ESA Help needed

poppet17

This is going to be long winded so I apologies before I start, here goes. I am a 59 year old female.
In June 2009 whilst I was working full time I had to have surgery which went wrong and I had to down to theatre the next day to try to correct it, it has left me with severe perineal pain caused by nerve damage to that area making it very difficult for me to sit, stand or walk for long periods of time, I am also unable to lift anything or do normal duties with causing pain. I continued to work with difficulty and became quite poorly, then in February 2012 I was diagnosed with M.E. and getting persistent vertigo attacks, I had a lot of time off work due to illness and in February this year my employer let me go on health grounds after an intensive occupational health screening by ATOS at work. It was recommended that I apply for ESA which I duly did in February of this year and was awarded contribution based ESA until February 2014. In March I was sent a form to fill in and after several telephone calls I was issued with an appointment with ATOS for an assessment in September. The doctor told me I was not fit for work but that they would refuse me and I should appeal, however, even after several calls to the DWP I am told that my case has still not been decided as to which group I will be put into and that it could take months before a decision is made. At this rate I will not be getting decision until after my ESA runs out. As I have been informed that I will be refused and should appeal I am guessing they will put me in a work related group, (My doctor has said that I am not fit to work and the probability of me being able to work again is at best very low at worst never). I therefore believe that I should be put into a support group but it seems to be a bit of a postcode lottery. So after all that my questions are: What else can I send them to support my case and how long is this likely to take?

epitome

You may not get WRAG you may be disallowed and found fit for work - which is what I suspect your doctor is expecting to happen......... because it happens to a lot of people.

Do you have a working or pension receiving partner or savings more than 6000 or more than 16000? i.e. is there any reason you won't get ESA IR after Feb 2014?

If you won't get ESA IR and you want to continue getting payments after Feb 2014 you will need to get Support Group... to that end you might need to appeal.... so you might aswell look at the criteria for it and know that you need to satisfy 1 criteria... follow this link to see the criteria...

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showpost.php?p=62717971&postcount=5

poppet17

I think maybe you should read my post again....especially my doctors comments and also my questions.....:(

epitome

You already have the answer to your 2nd question - "it could take months", but it generally is done within 1 month. The DWP will first have to receive the ESA55 report from ATOS, you can ask them if it has been received yet.

To your 1st question, read the link above for support group criteria, which criteria do you think you satisfy and why? Ask your doctor to provide a letter explaining why you fit that criteria, and send it to your ESA BC - but you had beter be quick, as they *could* make the decision next week.

Now perhaps you might like to answer my original questions... as to why you can't get ESA IR..... as you may be worrying over nothing. And had you answered them already, I could have moved on to more relevant advice in this post.

I did read your post & your doctors comments. Your doctor feels they "will refuse me" which means you could be disallowed ESA and found fit for for work OR you might pass and get Work Related Activity Group be it either decision your doctor/you feel you should appeal for Support Group.

poppet17

Not my doctor, the doctor that did the ATOS assessment said they would refuse me. In answer to your question, I don't know what ESA IR is, I have never applied for anything like this before as I have worked all my life, we don't have savings but my husband does work but he is not the one that is claiming and I am not claiming anything for him. I am finding it very confusing and I hear so many awful stories about people who are just having their money stopped. We will not manage on my husbands wages alone and I was in a very well paid job. It seems to me that a lifetime of working hard and paying my dues means absolutely nothing when you need help. I, like so many others when we started our working life were promised a pension at the age of 60 if we paid our stamp but that has now been extended to over 66 for me.....these governments can do just what they like......:mad:

[Deleted User]

Poppet. IR ESA means Income Related Employment and Support Allowance. You can read about it here. You've been awarded Contributions Based ESA until February 2014. Contributions Based ESA isn't means tested, and so your partner's savings or income won't affect it.

When your Contributions Based ESA runs out (or just before) you will need to apply for Income Related ESA. IR ESA is means tested, and yes, your partner's income might affect your eligibilty:

"It is means tested so depends on your income and savings. Your partner’s income and savings are also taken into account. If you or your partner has over £16,000 in savings you will not be eligible and any capital over £6,000 will affect the amount that you receive."

epitome

Does he work over 24 hours a week?

Also you should read the first post in this thread...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4778657
and hope that your decision is made well before Oct 28th, so that you can appeal before Oct 28th and continue to be paid on reconsideration until February 2014.

After February 2014 if you were disallowed or put in WRAG your payments will stop. What you can then do is wait 13 weeks (late May or June 2014) and put in a new claim to ESA, using an ESA1 form from a jobccentre... and you will possibly get another 365 days ESA pyments. It is best NOT to ask DWP about doing this as most of them don't know it can be done and will mislead you into thinking you can't do it. Whereas if you just pick up an ESA1 from a jobcentre and send it in, it will atleast go to a New claims department who should know that it is allowed.

poppet17

Thank you very much for all your help I certainly did not know about reapplying but I have telephoned them 3 times already and they keep saying my claim has nnot been looked at yet so i don't think I will get a decision before October 28th but I guess thats what they are banking on......

poppet17

I have an update...I spoke to both DWP and ATOS yesterday and I was told that my file had not been sent on the the DWP because the file had been given to another ATOS doctor to check that the original ATOS doctor was doing his job properly....until this had been check it could not be forwarded to the DWP....the DWP said they could not request the paperwork because it had been passed on for verification through the ATOS system. To me it seems just like an excuse and I can get nowhere with this system, I am now going to make an appointment with my local member of parliament to try and get something done about this new regime, it is disgraceful.

poppet17

epitome wrote: »

Does he work over 24 hours a week?

Also you should read the first post in this thread...
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4778657
and hope that your decision is made well before Oct 28th, so that you can appeal before Oct 28th and continue to be paid on reconsideration until February 2014.

After February 2014 if you were disallowed or put in WRAG your payments will stop. What you can then do is wait 13 weeks (late May or June 2014) and put in a new claim to ESA, using an ESA1 form from a jobccentre... and you will possibly get another 365 days ESA pyments. It is best NOT to ask DWP about doing this as most of them don't know it can be done and will mislead you into thinking you can't do it. Whereas if you just pick up an ESA1 from a jobcentre and send it in, it will atleast go to a New claims department who should know that it is allowed.

Can you tell me how this reapplying works please....As I was retired from my job in February 2013 on health grounds will it not mean I will not have enough contributions left?

poppet17

poppet17 wrote: »

I have an update...I spoke to both DWP and ATOS yesterday and I was told that my file had not been sent on the the DWP because the file had been given to another ATOS doctor to check that the original ATOS doctor was doing his job properly....until this had been check it could not be forwarded to the DWP....the DWP said they could not request the paperwork because it had been passed on for verification through the ATOS system. To me it seems just like an excuse and I can get nowhere with this system, I am now going to make an appointment with my local member of parliament to try and get something done about this new regime, it is disgraceful.

New update - 06/11/2013: Still nothing from the DWP, my file is still with ATOS due to DWP telling them to audit all claims.....appalling