ESA Tribunal

Gill

The ESA Standing and Sitting activity considers your ability to remain at a workstation, you can move from a seated position to a standing one as many times as you need, the clock only stops when you move away from the workstation.

You can't be placed in the SG for this, only if you;

(a) Cannot move between one seated position and another seated position located next to
one another without receiving physical assistance from another person.

For Incontinence you will need to show;

Absence or loss of control whilst conscious leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or bladder, other than enuresis (bed-wetting), despite the wearing or use of any aids or adaptations which are normally, or could reasonably be, worn or used. At least once a week experiences
(i) loss of control leading to extensive evacuation of the bowel and/or voiding of the bladder;
or
(ii) substantial leakage of the contents of a collecting device;
sufficient to require cleaning and a change in clothing.

None of the ESA activities specifically deals with your falling although you may be able to argue that it impacts on your ability to mobilise.

Have a look at our ESA Claim guides for more information

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our ESA MR & Appeal guide for details of the process, the ESA area also has template letters that you can use to make the request with.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1

You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report if you have not already done so, it will be an ESA85, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.

Your primary task is to show that you meet the criteria, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"

than their opinions

"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.

When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

Gordon