× Members

esa misadministration

More
7 years 16 hours ago #185807 by caz53
esa misadministration was created by caz53
My son went off sick from work when he was 19 in January 2015. He still had the same employer until Dec 2016 but was not fit to work. his diagnosis is fibromyalgia and raynauds syndrome. He had carpol tunnel surgery on both hands in march 2015. it was not completely successful. On 21 July 2015 he claimed esa. In July 2015 his symptoms were severe and he could not open a bottle of milk or walk very far he needed help with dressing. He had an assessment for pip with a doctor in august 2015 and he has pip at the lower level. he was re assessed in November 2016 and he continues to receive this benefit. His health has improved and whilst reading the gov website about returning to work we discovered he should have been assessed in 2015 for either the support group or the work related group. At present he is not in either. This assessment never took place he didn't receive any paperwork to fill-in and so has not had any support from a mentor and he also hasn't had the payments that this would generate . We have made a formal complaint to ESA, they have admitted that they have made an error and that my son is not the only one this has happened too. They now say the only way he can have the back pay is if he has to have his medical on the 18th April 2017 and there is a possibility he will not be eligible to esa at all so will not receive any back pay. They will make a decision on his health as it is now and not as it was in July 2015 20 months ago. When he filled in the form for the assessment 3 weeks ago we sent in all the forms from the pip assessment from august 2015 we believe this is evidence of his health when he applied for esa. He has started a part-time job self-employed and ESA helpline has said if he signs off ESA completely he will not receive any back pay and will have to go through the appeal process if the decision maker decides not to award esa. we are now thinking of escalating the complaint and put it in writing to DWP. he is hoping to sign off sick in the summer as long as it's his condition remains stable. He has been financially disadvantaged by not receiving his benefit. The government website says when there is a complaint they try and sort it out as soon as possible but the benefits helpline say he could be even assessed as not being sick at all now so still wouldn't get any back pay at all. We cannot see how they can make a decision about his health in July 2015 at a medical on 18 April 2017. Sorry for being so long winded, any help please

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
7 years 15 hours ago #185826 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic esa misadministration
Caz

I'm sorry but the following is not bery positive.

I would certainly make a complaint but the reality is that there is nothing that you can do about the situation, the DWP will undoubtedly take the view that he may not have qualified for either the WRAG or the Support Group had he been assessed at the correct time!

The legislation does not cover this situation.

You say that he has started a part-time job, have the DWP been notified of this and agreed to his doing it?

If you have further questions then please reply to this post and we will do our best to help.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
7 years 7 hours ago #185900 by caz53
Replied by caz53 on topic esa misadministration
Thank you for replying. We believe that as our son had an assessment for PIP with an ATOS Dr during the ESA 13 week assessment period and was awarded pip for the daily living component this is the independent evidence that he was not fit for work. Also the gp has seen him regularly and signed him off sick and we do have some hospital reports. We believe by not accepting the evidence from the Atos doctor they are going against their own assessment process. He did have a job until dec 2016 but was off sick from jan 2015. We believe he has been discriminated against by the failure to assess him. The esa have requested sick notes from him every six weeks until the last one from his gp, which covers 6 months and does not run out until July 2017. We can’t understand why it wasn’t picked up sooner when they kept requesting sick notes. Today we have escalated the complaint requesting a reason in writing why they can’t use the pip report as evidence as it is there negligence that has caused the problem. As he doesn’t have any contact with anyone we only find out information by browsing the internet. We have contacted a couple of solicitors but they have never heard of this length of delay before. Today an adviser stated he needs to remain on sick and just go with the assessment. She is also sending a form for him to fill in to state he is self-employed. He has worked 32 hours over the last four weeks but in between he is so exhausted he rests for a few days. The benefits adviser says he is allowed to work up to 15hrs and 59 minutes a week averaging over a month. The dwp complaints procedure states they have to resolve the problem as soon as possible including any financial hardship so we intend to use there complaints procedure guidance to fight our case as esa haven’t followed there own assessment process. We don’t know anyone else this has happened to so are learning by trial and error but do intend taking the complaint further. Do you have anyone else this has happened to? Any information you can give us is helpful.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
6 years 11 months ago #185951 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic esa misadministration
Caz

Again I'm sorry, but a PIP report cannot substitute for an ESA assessment, a PIP assessment does not look at all of the areas that ESA requires.

I would not bother with a solicitor, most have no knowledge of benefit law, but most importantly no Decision has been made and therefore there is nothing to contest at this stage.

Be aware that there is an earning limit for Permitted Work as well.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: caz53

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: GordonGaryBISCatherineWendyKellygreekqueenpeterKatherineSuper UserjimmckChris
We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.