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ESA Tribunal this week.
- LadyLuna
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7 years 1 month ago #185031 by LadyLuna
ESA Tribunal this week. was created by LadyLuna
Well it seems a lifetime away since I first realised I had lost my ESA and the Tribunal is this week. My appeal is to prove good cause for not attending an assessment after being assured I would be being assessed for a Home Assessment. All the evidence is in I just have to hope for the best.
I have applied to go to the Tribunal as a family member can take and accompany me and I can be dropped off at the front door of the Tribunal.
If I win this I gather I will need a medical assessment? Will I be given a Home Assessment or can I respectfully request a Paper Based Assessment?
Also if I win this will I get any back payment of ESA? I sent in a MED3 form which covers me til the end of March.
If I win this appeal will I be paid any ESA until I am re-assessed?
Is it likely I will be re-assessed and turned down and have to re-appeal?
On the PIP front, the PIP2 has been with Atos for 7 weeks. I telephoned them and they said I was on the list for a Home Assessment, but there is an extremely long waiting list. Any ideas how long I may have to wait for an assessment?
Many thanks
I have applied to go to the Tribunal as a family member can take and accompany me and I can be dropped off at the front door of the Tribunal.
If I win this I gather I will need a medical assessment? Will I be given a Home Assessment or can I respectfully request a Paper Based Assessment?
Also if I win this will I get any back payment of ESA? I sent in a MED3 form which covers me til the end of March.
If I win this appeal will I be paid any ESA until I am re-assessed?
Is it likely I will be re-assessed and turned down and have to re-appeal?
On the PIP front, the PIP2 has been with Atos for 7 weeks. I telephoned them and they said I was on the list for a Home Assessment, but there is an extremely long waiting list. Any ideas how long I may have to wait for an assessment?
Many thanks
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7 years 1 month ago #185066 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA Tribunal this week.
LL
If you win the Tribunal then your original ESA claim will be "restarted" from the point it terminated, which was your waiting for an assessment. I think the issues that required a face to face assessment will still be in play so a paper assessment would seem unlikely, but given the issues surrounding your appeal, I would think that a home assessment would be reasonable. The Tribunal can recommend this but cannot require it.
Your ESA payments should be re-instated from the day after they were stopped at the rate you were receiving at that time, this will include back payment of any missed payments.
It's impossible to say whether your reassessment will be successful or not, but this appeal would not have an effect on the outcome. If the award is not what you hoped for then a new right of appeal would be created.
As to the PIP, I'm afraid I don't know there are no statistics on wait times.
Good luck for the appeal.
Gordon
If you win the Tribunal then your original ESA claim will be "restarted" from the point it terminated, which was your waiting for an assessment. I think the issues that required a face to face assessment will still be in play so a paper assessment would seem unlikely, but given the issues surrounding your appeal, I would think that a home assessment would be reasonable. The Tribunal can recommend this but cannot require it.
Your ESA payments should be re-instated from the day after they were stopped at the rate you were receiving at that time, this will include back payment of any missed payments.
It's impossible to say whether your reassessment will be successful or not, but this appeal would not have an effect on the outcome. If the award is not what you hoped for then a new right of appeal would be created.
As to the PIP, I'm afraid I don't know there are no statistics on wait times.
Good luck for the appeal.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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7 years 1 month ago #185089 by LadyLuna
Replied by LadyLuna on topic ESA Tribunal this week.
Thank you Gordon.
I now have all the evidence from DWP. Phone calls I made to Maximus are not logged. No evidence of all my phone calls with DWP have been provided. I would have thought print outs of all calls would have been provided?
They have stated I didn't send back the form showing good cause for non-attendance, but I had telephoned DWP the day I got it and discussed this whole matter with them. I know from speaking to DWP that a very comprehensive set of notes were taken and passed on to the DM with regards good cause, yet they still claim I never contacted them. I asked the person who took the notes twice, if I needed to return the form and I was assured I had provided comprehensive reasons and I didn't need to send back the form.
How would I broach this at the Tribunal?
I also found out both the original Dr they contacted and the new Dr I had only seen once didn't really mention anything about my mobility issues, so I can understand where the confusion lies and I now have 2 letters from Dr's asking for home visits.
What sort of things may the Tribunal question me over this? I agree it's inconsistent but one Dr I have never seen and also sent very scant and out of date notes and one Dr I had only spoken to for 5 minutes.
