Three months and still no ESA

cathodoer wrote: »

Just checked and yes it was an award with ESA that I got, in the support group.

Our adviser has called them on our behalf as well to try and speed it up but she got the same results we did, and apparently there is no time frame as to when we will receive the regular payments and back payment.

Wrong....you need to ask for a call back

We will phone again and request a call back on monday but at this point I’m not really sure how much further it’ll get us! Worth a try though of course.

YES, YES, YES, THIS IS WHAT YOU NEED TO DO. either ask my questions in post 5 and get a call back from the right department....or if you don't understand ... just ask for a call back from the appeals section.... When they call you, ask them:

• When did they receive the appeal win notice?
• Have they asked for the Tribunal for any further statements or do they have everything they need?
• Why is it taking so long?
• And make them understand you have no paying benefits at the moment so you need it done quickly.

Best case scenario...they will tell you it was done two months ago and you are waiting for maintenance....

In which case..... you would have to call ESA again and ask for another call back from "Maintenance"

I only went to the one medical, and I failed it. Maybe it wasn’t the support group I was in, all I know is I got the assessment rate for around a year before being sent to the actual assessment. I don’t think I would apply to paid on appeal then?

Then you would have been paid on appeal this whole time.... You can still ask for this now, you would need sick notes for the entire time since your last one expired, but it might be easier to just wait...entirely up to you.

Please make sure -when they call you back- they are from the correct department.... if you have asked for a call back from appeals...then ask them when they call you "Are you from the appeals section?" Make sure that you understand where your appeal case is now, where it has been up until now, Why it is taking so long, Has your appeal been allowed and passed onto maintenance...if not, why not, when will this be done?

cathodoer wrote: »

About paid on appeal, my appointee informed me that they would not give it to me because after the assessment they claimed I was fit for work and needed to seek employment and then stopped all my ESA. We’ve been sending in sick notes since 2015 and I’ve not had or heard about anything on appeal, so I think that’s a dead end for me..

Your appointee is wrong, If (as you have said) this was the first ever time you have attended an ESA medical assessment and failed it, and been disallowed from ESA because of that.....

Then yes, ESA stops paying you
Then you do a Man Recon
Then you start an Appeal

Then......after that has all happened ... if you ask ESA........., they will pay you while you wait for your appeal to be heard.

It is not too late to ask them to do this now, while you wait to find out why "appeal win processing" is taking so long. You would have to ask for a seperate call back from "Maintenance WCA" with a request that you want to "paid pending appeal" ........But to do this you would need to know that they have received all your sick notes, continuously since they stopped your ESA. Not since 2015, but since they stopped paying you ESA (2015 sick notes are irrelevant to this).

Because you have now won your appeal...they may be reluctant to do it because they would think "it won't be long before this claim is re-opened anyway, so why bother?" But If you really want it done then insist on it being done, it is your right to be paid pending appeal.

If they flat out refuse to "pay you on appeal" ask them what is the reason you are being refused this........ There would only be 2 legitimate reasons to refuse this..

• This was not the first time you have failed an ESA medical
• Your appeal has already been allowed by the appeals department, and it has been received at Maintenance to re-open your claim with Support Group...so they are going to do that instead....but they are going to do it quickly...

PLEASE don't say on Monday that when you phoned they said any excuse not to get you a call back and you accepted their excuse.... don't accept their excuses, you don't have to accept them.

The only acceptable excuse is if they say on Monday, "It is all finished and processed, you will be receiving some money today"

Anything else, then you should insist on a call back request being sent through THEY ARE NOT ALLOWED TO REFUSE YOUR INSISTANT DEMAND THAT YOU ARE GIVEN A CALL BACK. Just remain calm and polite when you are insisting.

Do you get PIP DailyLiving or DLA care (middle or High)
Do you live alone?
Does anyone claim Carer's Allowance to care for you?

If the answers above are:
Yes
Yes
No
Were you being paid SevereDisability Premium on ESA for that year? If you don't know.......
How much was your ESA award?

Ok,
When you get the call back you just need to ask them what is happening with the appeal....why is it taking so long....

Ask them if it has been approved by the DWP appeals department yet..if not...why not..... and you will then have to ask to speak to the appeals department directly, maybe on another phonecall by you to ESA to request a call back from the appeals department.

If it has been approved by the appeals department,, that means it is with maintenance, When was it approved by the appeals department? And when will maintenance have this in payment considering you get no benefits at the moment.

I can't advise you further until you know what is happening.

Thanks for answers to questions.....we can forget about that then.

Ask for an Escalation call back within 1 hour...from the Appeals department
Because you were promised a call within 24 hours already.