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Risks/Benefits of ESA Applications

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6 years 8 months ago #193650 by King_Drax_I
Risks/Benefits of ESA Applications was created by King_Drax_I
Hi all - my daughter is in receipt of Enhanced Rate PIP for mobility and Standard Rate PIP for DAily Living, both for an ongoing period (actually until 2026). She has the Enhanced mobility component because she is unable to walk more than 20 metres.

She is completely unable to work due to her disability. In view of this, I had a go at your ESA questionnaire and found that she got fifteen points straight off the bat, from the mobility 50 metres question.

I don't really want her to have to undergo a ftf interview as it would be really stressful for her; her PIP interview was conducted at home, though, and that was fairly ok.

But my main concern is that of, if applying for ESA, would we place her existing PIP award in jeopardy if they 'found' that she did not qualify for the ESA?

Could the PIP qualifying '20 metres max' count as pre-existing evidence for the ESA? In other words, they have already 'assessed' her as not being able to walk 20m...

Also is it possible to receive ESA and PIP at the same time anyway?

She has no other income and is dependent on me to look after her.

What do you guys think? Thanks :)

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6 years 8 months ago #193665 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Risks/Benefits of ESA Applications
Drax

PIP is a walking test, however ESA is not, it is a Mobility test! In addition to her walking it considers her ability to self-propel a manual wheelchair over the same distances, she does not need to be using a wheelchair or even to own one for it to be considered. SO even if she can show her walking is restricted, unless she can also show that she cannot self-propel the wheelchair she will still not score points.

Her PIP report will count against the walking part of the test but you will need to supply separate evidence if she is unable to use wheelchair.

The criteria for ESA is sufficiently different from that for PIP, that a PIP assessment report cannot substitute for an ESA assessment, if she were to make a new claim for ESA then I think it unlikely that she will avoid a face to face.

PIP and ESA are paid for different things; PIP is paid to help with the extra costs associated with having a disability, ESA is paid where the claimant is unable to work due to illness of disability.

Because the criteria are different I would not expect a PIP award to be affected by a negative ESA result.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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6 years 8 months ago #193668 by King_Drax_I
Replied by King_Drax_I on topic Risks/Benefits of ESA Applications
Thanks Gordon :) As a follow-on qustion, then, I did wonder about the mobility vs. walking. The same illness that prevents her from walking the distance - chronic fatigue syngrome - also prevents her from propelling the wheenchair herself. I have to push her all the time; she would find it too exhausting. I'm assuming a self-propelling wheenchair, btw, where the rider has to use their arms to push - not an electrically-propelled one! If that assumption is incorrect, please let me know!

Now, on the PIP ftf interview/assessment, claimants are allowed to refuse to do something if it would hurt them or harm them, or if it would have a detrimental effect on their health. Self-propelling a wheelchair would do that to her. Are claimants allowed to refuse in a similar manner for the ESA as they are for a PIP assessment?

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6 years 8 months ago #193676 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Risks/Benefits of ESA Applications
Drax

Yes it's a manual wheelchair that the claimant needs to be able to propel.

There are four reasons why a claimant would not be able to use a wheelchair;

- the claimant has physical problems with their hands arms or shoulders
- the claimant suffers from angina, breathlessness, exhaustion or similar
- the claimant has received medical advice not to use a wheelchair
- the claimant is unable to use a wheelchair for logistical reasons

The last reason is now quite weak due to UTT Case Law but can still be argued.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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6 years 7 months ago #195149 by King_Drax_I
Replied by King_Drax_I on topic Risks/Benefits of ESA Applications
I'm filling in the ESA1 Form and I'm a little confused. My daughter (for whom I am filling in the form) is a UK national with Right of Abode and so we have ticked the two 'Yes' boxes on page 27 under Part 14.

But then there are questions t the top of page 30 (Part 14) below where it says 'Please answer all of these questions, even if you think they do not apply to you.'

So, do we have to answer these questions, given that we have already specified that my daughter is a UK national with Right of Abode? Because if I tick 'No' to 'Are you an asylum seeker', then none of the questions after that make sense because we have not applied for asylum or anything. Or do we just tick 'No' anyway for all those questions? Especially this question: "Did you or your partner first apply for asylum before 3 April 2000?" We didn't apply for asylum at all, never mind 'first applied'. It's very confusing; can you help please?

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6 years 7 months ago #195150 by King_Drax_I
Replied by King_Drax_I on topic Risks/Benefits of ESA Applications
In the light of the previous reply from Gordon on wheelchairs, how do we 'show' that my daughter is unable to propel the wheelchair? Any exertion on her part at all will make her ill for a couple of days as her illness will make her exhausted and also will cause pain for several days afterwards. Basically I have to push her everywhere when we're out of doors...

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