Incapacity benefit, esa assessment!

sunnyone

LadyMorticia wrote: »

What happens if a claimant can't use the phone for whatever reason? Will they just send the form out or will their benefit be cut/stopped?

They spoke to my husband after he explained I am deaf, they wanted me to confirm I wanted him to speak to them on my behalf and a 30 minute game of charades later they gave up and just did what they should have done in the frist place and let him tell me I was starting the switch over process and I would get a (four in reallity) ESA 50 form(s).

Torry_Quine

Found it.

It says ' We will telephone you soon to talk to you about how this change will affect you and to answer any questions you may have. We will ask you some questions to confirm your identity. After the call, we will send you a questionnaire to complete with details of your illness or disability. This questionnaire is called Limited Capability for Work.

The number we will call you on is xxxxxxxx. If you haven't heard from us within two weeks of the date of this letter, or if the number above is incorrect, please call us on the number above between Monday and Friday.

No mention of stopping the claim and although it doesn't say it implies to me that if you don't contact them then the form won't be sent out so the benefit would stop.'

Personally I would get your husband to phone them when the letter comes and tell them you can't communicat by phone.

Hope that helps.

flight747

Why can't your wife use a minicom ?

sunnyone

flight747 wrote: »

Why can't your wife use a minicom ?

Because not every deaf person can afford a minicom and also not everyone who cant use a phone is deaf, many diffrent conditions can mean that someone cannot use a phone to talk to strangers.

bikeit

My wife has been broke on incapacity benefit after her medical, she is going to appeal it, what is the best way to do this, will she receive any payments during the appeal process?

Torry_Quine

bikeit wrote: »

My wife has been broke on incapacity benefit after her medical, she is going to appeal it, what is the best way to do this, will she receive any payments during the appeal process?

Presuming that you mean a recent medical then it will have been for ESA as everyone on IB is being transferred. She must have completed an ESA 50 form first. The decision can be appealed and while appealling she will be entitled to the basic rate and will need to send in what where called sick notes from her GP. The details of how to appeal should be on the letter telling her she didn't receive enough points for ESA.

bikeit

She got a letter yesterday informing her the results of her recent ESA, she scored 0 points.
Any idea what the basic rate is?

enabledebra

under 25 £56.25 Over 25 £71.00

Edit - Couple rate £111.45

I haven't read the full thread so not sure which rate applies to you.

bikeit

The wife is over 25,when she was getting incapacity she was getting £108.05 per week. i am working full time over 35 hours a week

enabledebra

It should be the £71.00 assessment rate then. As it's a decison that she doesn't satisfy the ESA test on switching from IB you should look carefully at the letter she got telling her about the switch to ESA. It can be argued that IB shouldn't have been stopped due to inadequate communication. If you have a welfare rights adviser point them here: http://www.cpag.org.uk/content/unnoticed-flaw-esa-conversion-decisions

If not there's a template to use- you can send it to the DWP and ask them to revise their decision to stop IB in addition to continuing to challenge the ESA assessment.