esa disallowed no money situation anyone help?

Thanks for the replies:
Just to clarify a point which has confused me - In the ESA appeals guide it says:

Not awarded ESA at all
If you have not been awarded ESA at all, then you have two choices:
1. Claim ESA at the assessment phase rate until a decision is made. If you choose to do this you will have to continue submitting sick notes until the matter is finally settled.

Will I only be paid the assessment rate of ESA if I am able to claim for a separate illness-
If I continue to claim ESA with the same condition (and submit sick notes) – or make a new claim (with the same condition) I will not be paid ESA at the assessment rate of ESA till the appeal is decided.

In other words – unless I can claim ESA for a separate illness – in order to be paid some form of benefit I must now claim Job Seekers Allowance until the appeal is settled.

Hi Blindeye,

Just to clarify even further. If you had had a medical and not been awarded sufficient points you could have continued to claim ESSA at the assesment phase rate.

It's because you were refused ESA on grounds other than failing the assessment that they can stop your ESA altogether.

Steve

Many thanks for the advice and help so far-

I have had the reasons for being denied continuation of my claim of ESA – they have stopped my claim as I failed to attend 2 medicals. (I have informed them of the reason for this due to illness).

My case is now awaiting an appeal which should be heard around September.

I am now in the process of claiming job seekers allowance and have filled in the online application – I am now awaiting a jobseekers interview.

I am now unsure as to what to say at my jobseekers interview as I do not consider myself fit for work (I suffer from severe panic attacks and was originally in the support group for ESA).

I am concerned that if I say that I am unfit for work I may not be given job seekers allowance –
At the moment I am not receiving any benefit - other than housing benefit.
I am only surviving at the moment on hand-outs from family members until this situation is resolved (a situation I cannot rely upon for much longer) – naturally I need to get some form of benefit as soon as possible.

To clarify – If I point out that I do not consider myself fit for work and am in the process of an appeal – can I still expect to receive job seekers allowance?

I apologise if this question has already been answered – but I would just like to double check that I should be ok to say this – thanks in advance.

If you have been refused ESA, you are entitled to be regarded as fit for work for JSA purposes.

as long as you pass the JSA test by correctly answering the question, 'Are you fit for work?'

You can appeal an ESA decision whilst claiming JSA, but you have to state that you are fit for work when claiming JSA.

Hope that makes sense, as it doesn't make a great deal of sense to me!