Moderate ME - IB/ESA tranfer?

I have moderate ME - there are things I can't do and many things I can do only as a one-off, but I'm not bedridden.

I filled in the ESA50 as clearly and fully as possible, and added extra information on typed sheets. I've now had a call from ATOS to book me in for a so-called medical . It's not until after Easter, so at least I can try to prepare for it.

Have any members with moderate ME managed to transfer across from IB to ESA after a medical, without having to appeal?

Bumping this in hope of a reply!

ivyleaf wrote:

I have moderate ME - there are things I can't do and many things I can do only as a one-off, but I'm not bedridden.

I filled in the ESA50 as clearly and fully as possible, and added extra information on typed sheets. I've now had a call from ATOS to book me in for a so-called medical . It's not until after Easter, so at least I can try to prepare for it.

Have any members with moderate ME managed to transfer across from IB to ESA after a medical, without having to appeal?

Hi IL,

Although other members may still wish to respond to your post, and I understand that you are seeking reassurance, please understand that it is not really feasible to compare how one person was assessed under the ESA WCA with another.

It is not the medical condition itself that will give a claimant an award of ESA, moreover it is the resulting limitations as a result of the medical condition.

Even claimants with very similar conditions will have different limitations, and may gain different results in their assessment.

The face to face assessment is not really a "medical" , it is an assessment of your "capability" to carry out the tasks listed in the ESA50, and you can only qualify by fulfilling the ESA descriptors for either the WRAG or Support Group, the only other way of gaining entry to either group is under the Exceptional Circumstances rules.

See :

Qualifying for the WRAG

And the WRAG (LCW) Descriptors in the ESA Regulations :

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/228/schedule/1/made?view=plain

And the WRAG (LCW) Exceptional Circumstances :

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/794/regulation/29/made

&

Qualifying for the Support Group

And the Support Group (LCWRA) Descriptors in the ESA Regulations :

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2011/228/schedule/2/made?view=plain

And the Exceptional Circumstances rules for entry to the Support Group :

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/794/regulation/35/made

As you are to attend an assessment after Easter, it will help to understand that your method of travel to and from the assessment will be taken into account as part of the assessment, and you will be observed whilst in the assessment centre. You can also be accompanied to the assessment, and while the assessment takes place, see :

ESA Medical – What to expect

It may also help if you review our ESA Claims Guides, and the WCA Handbook accessible from here :

ESA Guides

Hope this helps.

bro58

Hello ivy leaf.

I too suffer with ME. Though I have other conditions as well, ME is my main debilitating one.

On my ESA50 I gave a full and concise account of things I could do as well as those I could not. Though, and this is important, I expanded on how I manage to do them and the effects, when they occurred, of doing them.

Like you I am not bed-bound, or house-bound (I live alone and have minimum help from family) but I do have to have a lot of bed rest to recover from activities and ease muscle and joint pain, and soothe sensory overload.

Thanks to the guides here, at Benefits & Work, I was awarded ESA wrag December 2011 without having to go for a “face to face” WCA. I was so relieved and fatigued I didn’t appeal to be put into the support group. I note that you have not been so lucky. I can only reiterate the advise given on this site that you explain in detail your limitations and difficulties and don’t assume the interviewer will make correct assumptions if you don’t spell them out.

I have had two WFI’s, sandwiched around one “information session” at a subsidiary organisation called “eos.” Those interviews were not arduous or difficult. My personal Advisor at the Job Centre Plus was/is kind and helpful.

I had a sense that the man I saw at eos was a bit pushy in his ‘recruitment drive’ and less concerned of ones physical or mental capabilities or limitations, and was primarily interested in getting ‘bums on seats.’ But hey…that’s his job and why should anyone be surprised if he is good at it.

Hope some of the above is helpful. Good luck and best wishes for your medical.

Susan

Thank you both for your replies. i just feel rather despondent as I tried so hard to explain everything as clearly and fully as possible. Oh well, I'm not the first and I certainly won't be the last!

My husband will be taking me to the assessment centre by car, as I wouldn't be able to get there on my own by public transport, so at least that's one thing less to worry about.

Thanks bro58 for the links you posted for me. Thanks susan, I'm glad you got through it without having to have an assessment! What a horrid ilness it is. One day they will find a cure.

You might like to try getting hold of the leaflet written by the ME Association covering ESA applications.

www.meassociation.org.uk/wp-content/uplo...-January-2012-v1.pdf

It may be available to non-members - you could try phoning them to ask.

(Sorry this has taken a while, I keep losing the forum window, and discovering that I have something to add at about 4.30 or 10.45)