ESA Appeal. Bit Confused

rustyboy21

H All, This is not for me, but my friend.

He was on IB, has been for approx. 20 years, due to chronic bowel issues and all the surrounding ailments which come with it ( Had a lot of his bowel removed quite a few years ago )

He was sent a letter and esa50 form in March to fill in This was done and sent back.

In June he received a letter saying he had been put on work related ESA. No medical had been done. I got him to put an appeal in, as there is no way he can work his issues are so chronic.
Last week, he received a phone call from another benefit dept, where his appeal and original form were sent to, he was bombarded with loads of questions, on how his life is affected.He told them that nothing had changed in the years, he had always been granted IB in past for his illness and they could see it in the previous forms. He was told, they don't get any prvious info given to them, just his app and his appeal. He asked to be put on the support group.

This morning he has received a letter saying they have reviewed his case and they have changed their decision.

All it says is that his appeal will not be sent to an independent tribunal, as the decision has been changed in his favour

What I want to know is , does this mean that they have put him on the support group side, or is there a level between contribution based work related ESA and the support group?

Hopefully this is the end of the trial he has been through and he can settle down. The confusing thing is that it says he can appeal against the decision again, but why would he have to, if they have already said that it has been found in his favour and it really means that he is now on the support group.

It says ring up if any questions, but they haven't put a tel no on the letter !

Any help in reassuring him would be great

Thanks

Torry_Quine

It looks like he's been put into the support group which is very good news.

Horseunderwater

One of the qualifiers for the Support group is the wearing of a stoma bag and how you manage with that, so I should think that he has been put where he should have been. So wait and see what happens as he should get a letter telling him more soon.

rustyboy21

Horseunderwater wrote: »

One of the qualifiers for the Support group is the wearing of a stoma bag and how you manage with that, so I should think that he has been put where he should have been. So wait and see what happens as he should get a letter telling him more soon.

Thanks for that. He doesn't have a stoma, but has to wear 'nappies' in effect as he is faecally incontinent on an almost daily basis, always without warning. He used to get pads off the NHS, but they were only small ones, like tenna ladies, which were useless, so he stopped them and I have been helping out with buying proper adult pads which fit like nappies ( don't know what they are called.

The letter consisted of about 3 lines then talked about appealing. This is what confused me so much.

I was seriously thinking of pushing him to apply for attendance allowance, to help out. I do his shopping and help with the housework and washing of his clothes and bed clothes. What do you think the chances are of being successful?

Torry_Quine

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Thanks for that. He doesn't have a stoma, but has to wear 'nappies' in effect as he is faecally incontinent on an almost daily basis, always without warning. He used to get pads off the NHS, but they were only small ones, like tenna ladies, which were useless, so he stopped them and I have been helping out with buying proper adult pads which fit like nappies ( don't know what they are called.

The letter consisted of about 3 lines then talked about appealing. This is what confused me so much.

I was seriously thinking of pushing him to apply for attendance allowance, to help out. I do his shopping and help with the housework and washing of his clothes and bed clothes. What do you think the chances are of being successful?

Regular incontinence on it's own is enough to get you into the support group.

How old is he? AA is for care needs so shopping and housework won't be relevant.

rustyboy21

Thanks for your replies.

He is 54, he has a really rough time, has no real social life, as he is ruled by his bowel condition, so doesn't go out very much.

He has now got type 2 Diabetes, as he eats junk food. He loves fruit and Veg, but if he eats that, his symptoms are 10 times worse. In a vicious circle, that he cant get out of.

Torry_Quine

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

He is 54, he has a really rough time, has no real social life, as he is ruled by his bowel condition, so doesn't go out very much.

He has now got type 2 Diabetes, as he eats junk food. He loves fruit and Veg, but if he eats that, his symptoms are 10 times worse. In a vicious circle, that he cant get out of.

At 54 it would be PIP he applies for as AA is for people of pension age, hence the question. PIP is for care and or mobility needs though.

He should ask for a referral to a dietician to get advice on the best diet for his diabetes and bowel condition also to the local continence service to get more appropriate pads.

epitome

The phone number is on the June letter saying WRAG grp

Phone up and ask if there is a note on his file saying "cust in suport group".
Ask how long the prognosis is. (the time before he will be re-assessed).

Some people get these decision overturned letters and the DWP has no record of it and then it's a fight between customer/DWP as to whether the decision has really been overturned or if the letter has been issued in error. So you need to phone and check.

rustyboy21

Just an update.

I Spoke to the DWP, this morning. They have acknowledged that the decision is to put him on the support group as of 25th June. They have said this runs until 25th June 2015, when he will be reassessed.

I have also spoken to the Job centre , re his work interview and they have checked the facts, have agreed they are correct and have cancelled the interview too.

Just to say, Thank you for your help, hopefully, he can now settle down a bit and start thinking about the future, instead of worrying about everything.

Many thanks

damino

rustyboy21 wrote: »

Thanks for your replies.

He is 54, he has a really rough time, has no real social life, as he is ruled by his bowel condition, so doesn't go out very much.

He has now got type 2 Diabetes, as he eats junk food. He loves fruit and Veg, but if he eats that, his symptoms are 10 times worse. In a vicious circle, that he cant get out of.

Issues with fruit and veg, sounds a bit like IBS..
He can eat White Rice.
And cook it well so it's soft, and easy to digest. Maybe even brown rice if well cooked.

The following is not directly related to ESA, but re his condition, He could try putting fruit and veg in a juicer. This might break down the insoluble fibre and make fruit and veg easier to digest. This book may help
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eating-IBS-Irritable-Bowel-Syndrome/dp/1569246009
http://www.amazon.com/Eating-IBS-Delicious-Nutritious-Low-Residue/dp/1569246009/
White bread not wholemeal. As wholemeal has lots of insoluble fibre that if you have IBS, you may have issues with.
That is mentioned in Heather Van Vorous's book.
There is also a forum
http://www.helpforibs.com/messageboards/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

rustyboy21

damino wrote: »

Issues with fruit and veg, sounds a bit like IBS..
He can eat White Rice.
And cook it well so it's soft, and easy to digest. Maybe even brown rice if well cooked.

The following is not directly related to ESA, but re his condition, He could try putting fruit and veg in a juicer. This might break down the insoluble fibre and make fruit and veg easier to digest. This book may help
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Eating-IBS-Irritable-Bowel-Syndrome/dp/1569246009
http://www.amazon.com/Eating-IBS-Delicious-Nutritious-Low-Residue/dp/1569246009/
White bread not wholemeal. As wholemeal has lots of insoluble fibre that if you have IBS, you may have issues with.
That is mentioned in Heather Van Vorous's book.
There is also a forum
http://www.helpforibs.com/messageboards/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php

He has IBS and Diverticular disease, they reoved a very large section of his bowel over 20 years ago and has had these issues since. Consultants say was unlucky with operation and will have to live with it - easier said than done. The problem is that trying to help one condition out, makes the other one worse.

White rice and bread, bung him up, but the terrible pains of wanting to empty his bowels but not being able to is worse than the incontinence. Says it feels like when he started with the problems he had before the operation.

Has a juicer. Went on a juice diet after coming off a tablet which put 4 stone on him ( mad cravings for food is a side effect of medication ) Lost weight, but was sitting on loo all day.

He knows what he can eat and not, but when you are feeling carp all the time, then eating properly isn't No 1 on his list, getting through the day as pain free as possible is.