ESA stopped after WCA!

I have had my benefits stopped since my WCA I am devastated! I had asked for a home visit when I hadn't heard anything on the morning of the assessment & phoning them to be told I didnt have a home visit, my brother took me to the assessment and came in with me. This was end of June, phone call from a woman called Marie telling me my benefits would stop straight away and I would have to claim JSA, I was shocked & in disbelief to hear this, im devastated to say the least!I am going to appeal but where do i start? My GP has given me a medical certificate but I don't know where to send it. I suffer from depression, anxiety & panic attacks among other things. My nerves are shredded now & I'm wondering if its worth living!

Hello Rosemary99

Sorry you are having such a difficult time.

Several things come to mind; first of all, have you had a letter from DWP confirming that your benefits have stopped and from what date? You need to know the date of your letter because you have one month from that date in which to request a mandatory reconsideration.

You can also request a copy of your assessment report, and from this you will be able to see on what grounds your benefit has been stopped. You can read through the report and pick out any areas in which the assessor has made a mistake or misrepresented what you have claimed.

If you then feel you want to go ahead with the Mandatory Recon, you should fill in the form referring to all the points in which the assessor's comments disagree with the facts of your illness. Don't call him/her a liar - it won't help, instead, try and be as focused as possible on pointing out WHY his/her comments are inaccurate. (If you read through the guides it will explain how to do this.

Your GP has provided you with a sick note, so you can add his comments to the form, if you didn't offer his supportive evidence before, and also add in any other supportive evidence from anyone else who helps you on a regular day to day basis. Keep a diary up until the time you send in your form and include this as evidence also.

When you go along to register for JSA ask them to deal with the medical certificate. I fail to see how you are expected to claim JSA when your GP has found you unfit for work. Ask whoever deals with your claim for JSA about this.

If you can manage to hold things together until you actually see someone who can explain to you face to face how you are meant to deal with this, pl ease do. It must be dreadfully hard for you. I hope you get things sorted out quickly.

Hi Rosemary99,

I'm in the same situation as you - only I missed the phone call.

I do have 12 points but the assessor has clearly made information up - I was only in the wca for 10 minutes and many of the details he has included were not even discussed with me.
I really wish I had asked for a recording now.

It's a nightmare - this whole process is a special kind of torture if you have serious anxiety issues.

But the same thing happened to me last time, and the decision was changed without an appeal, So I know that can happen.

I'm trying not to panic too much and I'm preparing for mandatory reconsideration now.

It's not much consolation but you're not alone.

Take Care

Thank you Shelam for your reply, I will start a diary & start the mandatory reconsideration on Monday. I appreciate your care & support. x

Hello, I had the same thing happen to me, I was in the support group and was basically told all my benefits were stopped due the the outcome of the assessment report. I went to the assessment with someone and to our disbelief we discovered everything we told the Hcp was ignored. He stated things that were not even said in fact he lied and made up just about everything. to top it all, he actually told us as he was running ;late ended the assessment and he would complete the remaining questions for me. Health care practitioners can be held liable for malpractice but these people seem to be oblivious to any recourse or am I mistaken? they can write what they want, lie when they want. as a consequence I am here shell shocked and penny less. Yes we will do the mandatory reconsideration however, the point is, we should not have been doing this in the first place is this so called Hcp and did he work thonestly and to correct procedures.

Thank you Cassie & Troytempest for your replies. I have had an appointment at the jobcentre & am now gathering all information for the mandatory reconsideration.

I sincerely hope we can all have these dreadful decisions & lies overturned, it's no wonder so many people haven't been able to cope with the changes. It's so much more difficult to fill in the forms now plus assessors making things up on the assessment forms.

It is really daunting to have to do the mandatory reconsideration & then maybe an appeal, it's not something anyone with illnesses & anxiety & depression should be having to do.

I wish you good luck & let me know how you get on.