esa whilst appealing IB failure

Hi all- i failed pca earlier this year and have put in an appeal.I have claimed esa whilst i appeal, and have been told that my esa medical will come up a lot sooner than my IB appeal.I feel that I will fail wca, but wondered whether there have been any cases where esa has been awarded to anyone who had failed pca? I also worry that it might be the same health "professional" as I had for my IB medical,and whether there is any way I could avoid meeting this assessor again.Has this happened to anyone else here?

Hi little v,

Apart from some small pilots, transfer of claimants from IB to ESA will probably not start until April of next year. So, it's likely that you will have had your appeal by then.

We certainly have heard of people who failed the personal capability assessment for incapacity benefit but then passsed the work capability assessment for employment and support allowance. This can particularly happen where mental health descriptors are involved, as the scoring system is quite different.

It's impossible to say whether you will get the same health professional, but I suspect the only way to be certain of avoiding a particular one is if you have made a formal complaint about them.

Good luck,

Steve

Hi I heard something a while back that if you are female you can ask for a female doctor is that true, if so that may help get a different doctor.
Just a thought. Maybe the same with males. If you feel more comfortable talking about personal medical issues with same sex???

Hi little v,

Sorry, shouldn't answer posts so early in the morning. Were you given the option of claiming income support at a reduced rate whilst appealing the IB decision, as that would be the normal procedure, unless you aren't eligible for IS.

There are big delays in the appeals system and the ESA assessment system, but your ESA medical is indeed likely to come up before your IB appeal.

However, if your ESA claim fails, you should be able to appeal that too and remain in the assessment phase of ESA whilst your appeal goes through the system. By the time it does, your IB appeal should have been decided.

What a bizarre system!

Good luck,

Steve

thank you steve and eliza for your replies.I was given the choice of reduced rate IS and was going to go with this option but was then persuaded by someone to apply for ESA as that way I would still have another "iron in the fire" in case I lost IB appeal.As for the asessor I dont feel that I have been treated well, but probably no worse than many other claimants and dont want to cause myself any more upset by making a formal complaint about him.Thanks for your suggestion Eliza about asking for a female member of staff, I may well try requesting this.I cant say i"m looking forward to going through the ordeal of another medical,and will be glad when it is over!