ESA - awarded 0 points

A most bizarre situation has occurred. Has anyone else had this problem?

My son was left disabled 13 years ago following a hospital blunder. He received Enhanced Mobility under DLA until December 2015 when he was called for PIP assessment. He was awarded 4 points. Following MR, he was awarded 10 points. His appeal was heard on 5th July 2016 and Enhanced Mobility was reinstated. He was also awarded 4 points for Daily Living, which he not even claimed. The DWP did not appeal this decision.

On 2nd August 2016 he was called for ESA WCA. He gave the same answers as on the PIP questionnaire and enclosed the same three medical reports, all of which state he received a devastating and degenerative injury and that his mobility is severely impaired.

Despite asking on ESA50 that the interview be recorded, which I repeated when I telephoned to change the venue to a ground floor examination room and was assured the WCA would be recorded, it was not. Thus we have no official record of the conversation. Fortunately, my husband surreptitiously recorded the interview. The decision letter states that the HCP observed him walk 15 metres 'with difficulty'. He was awarded 0 points.

The decision letter states that the HCP observed him sitting 'uncomfortably' and that he asked to stand up 20 minutes into the interview and that he stood for 1 minute 'with difficulty'. He was awarded 0 points. However, our own recording shows that the interview lasted only 22 minutes and that he asked to stand up 10 minutes into the interview.

The decision letter states that he must now apply for JSA, which he is not prepared to do as realistically he cannot actively seek work and he is not prepared to make a fraudulent claim.

I have sent a 5 page letter to the DWP requesting both the Decision Maker's reasoning and a MR, following which we will appeal again. I have copied the letter to both my MP and the Tribunal Judge, complaining at the egregious waste of public money and asking why there is obviously no co-ordination between two departments of the DWP dealing with very similar assessments within such a short time scale.

The lady at the Jobcentre seemed extremely puzzled by both the circumstances and the short time scale between two such opposite decisions.

I think there is a blanket dictate that all claims be denied at the outset to see who can run the course through to appeal. However, for anyone who has to rely on government support, they would have the choice of either having no income or fraudulently claiming a benefit to which they knew they were not entitled.

Thanks for your quick reply. I didn't make it clear in my original post that in addition to Enhanced Mobility for the last 13 years, he has also been in receipt of incapacity benefit and then in the Support Group for ESA for the last 13 years.

The answers he gave on the previous ESA form and the previous ESA assessment, approximately 18 months ago, were the same as those he gave on the form he sent back in April, other than noting that, as per the medical reports, he has a degenerative injury which, as the description suggests, is getting worse. He has always stated the absolute truth.