esa rollercoaster. i feel like just giving up

michxxxchelle

i applied for esa in june 19 2009 .
i suffer from depression anxiety and panic attacks ,i was on the reduced rate for 8 weeks and had my
medical on august the 8th 2009 and failed with 9 points ,my ESA stopped there were many
contradicting statements on my report so
with the help of welfare rights we decided to take it to appeal i carried on receiving reduced rate benefit up
untill i went to appeal in march 24th 2010 .
the appeal was horrendous i hadnt slept for days leading up to the appeal and anxious
the whole thought of it pulled me deeper into depression
at the appeal i couldnt concentrate on the questions being asked due to my illness being on an all time low
and having to remember what i was like back in june 2009 ,
they asked me alot of confusing questions
that i was expected to remember that had happened 8/9 months earlier,
my sister was with me and she also ended up crying seeing the state i was in
anyway the tribunal went against me

i telephoned welfare rights to let them know the outcome. i was advised to reapply for esa as she was going to ask for a sor,
i reapplied on the 26th march with a doctors note and 3 weeks later was told that benefit would be held untill
i had completed a new medical ,while waiting for this medical i have now had a letter from tribunal services saying that
the decision that was made has to be set aside as the recording equiptment failed to record
and i will have to attend again on the 14 june 2010 to repeat the same case and i have also got my second medical tomorrow


i dont think i can keep up with all this it has made me soo ill with trying to concentrate in getting what i feel i am
entitled too rather than being able to concentrate on myself getting better i feel like just giving up

cit_k

A lot of people are being messed around with ESA (and IB) so your not alone in your problems.

I had a similar problem at my last tribunal, it went really badly (nearly passed out), could not concentrate at all, could hardly think...

On the bright side, you appear to have had your decision set-aside, which means they have thrown out the original decision for now, and you have a second chance at a tribunal soon (its rather fast for you, Its taken a year so far for my tribunal and still ongoing!!)

I have had a few tribunals and all of them apart from the last one managed to put me at ease and help the process along, ie not bombarding with questions, not making it impossible to think... The last one though seemed to interrogate and I feel was designed to have the outcome of confusing anyone with a mental health problem...

Hopefully, your next tribunal will be with some people who can actually conduct a tribunal in a manner that puts you more at ease, and does not tie you up in knots.

Im interested in the bit you say about the recording equipment, as I have not had a tribunal recorded, I guess it must be a pilot scheme under esa in some areas.

Could you please type up the wording of the letter, just the bit about the recording, so I can learn more?

Can you get welfare rights to go to the tribunal with you?

passatrider

Hi,

Sorry to hear about your experiences with ESA. I'm sure it must feel like you are being singled out, but believe me you aren't!

Iam on Incapacity Benefit under the old rules so haven't had to contend with the new ESA rules, which are much stricter I've been told. However, we are being migrated over to ESA in the next 18 months so I guess we have all this to come in the future.

I have read cases similar to yours and it's the government's, or rather the previous Labour administration's idea of getting people off sickness benefits and back to work.

My advice to you is to stick with it no matter what. If you feel like giving up then speak to welfare rights and tell them your concerns, or even CAB if it helps. You may have to jump through hoops to get what you are entitled too, but it will be worth the effort in the end.

Hope that helps!

michxxxchelle

thanks for the reply and support . the bit about the recording equipment was sent in a letter to me when welfare rights wrote to them and asked them for a statement of reasons as she didnt believe that they made a right choice and was going to take it to upper tribunal the letter states ...

decision and directions notice

the decision of the tribunal issued on 24/3/10 is set aside

rule 37 of the tribunal procedure (first tier tribunal ) rules 2008 provides that a decision that is disposed of proceedings cant be set aside and remade if the tribunals find that it is in the interests of justice to do so and one of more of the following circumstances are satisfied

a)a document relating to the proceedings was not sent to,or was not received at an appropriate time by,a party or partys representative .

b)a document relating to the proceedings was not sent to the tribunal at an appropriate time

c)a party,or a partys representive, was not present at a hearing related to the proceedings.

d)there has been some other procedural irregularity in the proceedings

The tribunal finds that as the recording equipment failed to record the evidence ,rule 37(D)is met

the tribunal directs that this appeal be relisted for an oral hearing before a fresh tribunal

NASA_2

Go to the second medical even though they are calling you for appeal again. Any notes I have seen on set-aside decisions state that payment should continue for as long as the decision has been set-aside so if payment has stopped ask for it to be re-instated.

