ESA letter

pmlindyloo

You do not need to do anything until you receive the decision letter.

No, you do not have to send any fit notes as they have told you that she has been placed in the WRAG group.

Once you have received the decision letter then you can start the appeal process. You will be appealing to move her from the WRAG group to the Support group. You do not need to send in fit notes in this case.

The appeal process starts with the Mandatory Reconsideration. You get one month from the date of the decision letter. It is good that CAB will be supporting you.

Does your daughter have any savings or other income?

Alice_Holt

F1Fan wrote: »

My daughter still hasn't received the decision letter, it will be 4 weeks on Monday when the first letter came through saying they can't pay her ESA anymore.

Although she's got an appointment with CAB next week, she got the impression from them that time was running out.

I don't know what stage we are at, she is in the Mandatory Reconsideration?

Does that first letter have a para in it saying something like "What you can do if you think our decision is wrong"....... "If you think this decision is wrong you can ask us to look again at our decision, to do this write to us, at the address at the top of this letter, requesting a mandatory reconsideration of this decision " (or words to that effect?).
If it does then write to them today first class - keep a copy and get proof of posting (use as a guide the MR pro-forma I posted in post 19). As pmlindyloo has said you are appealing because the health assessment on March 29 was incorrect, it placed her in the WRAG group whereas your daughter thinks she should be placed back into the Support Group of ESA. Look through the SG links I posted and find the one that applies. Also it might be a good idea to quote reg 35 (substantial risk to health if required to participate in WRAG activities) .

In any case I would tend to ring them up now and request a MR on the phone. Take a note of the name of the call handler, time, todays date etc and post a confirming letter. Keep a copy of your letter and get proof of posting.
It really depends on the complete wording of that first letter (and I know DWP letters can be confusing), if anywhere it says "something like "What you can do if you think our decision is wrong" then your daughter needs to do the MR request now.

This may seem like overkill but I'm concerned that the CAB seem to think time is running out and it is 4 weeks on Monday from the date of the first letter (which perhaps was the decision letter).

I'm suggesting this because you really don't want to be out of time for the MR stage. It would be better to ask for an MR and get it logged on the DWP system now, even if you have to repeat this step later, than be out of time (because then it is at the discretion of the DWP as to whether they accept the MR).
Also because the MR is just a step in the appeal process, the real work starts once the appeal goes to the TS.

If you are confused about the appeal process, go back to the links I provided in post 19. Print out the appeal guides, and carefully go through them. You should be much clearer about what is required after you have done this.

F1Fan

pmlindyloo wrote: »

You do not need to do anything until you receive the decision letter.

No, you do not have to send any fit notes as they have told you that she has been placed in the WRAG group.

Once you have received the decision letter then you can start the appeal process. You will be appealing to move her from the WRAG group to the Support group. You do not need to send in fit notes in this case.

The appeal process starts with the Mandatory Reconsideration. You get one month from the date of the decision letter. It is good that CAB will be supporting you.

Does your daughter have any savings or other income?

Thank you for your reply.

The only letter received says - 'We cannot pay you ESA from 24th March 2017. This is because you will have reached the maximum 365 days that you can get contribution-based ESA'

So she's not in Support or WRAG Group.

pmlindyloo

F1Fan wrote: »

Thank you for your reply.

The only letter received says - 'We cannot pay you ESA from 24th March 2017. This is because you will have reached the maximum 365 days that you can get contribution-based ESA'

So she's not in Support or WRAG Group.

With all due respect you seem a bit muddled about this - perfectly understandable as it is complicated.

I think you should go to CAB and ask them to ring the DWP and find out what exactly has happened. Take any paperwork with you.