ESA Decision this is SO wrong

flyer2306

Hi all
Well today i received my ESA decision notice. After being awarded support group and 27 points at tribunal in 2014 i have the letter today saying although we recognize you may have a illness or disability you can do some work and therefore ESA has been stopped from the date on the letter.

They awarded me 6 points from the WCA. There is something in this decision notice that really throws me off. The decision maker has written that the ESA50 was unavailable to them when making this decision however they made the decision based on the information that was available. How on earth can they not have the ESA50 to look at? Is this some kind of joke? It says in the letter that an ESA50 was sent and returned by myself, And was present at the WCA but was not there for the decison maker. I seriously cannot understand how that is possible.

Now i know that there is the process of a mandatory reconsideration but in the letter it does not say how i do that. Should i have a form with this decision letter or do i just write my own letter and send it to them? I'm truly lost for words on this decision and its really really unfair that the decision maker has made this decision without my ESA50.. I cannot believe it

I've had no chance for the decision maker to see what affects me and how it does if they have not looked at the ESA50.

NeilCr

Information on how to go about a mandatory reconsideration here

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/while-youre-getting-esa/challenging-an-esa-decision/

Be aware of the time limits and what happens to benefits during the mandatory reconsideration period (link at the bottom of the page)

Diary

flyer2306 wrote: »

Hi all
Well today i received my ESA decision notice. After being awarded support group and 27 points at tribunal in 2014 i have the letter today saying although we recognize you may have a illness or disability you can do some work and therefore ESA has been stopped from the date on the letter.

They awarded me 6 points from the WCA. There is something in this decision notice that really throws me off. The decision maker has written that the ESA50 was unavailable to them when making this decision however they made the decision based on the information that was available. How on earth can they not have the ESA50 to look at? Is this some kind of joke? It says in the letter that an ESA50 was sent and returned by myself, And was present at the WCA but was not there for the decison maker. I seriously cannot understand how that is possible.

Now i know that there is the process of a mandatory reconsideration but in the letter it does not say how i do that. Should i have a form with this decision letter or do i just write my own letter and send it to them? I'm truly lost for words on this decision and its really really unfair that the decision maker has made this decision without my ESA50.. I cannot believe it

I've had no chance for the decision maker to see what affects me and how it does if they have not looked at the ESA50.

Enclose your copy of the esa50 with the mandatory reconsideration letter, at least that way the dm can take a look.
It might help.

flyer2306

Thank you for your replies. I'm so glad i made a copy of my ESA50. I will copy it again and send it with my mandatory erconsideration. I still can't believe they didn't have my esa50 to look at? I've never heard of this before. That puts it as an unfair assessment to me doesnt it? I mean the medical report was full of lies anyway and i made a complaint to maximus but im yet to hear back from them.

Im so stressed and i feel hopeless. I have to claim JSA now I dont know how i can manage that. I've read you can go sick for 13 weeks on it.. Does this mean you dont have to go to the job center to sign on for those 13 weeks? As this might be some help to me while i at least get the appeal to tribunal lodged as i dont hold out much hope for the mandatory reconsideration being changed

Diary

It might help at tribunal if you write complaining both to maximus and dwp about them losing the esa50. While it's not necessary for the dm to have the esa50 the tribunal might have a dim view of the dwp's behaviour in this.

As for the 13 weeks sick on jsa I might be wrong but other than the first visit to the job centre I'm fairly sure you don't have to sign on in person. As you might be aware once your tribunal papers are lodged you can go back on esa.

Tommo1980

No you don't need to go to the job centre during those 13 weeks. You can send the sick notes by post.

Tom

Alice_Holt

Mandatory Reconsideration pro-forma here:
https://www.leicester.gov.uk/media/178163/mandatory-reconsideration-request.pdf

If you have a copy of your previous decision notice from the Tribunal Service (TS), I would attach that to your MR..
If you have confirmation from your GP that you condition has not changed since 2014, include that (or follow up with that evidence asap after posting. Keep a copy of your MR and get proof of posting.

However, the DWP rarely change the decision ar MR stage, so prepare yourself for an appeal to the TS.

Once the appeal is lodged with the TS, you can request the DWP to pay you ESA rather than JSA. Your local CAB may be able to advise you further on this point.

This is a useful guide to the benefit appeal process (The ESA appeal process is virtually the same as PIP):
http://www.advicenow.org.uk/guides/how-win-pip-appeal

Here is the form you will need when you have received the MRN from the DWP and need to appeal to the TS:
http://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/sscs001-eng.pdf
A copy of the MRN needs to be attached.

Good Luck.

TELLIT01

The letter about stopping ESA comes from the processing office. The ESA50 goes to the medical assessment location for the HCP. It's entirely possible that either the ESA50 wasn't returned with the medical assessment, or that it became separated somewhere along the route.
It shouldn't happen, and it's fortunate that you retained a copy. Get that back to ESA, along with the mandatory recon request a.s.a.p. It's possible they will change the decision when they have all the information. It's rare for a change to be made at that stage, but not impossible.

flyer2306

I knew after looking at the copy of the medical report ( before the decision letter ) that i would be taken off ESA. I could see in the medical report they only awarded me 6 points. It shocked me as this was a recorded assessment and still full of lies, i have made a complaint to Maximus but have not heard back from them yet.
I am going to get all the papers together and make another copy of the ESA50 and send it to them for the mandatory reconsideration.

It does seem the ESA50 has been lost or left somewhere as this is the exact wording in the decision letter.

At the time of making this decision the ESA50 Questionnaire was unavailable to the decision maker. As a result the decision maker as considered that there is sufficient available information without the ESA50 to determine wether the claimant has limited capability for work. A check on the medical services computer confirms that an ESA50 was issued, and then returned by the claiment. The assessment was carried out by the healthcare professional with the ESA50

Alice_Holt

If you have a copy of the WCA it may be worth an additional page attached to the MR highlighting the discrepancies between the assessment and your ESA50.

I take the decision letter wording as (in effect) saying that the WCA was conducted with knowlwdge of your ESA50,so it is not important that the DM has sight of this. So casting doubt on the WCA conclusion may result in the MR being taken more seriously.

Tommo1980

As Alice said, I don't think any great significance can be placed on the fact that the DM didn't have access to the ESA50.

It is the inaccuracies in the HCP report that are more relevant to the MR, since this was what the DM based their decision on.

Tom