Advice needed for appeal please

xyummimummito2x

Hello,

I'm seeking advice for my mother who is 55 and has been clamining Incapacity Benefit since 2002, due to numerous illnesses she has, such as lymphedema, arthritis on her knee and hip, and a worn tenon around her right hand.

She has recently been to an assesment, due to them changing the name of the Benefit to 'Employment and Support Allowance' so she had to put in a new claim for this.

They wrote back yesterday to say that she does not qualify for this benefit, but can appeal.

What should her next steps be for this? I have collected an appeal form for her, but is there anything that can do/say to strenghen the appeal, such as some sort of evidence of medical history etc from her doctor?

Thank you in advance

rogerblack

First thing to understand is that you do not get ESA for being unfit to work.
You get it by passing the tests to be found unfit for work.
This means you have to work out evidence you can find to support your arguement that the various descriptors in the test apply to her.

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/m-06-11.pdf

As to immediate steps.
First, you phone them up, and ask for a written statement of reasons for the decision.
This gives you more information on why they think she's not eligible for the benefit, so you can better tailor your appeal.
It extends the period you have to appeal by two weeks, or two weeks after you receive the statement of reasons.

Medical evidence confirming things that will not get her any points is useless, or almost so, unless it can amount to 'risk to health if she was found to be fit'.

Oldernotwiser

ESA is not just a new name for IB, it's a totally different benefit with different criteria. It's perfectly possible that your mother was eligible for IB but isn't for ESA.