ESA Tribunal

Hello there, my son's tribunal is set for the 22nd November.
He was diagnosed with Crohn's disease three years ago when he was 21 and at university. He came out of university as the Crohns was bad and has never been in remission. Anyway, to the point, he started claiming ESA in February of this year, had the healthcare professional interview and failed to score any points because he was too embarrassed to mention certain problems.
I would like to know if anyone can give me some insight as to whether Crohns Disease is frowned upon at ESA tribunals please, any assistance would be much appreciated.

Hi Angie and 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

ESA is awarded if the claimant meets very specific criteria rather than particular diagnoses. Your son will only be awarded ESA by showing the tribunal panel exactly how/why he meets those descriptors.

Qualifying for the WRAG

Qualifying for the Support Group

In addition, these might be useful

Preparing for a Tribunal

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/forum?view=topic&catid=10&id=87354

This youtube video should help



May I suggest that you bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future? This will allow you to return with further questions or comments about your son's ESA without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one topic - and I hope you will find it useful too

Thank you for your quick response, I'll read all the links you've kindly sent and I'll be in touch if I have anymore questions.

Hi Angie,

Tribunals are fully focused on establishing whether the appellant scores points or meets the criteria for ESA. They are usually very sensitive when questioning an appellant about his problems.

If there is any crucial information that could help score points but your son feels too embarrassed to talk about it, perhaps he could put it in a letter?

This could either be posted, preferably at least ten days in advance of the hearing, or provided it's a short letter it can be handed to the clerk to the tribunal on the day of the hearing.

Good luck,

Derek

Hi Derek,

Thank you for your advise, I think it's a great idea that my son puts it in a letter, unfortunately I have a feeling he won't attend the hearing, as he's already becoming quite anxious. I wonder if you would know if it's possible for me to attend the hearing alone, I am his named representative after all, I can't find anything on the forms stating otherwise.

Kind regards,
Angie.