Incapacity benefit, esa assessment!

atrixblue.-MFR-.

trouble with pulling appart the medical report is that you leave youself open to another medical based on the fact you claim it is fabricated and untrue.

even at tribunal, they can tell you to attend another medical based on picking holes in the existing one, but this time it will be done by a different examiner in different center.

if the results come back and you score 15 points or more, then the tribunal, or a complaint submitted will result in diciplinary to that examiner. and you get the correct level of award of esa.

the tip here is not to pick holes and call it fabricated and untrue, but back up your account of relevance to the questions asked via independant medical evidence to contradict the examiners findings if you quick enough and within 28days of reciept of your letter to have this evidence at hand you could submit this evidence along with a reconsidderation letter to the DM that over seen the file. there he will have three options, overturn his/her decision to the relevance of the evedance, or refure you back to ATOS for another medical or keep his decision the same, then you appeal. wait the 12-15 months apeal time get it infron of the panel and let them decide what should have been awarded. any medical changes after apeal date of first submission that is immeterial and not counted. so you need all your evidence collated and sent, (photo copies) dont trust them to keep originals.

drmqn442

It looks to me i am in the same boat with everyone here. I had to have a face to face medical assessment ATOS. This was done just before christmas. And got my letter yesterday telling me i am fit for work and this benefit will stop at the end of Febuary. I am also in total shock in fact has made me quite ill. I have a condition called Cervical Myelopathy and somthing else to do with my spinal cord cannot remember what that is bit it is not nice. When i looked at what was said about me i had a score of 0 and i live a normal life has a small amount of pain but this is controlled with some painkillers. Also in the report i am called He a lot of the time then goes to she Did this doctor not know what sex i was? I don't know if the Doctor i saw when doing his report got me mixed up with someone else because reading what he said i could do was not me. I take a lot of medication each day one of them is morphine and a lot of other very strong meds. I cannot walk far i use a stick some of the time i have numbness down my right side of my body i have a a cage fitted inside round my spinal cord to stop or help to stop this getting worse. This condition i have makes me very unsteady very clumsy and a lot more but wont go on it will take for ever. When i rang them about this all i was told that i can appeal and have to get a medical report from the hospital or my GP with in one month. The person on the phone asked me a few questions why i want to appeal again i told her what was on the report and most of it was so very wrong. I don't know if this is the same people that do the DLA benefit because only last year i was given the high mobility allowance and the middle for care and was told this was indefinite. so that means i wont have to do another claim on this only to let them know if i get better or worse. So now i have been told i can work does this mean i will loose that benefit also?if i don't win this appeal. I know my Gp will do a report for me but this system is so very wrong and not giving true reports out on us, I know they have to get as many off this and back into work.But the real people that need help are not getting the help. This has also made me so mad and reading everyone threads something is not right the system needs to be looked at. So i have sent a letter today asking to look at this again as i felt the doctor has not given a truthful report.I don't know what will happen next and if my Gp gives a report will they say no again? i really hope not but if this is the case and i have to find work if anything happens to me i will hold them all responsible. I have not been rude or put in my letter to much about how i feel but a few things saying i am called a he then a she in different parts of the report. So now i just have to see what the outcome is going to be because i will appeal again if i need to. I wish everyone here good luck also.

drmqn442

blondee55 wrote: »

Wow!!! Have just received my ATOS report and I am totally in shock:eek: I have been awarded no points at all, and to say the answers I gave to the "examiner" have been distorted is an understatement, some are total lies to say the least. Anyone reading this report would think I am a social butterfly, according to ATOS, I go out for walks everyday, when in fact I told her depending on how severe my pain was, I would very infrequently stretch my legs in the fresh air. According to her I visit the cinema regularly even though I told her that I have been twice in the last year. I could go on and on about the inaccuracies in her report, especially about my back operation (double discectomy and spinal fusion) which is not even mentioned, according to her I state that I have problems with my back, why are my medical records not used? Sorry for the rant but I am totally aghast with the report, I answered honestly and these answers have been twisted or totally ignored at all, a lot of the report is just fabrication on the examiners part, I cannot believe she has missed lots of relevant stuff off it. Anyway I am seeing my Dr next week, and I will be taking this report with me and will I be asking them to help me with my appeal, in the meantime any other advice concerning my appeal would be greatly appreciated.

You just sound like me my report also said i go out for walks most days yet i don't and cannot go on my own as i do fall and trip a lot yes my report did not tell my full history either if fact said i lived a normal life just some pain now and then. Just so unreal. I am doing to same as you seeing my GP and i know she willsurport me on this. I wish you also good luck and hope things go your way also.

Morglin

nannytone wrote: »

the WRAG group is for people that are deemed to have some capability for work.
the Support groups is for those deemed unfit for any work. ( only 7% of claimants get into the support group ... so unless you are so disabled/sick that you cant even wipe your own bum, dont even think about it!)

Not now - in samples, carried out by the government, and disability groups, but strangely ignored by newspapers such as the DM, more than half of claims were and are resulting in Support Group decisions:

http://www.disabilityalliance.org/esastat6.htm

According to DWP stats, approx 43% of new claims are being granted ESA without any appeal. This rises after appeal, andis broadly in line with the old IB rates re claims now. (These figures relate to 2 months in 2011 and there have been claim improvement rates since then)

........For new ESA claims

Outcomes of initial assessments for claims started from March to May 2011 show:

• 48 per cent of claimants have an outcome i.e. decisions have been made on their claims; The rest are awaiting decisions/appeal.
• 38 per cent of claimants had their claim closed before having a face to face assessment; and
• 14 per cent of claimants were still undergoing assessment.

