RSS medical

I have my Esa medical tomorrow. Can I give them additional written info to the effect that I believe exceptional circumstances apply to me because I have been on medication for years, I have tried twice to go back to work (albeit a few years ago) and that trying to deal with job seeking in my early 60s after 25 years of mental health problems would make my aspects of my illness worse? Or should I save that argument for an appeal? Also will they refer back automatically to my previous assessment when their decision was revised on appeal? Apologies if this isn't appropriate for this forum Thanks

Hi 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

There is no point withholding information that might help you get an award of ESA without having to go through MR and appeal.

If you want to argue that the exceptional circumstances rules apply to you, the onus is completely on you to prove your point. You must show that 1) you suffer from specific conditions 2) there is a real chance that you would come to appreciable harm if you were not found unfit for work and (if you hope to meet Support Group criteria) if you had to undertake Work Focused Interviews/Activity. This is explained in detail in the ESA guide

ESA claims and appeals

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 ESA without having to start a new topic each time. We ask members to keep everything relating to the same claim in one topic as it helps us enormously - and I hope you will find it useful too