If your appeal fails then the decision on the second WCA will become the issue - if you dont pass it then the new claim will be disallowed - I am fairly sure that the decision can be appealed but am equally as sure that payment does not restart in that situation.

michxxxchelle

roller coaster again .......not slept all night anxious about todays medical ......and....ive just had a phone call to say my medical due for this morning has been cancelled as the doctor has called in sick and they will send me another appointment .....

michxxxchelle

update.....received letter today stating backpay from march has gone into the bank after 2 days of arguing with them that i was entitled also had new date for esa medical which falls on the same day as tribunal .....

cit_k

Are you able to attend both, or do they conflict time wise (or equally is it unrealistic health wise to do both on the same day, I would say it is unfair to expect anyone to do both as you need time to prepare before the tribunal).

If you have to get one moved, I would suggest seeing if you can get the date of the new medical changed, as the waiting list for tribunals is longer than medicals I would have thought.. Best to inform both parties of the problem, and tell them what you plan to do in any case.

Sounds like a nightmare, dont give up though, keep fighting.

NASA_2

cit_k wrote: »

Are you able to attend both, or do they conflict time wise (or equally is it unrealistic health wise to do both on the same day, I would say it is unfair to expect anyone to do both as you need time to prepare before the tribunal).

If you have to get one moved, I would suggest seeing if you can get the date of the new medical changed, as the waiting list for tribunals is longer than medicals I would have thought.. Best to inform both parties of the problem, and tell them what you plan to do in any case.

Sounds like a nightmare, dont give up though, keep fighting.

I'd actually move the tribunal, if possible, because it ensures that some sort of payments will be going out for a longer period of time. If the tribunal is attended and the decision of the Department is upheld then payment will stop pending a decision on the second medical.

Uncertain

NASA wrote: »

I'd actually move the tribunal, if possible, because it ensures that some sort of payments will be going out for a longer period of time. If the tribunal is attended and the decision of the Department is upheld then payment will stop pending a decision on the second medical.

Quite.

Unless you are extremely confident of winning and / or are in desperate need of the extra money right now, there is nothing to be gained by hurrying any part of the ESA process. If you do ultimately win the the extra money is backdate and, if you lose, you have at least had the assessment phase money for longer. Be careful not to miss deadlines or break any rules however.

michxxxchelle

update ... i went to both the tribunal and my medical yesterday on the advice from welfare rights ...before i went in i asked the clerk to make sure that the recording equiptment was working because i really didnt want to go through it all again , the panel took notes just incase the recording equiptment didnt work ..i had a lovely panel who made me feel very comfortable and spoke to me like a human being (not like the last panel i had ) any way ...i was only in there a matter of ten mins when they sent me out for a break when they called me in they told me i had satisfied them and that they had allowed my appeal ,relief , i thanked them and told them that i was due to go to my medical later that day ,they told me to tell the medical people where i had been and the results of the appeal even show them my allowance notice which they gave to me on the way out .......i went to my medical assessment and showed at reception my allowance notification my medical assessment only lasted 10 mins with the doctor at the end he asked me if there was anything else i wanted to say b4 he signed it off i also showed him my allowance he typed a little more and said thankyou and goodbye ..... it took so much out of me yesterday and as soon as i came home i went to sleep untill this morning so only just sinking in i think i may now be on the home run . thanks for all your help i am soo gratefull xxx