59 year old failed 2nd medical for ESA after passing first....

Blue_Elephant

I am goggling at some of the opinions on here today. It's one thing surviving in "society" and quite another being confident enough to speak at, for example, of of these "official" assessments.

English is not my first language, but I left school speaking it better than some of my "native" counterparts. I got an education and have been working ever since while some of my classmates have never held down a job and feel like the world owes them a living.

My mother has worked since she got to this country, in "English" work places, in manual work like the OPs father - she's a seamstress. Yet as much as she was fine at work, with the neighbours, the milkman and attended EVERY parents evening, because she did care that her kids shouldn't have to spend their lives doing manual jobs, she was always nervous and lost confidence when she had to speak to the doctor, the bank, the utility companies on the phone. Even someone pretty fluent in a foreign language may come unstuck while trying to explain a medical problem don't you think?

My father grew up in Kenya, and simultaneously learned Gujarati (at home/with family) English as he attended a British school and Swahili so he could communicate with the locals - until Kenya got independence from the British and threw out everyone who had anything to do with the British regime, and India didn't want them back.

Not everything (or everyone) is as black and white as it might seem.

Oldernotwiser

Blue_Elephant wrote: »

I am goggling at some of the opinions on here today. It's one thing surviving in "society" and quite another being confident enough to speak at, for example, of of these "official" assessments.

English is not my first language, but I left school speaking it better than some of my "native" counterparts. I got an education and have been working ever since while some of my classmates have never held down a job and feel like the world owes them a living.

My mother has worked since she got to this country, in "English" work places, in manual work like the OPs father - she's a seamstress. Yet as much as she was fine at work, with the neighbours, the milkman and attended EVERY parents evening, because she did care that her kids shouldn't have to spend their lives doing manual jobs, she was always nervous and lost confidence when she had to speak to the doctor, the bank, the utility companies on the phone. Even someone pretty fluent in a foreign language may come unstuck while trying to explain a medical problem don't you think?

My father grew up in Kenya, and simultaneously learned Gujarati (at home/with family) English as he attended a British school and Swahili so he could communicate with the locals - until Kenya got independence from the British and threw out everyone who had anything to do with the British regime, and India didn't want them back.

Not everything (or everyone) is as black and white as it might seem.

I have a great deal of sympathy with people managing in countries in a language other than their own and have actually taught English to Asian women in their own homes when they had trouble going to English classes in the community.

However, just as with Brits living abroad, I do feel that the responsibility lies with the individual to either learn the language, bring along a more fluent native speaker or to pay for an interpreter. I don't think that the onus (and cost) should be on the host country, wherever that might be.

chinna

How long does it normally take for the copy of the medical report to be sent to the person appealing.
As I requested it over 4 weeks ago and have not received anything. So what I had to do a couple of weeks ago was send the appeal form but give no reasons for disagreeing with the decision as we are waiting for the medical report. And to state this on the form so that the appeal is logged.

NASA_2

chinna wrote: »

Thats right they have stopped it and said apply for jobseekers allowance.

The letter doesnt say that you have to apply for Jobseekers. It states it as an alternative while also informing the claimant of the right of appeal.

Invalidation

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

If he fails again, he will have to go onto Jobseekers' Allowance until he is old enough to claim Pension Credit, sometime after he is sixty. Once he is on pension Credit, there will be no requirement to look for work.

Eh ??
Are you saying people on pension credit wont be asked to work??
Im 60 and on PC, DLA and IB

kaya

if you are unhappy with the treatment you are recieving from ATOS pleas phone the DWP and tell them you wish to begin the official complaints procedure

diolch

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

Just because he walks with a stick, doesn't mean that he can't do any work. .

Presuming that his condition and his ability to do any work hasn't improved in the last 12 months or so, I can't see how he can go from 20 points to nil despite the fact he has a stick.
I would have been inclined to use the stick as though it was a finger when he was being assessed to emphasise a point!!!
Couldn't do any worse than 0 points!

diolch

Invalidation wrote: »

Eh ??
Are you saying people on pension credit wont be asked to work??
Im 60 and on PC, DLA and IB

The law on Pension Credit as it is at the moment does not require you to sign on or look for work, nor does it require you to produce sick notes or pass any of those ATOS assessments for ESA.

What Pension Credit will do is increase their payment by what ever you lose elsewhere.

Example for a single person.
Pension Credit £67.60
IB £65.00
£132.60

Change to Pension Credit only £132.60

However there is nothing stopping you carrying on claiming IB/ESA for whatever reason and getting the top up from Pension Credit. And there is nothing stopping anybody signing on either

diolch

chinna wrote: »

Thank you. I just wanted to share the experience for anyone in a similar postion as its supposed to be a fair assesment.

cough, splutter - fair!! The only thing that was fair was that they paid expenses to get there and back.
Apart from that, it normally is a load of old bunkem.

diolch

sunnyone wrote: »

Its disgraceful the amount of money that the goverment waste on interperters for dozens of languages, the census is available in over 50 of these languages someone posted on DT.

It was mooted that you couldnt become a British citizen unless you could speak English and I think that its a very good idea, if you don't want to learn English how do you deal with everyday living in our country?

How do you catch a bus, pay a bill, bank, deal with medical issues, deal with education issues for your children (and hinder their education by English not being spoken at home) or even order a coffee without speaking English?



I'll get my tin hat out now.

You are coming very close to being a racist!! No one in this country should be made to speak, read or write English if they don't want to.
By saying that they should, undermines their own identity. You might as well say that because there are two main religions in this country, Protestant and Catholic, they should choose one of them if they want to live here and denounce their own religion.

What next, telling all immigrants that they must eat English food?

It is a pleasure to be invited into an immigrants family. To experience life from a different perspective. To try and understand their religion. To enjoy their customs and see how justice and social respect is carried out.