Claimants with an outcome for their claim can be broken down as follows:

• 43 per cent of claimants were entitled to the benefit. Within this –
  • 21 per cent of claimants were placed in the Work Related Activity Group; and
  • 22 per cent of claimants were placed in the Support Group;
• http://www.dwp.gov.uk/newsroom/press-releases/2012/jan-2012/dwp008-12.shtml

Lin

blondee55

atrixblue.-MFR-. wrote: »

trouble with pulling appart the medical report is that you leave youself open to another medical based on the fact you claim it is fabricated and untrue.

even at tribunal, they can tell you to attend another medical based on picking holes in the existing one, but this time it will be done by a different examiner in different center.

if the results come back and you score 15 points or more, then the tribunal, or a complaint submitted will result in diciplinary to that examiner. and you get the correct level of award of esa.

the tip here is not to pick holes and call it fabricated and untrue, but back up your account of relevance to the questions asked via independant medical evidence to contradict the examiners findings if you quick enough and within 28days of reciept of your letter to have this evidence at hand you could submit this evidence along with a reconsidderation letter to the DM that over seen the file. there he will have three options, overturn his/her decision to the relevance of the evedance, or refure you back to ATOS for another medical or keep his decision the same, then you appeal. wait the 12-15 months apeal time get it infron of the panel and let them decide what should have been awarded. any medical changes after apeal date of first submission that is immeterial and not counted. so you need all your evidence collated and sent, (photo copies) dont trust them to keep originals.

But why should I not say it is not untrue when it is, there is no way I am going to back down on this at all, the report plain and simple is not correct so why should I accept that, I am totally willing to undergo another medical but I will be taking someone into it with me. I will be asking my Dr for my medical records/reports about my condition and hope she will back me up, also I have been to CAB this morning and I have been given an appointment on Monday to help me with my appeal.

Cpt.Scarlet

There is no reason why you should not hilite a factual error, although I would be cautious with your language, however, you need to differentiate fact from opinion, in the case of the latter you cannot simply take an opposite position, you need to show that the opinion is either not based on facts presented or is erroneous.

blondee55

Cpt.Scarlet wrote: »

There is no reason why you should not hilite a factual error, although I would be cautious with your language, however, you need to differentiate fact from opinion, in the case of the latter you cannot simply take an opposite position, you need to show that the opinion is either not based on facts presented or is erroneous.

Don`t worry I will not going in all guns blazing, I will in a pedantic manner address each of the inaccuracies that is on the medical report. There is a lot of medical info that she has conveniently decided to omit, and there also is a lot of untruths. I know some of these would be my word against hers so I will be very careful how I word things.
Anyway I have an appointment on Monday to see CAB, and before I actually do anything I will see what their advice is about the matter.

drmqn442

Since i have had the report back telling me my incap is going to stop as i score 0 points and this is so wrong i have many problems and had for the last 8 years.Had lots of surgery etc This really made me upset and quite ill with the worry. Things have been going through my mind and what i would like to know if anyone can help or answer this. I have has the icap for 8 years and i am also in DLA i am on the middle for the care and the highest for mobility and was given this at the start of 2011 and was also told this is now indefinite meaning i will be on this for good unless my health gets better and i wont have to go through all this again. Now that is for DLA so why is the incap making me goes through all this?Does the DLA and incap benefit work as the same i would have thought if i have been given the DLA. I think they should look at that side if it. What i am saying if i have this does not that tell them i do have problems? This would also save time and tax payers money and time also upset for us all. Hope someone can tell me anything if i am right. Thanks

Muttleythefrog

drmqn442 wrote: »

Since i have had the report back telling me my incap is going to stop as i score 0 points and this is so wrong i have many problems and had for the last 8 years.Had lots of surgery etc This really made me upset and quite ill with the worry. Things have been going through my mind and what i would like to know if anyone can help or answer this. I have has the icap for 8 years and i am also in DLA i am on the middle for the care and the highest for mobility and was given this at the start of 2011 and was also told this is now indefinite meaning i will be on this for good unless my health gets better and i wont have to go through all this again. Now that is for DLA so why is the incap making me goes through all this?Does the DLA and incap benefit work as the same i would have thought if i have been given the DLA. I think they should look at that side if it. What i am saying if i have this does not that tell them i do have problems? This would also save time and tax payers money and time also upset for us all. Hope someone can tell me anything if i am right. Thanks

It's important to note that ESA (which I assume you're being transferred onto.. or at least would have been had you qualified) and DLA are based on very different criteria to reach very different determinations. Particular awards of DLA may be helpful in arguing a case for particular ESA descriptors applying but a DLA award won't as such be used to determine entitlement to ESA.

Like for many the turmoil of all this hassle affects your health negatively. But it sounds like you may be best advised to look at the possibility of appealling the decision. If you don't feel 'technically competent' to do that then I'd suggest seeking 3rd party support ASAP from the likes of CAB or Welfare rights. What you can do is request a statement of reasons for the decision and a copy of all the evidence they've used. You may be able to get assessment rate ESA while appealing.. provided you can support sicknotes from doctor. If you do appeal then supporting medical evidence could be highly useful... but don't take your focus off the ESA descriptors... that's your field of battle... so the closer the evidence is to a claim of various descriptors applying, the better.

flight747

Does appeal ESA will re-activate housing benefit and council tax benefit, because ESA told council that she won't getting any ESA after failed her assessment with 0 point result in her housing benefit and council tax benefit stopped.

If she appeal ESA, will she get £67.50 per week and will she continue HB/CT too ? she not working due to blind and she scared she could her home, she had no other income except ESA & DLA