result of the challenge, he can be placed in the WRAG as well as having his SG award re-instated.

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for him 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 his 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

He should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report (ESA85) if he has not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once he has the assessment report he 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.

His primary task is to show that he meets the criteria, there are many reasons he may have failed, he needs to address each of these but should try not to get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless he 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 he has a better idea of the issues with his 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
The following user(s) said Thank You: James45

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7 years 5 months ago #169675 by elainep
Replied by elainep on topic Taken Off ESA 0 Points
Thank you Gordon for your reply.

My son phoned the ESA local office to ask if he should still attend his appointment next week and they said that he should. They advised that he claimed JSA right away while he was waiting for a decsiion.
He then went ahead and phoned DWP to make a claim for JSA and was given an appointment at the JC on Tuesday.
It was interesting to read that he can ask his doctor for a Fit Note and that he should be excused from looking for work for 13 weeks. Once he knows if he will receive JSA he will go ahead and do that.
He is still waiting for the decision letter from DWP about his ESA ending. He telephoned them yesterday but they just said wait for the letter and then request a Mandatory Decision.
Will they send the report ESA85 with his letter or is it something you have to request? Is the ESA85 the report that the health professional wrote when he had his assessment?
Again many thanks for your help.

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7 years 5 months ago #169725 by slugsta
Replied by slugsta on topic Taken Off ESA 0 Points
Hi elie,

Yes, the ESA85 is the assessor's report. It is not sent out routinely, your son will have to contact DWP and ask for it. This can be done by phone but we usually suggest that it is also followed up in writing.

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: elainep

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7 years 5 months ago #170271 by elainep
Replied by elainep on topic Taken Off ESA 0 Points
It is now 9 days since the DWP phoned and left a message for my son asking him to call back.
He phoned back the next day to be told he was being taken off ESA.
Still no letter from DWP.
He now has less than three weeks to put in a Mandatory Reconsideration!
Is this usual practise from DWP?
My son has phoned on a number of occasions only to be told to wait for the letter to arrive before asking for the Mandatory Reconsideration.
time is moving on and I am worried that he will run out of time.
Any suggestions?

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7 years 5 months ago #170272 by elainep
Replied by elainep on topic Taken Off ESA 0 Points
Oh and I forgot to say, when he asked if a copy of the ESA85 form would be sent with his letter the DWP person he spoke to said she didn't know what that form was!

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