Esa Mandatory Reconsideration Request

Nita

I have had to move your post to it's own topic, we ask members not to post in other's topics as it can lead to the wrong advice being given or take.

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for them 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 their 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

They should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report (ESA85), if they have not already done so, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once they have the assessment report they 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.

Their primary task is to show that they meet the criteria, there are many reasons they may have failed, they need to address each of these but shouldn't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless they 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 they have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

I would recommend that they get face to face advice before they make a claim for Universal Credit as it may disadvantage them in the longer term if they do.


Gordon