Also the physiotherapist who looked over my ESA50 stated I should be seen by a Dr or neurologist as she couldn't determine my disability. But also said it was obvious from my ESA50 I had no trouble getting to assessments. Just not true. Will I be able to discuss anything about that at the Tribunal?
Last question, sorry, I found my report from 2012 f2f which explained my mobility issues. It explained the difficulty I had at the assessment. Can I quote from that at the Tribunal to say they knew I had issues with this foot and in 2014 gave me a paper based assessment based on the same evidence, or is it too old and would be considered out of date?
Thank you.
I now have all the evidence from DWP. Phone calls I made to Maximus are not logged. No evidence of all my phone calls with DWP have been provided. I would have thought print outs of all calls would have been provided?
They have stated I didn't send back the form showing good cause for non-attendance, but I had telephoned DWP the day I got it and discussed this whole matter with them. I know from speaking to DWP that a very comprehensive set of notes were taken and passed on to the DM with regards good cause, yet they still claim I never contacted them. I asked the person who took the notes twice, if I needed to return the form and I was assured I had provided comprehensive reasons and I didn't need to send back the form.
How would I broach this at the Tribunal?
I also found out both the original Dr they contacted and the new Dr I had only seen once didn't really mention anything about my mobility issues, so I can understand where the confusion lies and I now have 2 letters from Dr's asking for home visits.
What sort of things may the Tribunal question me over this? I agree it's inconsistent but one Dr I have never seen and also sent very scant and out of date notes and one Dr I had only spoken to for 5 minutes.
Also the physiotherapist who looked over my ESA50 stated I should be seen by a Dr or neurologist as she couldn't determine my disability. But also said it was obvious from my ESA50 I had no trouble getting to assessments. Just not true. Will I be able to discuss anything about that at the Tribunal?
Last question, sorry, I found my report from 2012 f2f which explained my mobility issues. It explained the difficulty I had at the assessment. Can I quote from that at the Tribunal to say they knew I had issues with this foot and in 2014 gave me a paper based assessment based on the same evidence, or is it too old and would be considered out of date?
Thank you.
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- Gordon
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7 years 1 month ago #185110 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA Tribunal this week.
LL
There is still an opportunity for you to contact the TS about the missing documents, however, if they pursue the matter with the DWP then it may result in your hearing being adjourned for the DWP to provide the information, they may also take the view that you have had five weeks to highlight that the information was missing and do not appear to have done so.
As to the panel, I think it will be down to whether they consider you a credible witness or not, if they do and there is no reason why they should not then they should accept your word about the calls.
This is about your failure to attend so it's difficult to say how the panel will view your GP's letters, your view that you should have received a home assessment certainly contributed to your reasons for not attending, however, this is offset against your having a letter confirming an assessment at the AP's offices that was not withdrawn.
One thing to be aware of, this isn't a trial although it may seem like one, there's no presentation of the prosecution case and then the defence's, the panel and this may just be a Judge, will as you questions about what happened and you will be given an opportunity at the end of the hearing to raise any points that you feel are important or have been missed, but the bulk of the time will be taken up by the panel's questions.
If you have not submitted the 2012 report as evidence then I think it unlikely that the panel will place any weight on a document they have not seen, however, this does not prevent you from referring to it and seeing what happens.
Gordon
There is still an opportunity for you to contact the TS about the missing documents, however, if they pursue the matter with the DWP then it may result in your hearing being adjourned for the DWP to provide the information, they may also take the view that you have had five weeks to highlight that the information was missing and do not appear to have done so.
As to the panel, I think it will be down to whether they consider you a credible witness or not, if they do and there is no reason why they should not then they should accept your word about the calls.
This is about your failure to attend so it's difficult to say how the panel will view your GP's letters, your view that you should have received a home assessment certainly contributed to your reasons for not attending, however, this is offset against your having a letter confirming an assessment at the AP's offices that was not withdrawn.
One thing to be aware of, this isn't a trial although it may seem like one, there's no presentation of the prosecution case and then the defence's, the panel and this may just be a Judge, will as you questions about what happened and you will be given an opportunity at the end of the hearing to raise any points that you feel are important or have been missed, but the bulk of the time will be taken up by the panel's questions.
If you have not submitted the 2012 report as evidence then I think it unlikely that the panel will place any weight on a document they have not seen, however, this does not prevent you from referring to it and seeing what happens.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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7 years 1 month ago #185119 by LadyLuna
Replied by LadyLuna on topic ESA Tribunal this week.
Thank you very much Gordon. It only dawned on me today that I should have asked for telephone records.
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