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Desperate for advice please.

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7 years 11 months ago #160070 by Carol
Desperate for advice please. was created by Carol
Dear Sir/Madame,
I am a member of this site but this is the first time I have logged into your forum to request advice and help so please forgive me if I do something wrong.
My question I would like advice on is ESA I had to fill in the medical Questionaire form on 20 Sept 2015 I did not hear anything back at all until I was sent for a Medical on 10 March 2016 where the Health Assessor found that I was fit for work , Scoring me 0 on everything ,even though there were certain activities I was unable to do like Bending to touch my Knees as I told her I was in too much pain with my back and stomach, I could not reach above my head with either arms as I suffer with Rhymatoid Athratis and Osteoporosis in most of my body as well as my shoulders, I was crying through the medical whilst I was there as I was in so much Pain, Yet she claim's that I was able to bend without any problem and reach above my head etc, no mention that I was crying or in pain in fact the opposite I looked clean well etc, I arrived with my husband as I borrowed a Mobility Scooter in aid to get to the appt, my husband was told he could wait in the waiting room for me whilst I used my stick to walk into the room in pain. She claimed on the form send to the DWP that my husband waited in the waiting room for me, Yet in the the same document she sent to the Tribunal Service for my Appeal she has made a statement in writing claiming that my husband left me in the waiting room and left me after 10 mins as we were arguing and this is Untrue. so she has fabricated/ docted the document ,Yet I am worried that as the DWP have already gone by her statement originally and they agreed with her and have also been Refused my Mandatory Decision and still scored 0 points. We were last paid on Fri 18 March and other than my husbands small DLA payment and my only payment of PIP it went on our mortgage, we had no money food etc and had to rely on the foodbank vouchers which we were told was a maximum of four,.Now I have received 2 small payments on 27 May, But no back dated payment or explanations. I have supplied sick notes from when my benefit was stopped until 1 June but the DWP claim they have only received one sick note of mine and I sent 6 in 3 for myself and my husband, even though it was signed for by someone at the DWP Dept, which means I have been told to get duplicates from the Dr or they will not pay us any more money. I must say we did attend the Job-Centre on the 23 March when my ESA was stopped and we were told we could not apply for JSA as we were both unfit to work. They would not allow a claim to be made in only my husbands name as I was told if I was successful with the appeal it would involve too much paperwork to change it back over. We are still a month behind in our mortgage and the DWP have not made any payments towards it or sent us any evidence to say we are receiving benefit. and now our mortgage has been taken over by another company.
I had a Bowel op in 2004 that was not successful ( awaiting to see another Bowel Specialist) I suffer with Bowel and Bladder Incontinence, Anxiety and Depression, Chest Pain due to Angina, An Eating Disorder, Rhymatoid Athratis and Osteoporosis, Pain under my feet if I have to walk even when not walking I also have a problem with sitting due to Womens Batholomews Cysts which causes swelling underneath and pain, etc I am also ashamed to say that I took an Overdose of tablets last year and it took me four days to come out of it, but I do still have suicidal thoughts especially as I feel that I can not go through life every day in pain. In fact the specialist I saw did say I was slowly dying . And the worst part is I have such a wonderful husband and between us 6 wonderful children all grown up now and a wonderful grandson, so really everything to live for but suffering all the time in pain on a daily basis, You would not believe how much of a failure I feel as a wife and mother at 47. Please any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Apologies for such a long letter.

CB

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7 years 11 months ago #160091 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Desperate for advice please.
CB

Welcome back.

In case you are not aware, your real name appears to be showing in the forum, if you want to change this then follow the instructions in the following FAQ

My full name is showing, how can I stop it?



Dealing with the immediate issues first. You should be entitled to payment of the ESA Assessment rate while you wait for your hearing however payment cannot be made unless a current Fit Note is registered on the system.

Do you have copies of the missing Fit Notes? If not then your GP can re-issue them but they may charge for doing so. Once you have the Fit Notes make an appointment at your local JC+ office and they can email a copy of the Fit Notes directly to the ESA department, you may still need to send in the originals. This should release your payments.

As to the appeal. you appear to have the DWP submission, have you been given a date for the hearing yet?

You need to prepare your own submission! You will only receive an award by showing that you meet the criteria for one, so whilst it is tempting to tear the assessment report to pieces, doing so will not in itself help you get an award.

Go through your ESA50, the assessment report and the ESA Claim guides and explain why you meet criteria to score points, once you have done this you can then show why the assessment report is incorrect.

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

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7 years 11 months ago #160179 by Carol
Replied by Carol on topic Desperate for advice please.
Hello Gordon,
Thank You so much for your advice and no I was not aware that my real name was showing how embarrassing apologies for it, I will try to amend it if possible but I am not very computer literate.
And Yes I do have photo-copies of the original sick notes and have explained to my Drs that the DWP have lost my sick notes and have requested that I sent in duplicates of the sick notes but now I have this afternoon received a letter from the DWP Dated 27 May 2016 stating that the very first sick notes I sent in Dated for the month of march has expired and that it expired in April and that if they do not receive an up to date Sick by the 30 April they will stop my benefit.
I am sure they are trying to test me, as it is 2 June today.
My Drs are very reasonable and understanding and are aware of the difficult situation we are going through, so I have to contact them tomorrow to try to see if they can provide me with duplicate copies of the sick notes., but I honestly do not know how much more I can take it is causing both myself and husband a great deal of stress and worry.
I will be sure now to take them to the Job Centre and ask them to fax them across the same day when I receive them again.
I also have someone from the CAB Office which is also trying to help us also.
I will now try to amend my name details if possible and shall be in touch with you Gordon and keep you up to date, But as of yet I have not received a date for the Tribunal Hearing.
Thank You Again, Much Appreciated. C.

CB

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