Appealing against Incapacity Benefit ceasing

womble1010

My husband has been off work since March 07 due to trapped ulnar nerves in both elbows and carpal tunnel in both wrists. It has taken a long time awaiting diagnosis and referral for treatment. He has now had two operations, the last one on 19th Feb 08. He still has a further two operations ahead, aswell as the possibility of also suffering from diabetic neuropathy.

Following his SSP ending in Sept 08 he claimed IC as the procedure goes and was inreceipt of it until his medical beginning of Feb 08, following which the decision was made to stop it. We have only received a brief overview of the assessment and he scored 1 point. Under headings of manual dexerity, problems with lifting and carrying etc it stated no problems!!! Any Dr should know that the basic nature of this illness causes problems with this!!! We have appealled. I do feel that because my husband tries to be optimistic and wants to work this has gone against him. It is utterly stupid. He has now had to claim JSA whilst awaiting for the appeal to be looked at - this means a 4 week break in receiving any benefit payments!!! Also he has had to lie and state he is able to work in order for the claim to be processed. The whole system is a farce.

Chrysalis

womble1010 I had the same when I lost IB in the past and had to lie to claim JSA when I had lost IB but one needs to survive the alternative is no income.

Smickan

Sorry for all the bad cases you're all having

I was told at the end of my medical that I was unfit to work and then recieved a letter a about... 5 days later I think it was.


The stupdi thing is that we'd got a rescue dog a week earlier and couldn't leave him in the house because he goes mad so mum brought him with her and we were able to take him in the room with us - he was more interested in the dog and at one point asked us to put him on the floor to see if the dog would go to him!

piglet29

My dh has been on IB for the last 10 years now due to his depression and has had quite a few of these "medicals".:mad: These seem to be aimed more for people with physical problems not mental and as for the forms you have to fill in, well again they are aimed at physical not mental health problems,the questions they ask, like " describe how you feel on a day to day basis" most days he feels so down he doesnt feel able to get out of bed let alone explain the way he feels on a form, it drives me nuts!! He lost his IB three years ago, we appealed and lost, then had to sign on for JSA which at the interview was told the only job he could do was a supermarket carpark attendant due to his medication, eventually after seeing the disability employment officer he was told he was not fit to claim JSA and was put back on IB!!! Throughtout this we had to survive for 11 weeks on £44 per week!!! which nearly crippled us and if it had not been for borrowing money off my mum we could never have survived!! When we have the IB50 form come in the post now we go to the citizens advice and one of their advisers helps us to fill it out and find it a lot easier as they know how to word it properly unlike us who are often stuck as to how to answer some questions. The whole process is horrible and puts so much strain on my dh he is more down than ever, surely they could find a different way of covering this surely!:mad:
(Ok rant over, sorry but it does get my goat i know they need to check up as some people claim who shouldnt but it is the genuine people with real illness that seem to suffer, sorry im off again!!! need coffeeeeeeeee now please, sorry!):o

seven-day-weekend

My husband just writes absolutely everything about his condition on his IB50s, he doesn't assume they know anything about his illness/condition or how it affects him, or what medication he has to take, or why his conditions stop him going to work. So he writes that all down in words of one syllable, sends copies of any medical document he has, even copies of prescriptions and hospital appointments, and tells them of how he tried to stay in work as long as he could and why he can no longer work. Last time he downloaded a copy of the mental health descriptors and scores and filled that in and told them the number of points he felt he should be awarded according to his answers (about 22). His form is like an essay!

He had a letter saying not only had he passed but did not need to have a medical.

Don't know whether he has just been lucky. He does have conditions going right back to the early 1990s, which he can prove, although he has only been on IB since 2004.

Anyway, good luck everyone., it can be very nerve-wracking I know.

LadyMorticia

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

My husband just writes absolutely everything about his condition on his IB50s, he doesn't assume they know anything about his illness/condition or how it affects him, or what medication he has to take, or why his conditions stop him going to work. So he writes that all down in words of one syllable, sends copies of any medical document he has, even copies of prescriptions and hospital appointments, and tells them of how he tried to stay in work as long as he could and why he can no longer work. Last time he downloaded a copy of the mental health descriptors and scores and filled that in and told them the number of points he felt he should be awarded according to his answers (about 22). His form is like an essay!

He had a letter saying not only had he passed but did not need to have a medical.

Don't know whether he has just been lucky. He does have conditions going right back to the early 1990s, which he can prove, although he has only been on IB since 2004.

Anyway, good luck everyone., it can be very nerve-wracking I know.

Maybe I should do that. Got nothing to lose. The first medical I had in 2005 didn't tell me how many points I had scored but just told me it was above the needed amount.

A couple of months ago I received a letter for another medical but couldn't go due to my mental health and couldn't phone them because of my mental health. They sent me a letter asking my reasons why I didn't attend so I filled in the form and sent it back and they said my benefit had been stopped because they didn't hear back from me. I went to the doctor and she sent a letter asking them to grant me a home visit because most days I can't go out of the house and a background of my mental health. I'm just waiting to hear now.

My medical wasn't for IB though. It was for Severe Disablement Allowance. I at first though it was for IB but I have never claimed IB and that only clicked the other day as I claim income support and then I saw at the top of the letter it said "incapacity benefit and severe disablement allowance".

xx

womble1010

Hi guys,

Those of you that went to appeal and won, did you receive a reconsideration that upheld previous decision prior to this?
My husband has received all documents through today with regards to him appealing - full copy of capability test etc - and it included a copy of reconsideration given to assesment. This has agreed with original decision. Its left us feeling a bit low and unsure of how successful the appeal at tribunal may be. Any tips for tribunal would be helpful - e.g as his wife attending will I be allowed to speak, what do they ask?

Thanks eveyone for you anticipated help.

KxMx

Reconsiderations are rarely granted. The appeal board are 100% neutral from DWP which helps.
My reconsideration for IS was unsuccessful but won the appeal tribunal:)

averageguy11

My son recently had to undertake a 'medical' with a atos doctor..although he was 'sucessful' ....i was appalled tht the decision seemed to rest on a series of computer generated questions tht bore no resemblence to his illness.

My feeling is genuine people seemed to b penalised by the people playing the system...and we hav ths current debate over IB..where the impression is given tht most people r fraudsters...until u actually become a claimant or someone close to u is one, then u dont really appreciate how difficult it can b

Paul_Varjak

Chrysalis wrote: »

womble1010 I had the same when I lost IB in the past and had to lie to claim JSA when I had lost IB but one needs to survive the alternative is no income.

Some years ago I was in dispute with the Job Centre and a court order required them to post job lists to me weekly. They did this but the JC would not allow me to apply for any jobs on the list, supply employers' names or help me with any job application (because the court order did not specifically require them to do so).

Each fortnight when I posted my JSA claim form I amended the declaration to state that I could not do everything I could do to look for work as the JC refused to assist me! Believe it or not, the JC still paid my benefits even though each time I included a covering letter saying I had amended the declaration!

I don't know if that would work in your case - you could try re-writing the declaration to say that the DWP doctor states you are fit and you are claiming on that basis, but with the caveat that you do not agree with the doctor!