ESA Tribunal - help please?

titchyyyy

Hello all.

I'm currently in a tribunal situation with the ESA. My tribunal is because I didn't attend the health assessment (due to Agoraphobia). I was asked to get a letter to say I couldn't attend but because I didn't get the letter in time (due some really unfortunate circumstances), they closed my claim.

Due to this tribunal, I really don't think I have any hope in succeeding, even though the circumstances of the letter was nothing to do with me (I can explain if anybody wants to know further).

My question is;

How do I push forward, if I lose the tribunal?

Can I apply to ESA again and do it the right way? (Finding a new doctor and getting him/her to write a proper letter) Or do they simply block you from going on to ESA again?

Is there a benefit I can claim whilst my tribunal is going head? ESA say they can't pay me because I failed to attend. I'm struggling with money massively at this point as I haven't had a single ESA payment in several months.

Any advice would be hugely appreciated. I've tried to phone the DWP up but they don't seem to have a clue what they're on about.

sportsarb

Universal Credit is likely to be your best option if you have no savings, other income or a partner in full time work.

They rarely backdate though and take the claim from the date it is received so if you are going to claim that, do so today, it is pretty easily done over the internet although there will be some requirements that may require attending appointments if you are in one of the groups that requires that.

Alternatively, you could claim New Style JSA if your national insurance contributions are satisfied in the relevant years, you can still claim UC at the same time as claiming this.

I'll let others pick up on the reclaiming ESA part as my experience of how this works is likely to differ from what happens in your area.

poppy12345

The Tribunal is because you were found fit for work for failing to attend. It's not to place you into a group. If they agree with your reasons then you can go back onto assessment rate of ESA while you wait for the assessment. If you fail to attend it's a very long winded procedure.



I don't believe you can reclaim because all areas are now a full UC area so a new claim would have to be UC.

titchyyyy

Thank you for the replies. As advised above -

I spoke to the UC adviser over the phone and told him that my Agoraphobia will not allow me to travel all the way to one of their offices, it'll literally cause me insane distress and take days to get over it and they basically told me that if I sign up to UC, I'll have to come in for an interview otherwise they won't be able to pay me.

Is there any way around this? Or was he just being rude? It seems very unfair that they don't accommodate for people who suffer with such mental disabilities.

sportsarb

Make the claim anyway, you’ll be assigned a work coach, you can liaise with the work coach on whether you have to attend any appointments face to face. It’s up to the work coach though and it won’t be an endless deferral if it’s granted at all.

If you’re not able to confirm your I’d online then I’m not sure there is any way around an identity interview.

I’d suggest immediately starting the process of getting some supporting medical evidence regarding degree of agoraphobia experienced.

calcotti

It is possible to have identity checks done at home - but rare for obvious reasons. I think you would need very strong medical evidence to support a request for this.