ESA decision changed.

ceegee · 11 April 2018 at 8:27PM

Last month I sent off my ESA appeal, as the DWP had said I couldn't have ESA. This morning I had a phone call from the DWP who have changed their minds and have decided to put me in the WRAG. I had appealed for the support group but the DWP lady said "no". The phone conversation was just as bad as the WCA but I won't go into details here.

I might just be needing to vent here, but would this lady be a decision maker? What qualifications does she have to make decisions? She knows so very, very little of my situation and was just picking on little things and I am terrible on the phone, stuttering and stammering. There is so much that I need to say and I need time to say it and I need it to be face-to-face with someone who has at least some insight into my situation. She also side-stepped issues such as the WCA report saying that I lived with my son, when I don't even have a son.

I told her that I wish to continue with my appeal for the Support Group and she got a bit huffy and said that she would get the papers ready.

I would rather that my future was decided by a doctor and a judge after face to face discussion rather than a faceless woman who hasn't got the time to actually listen nor the ability to observe (much like the physiotherapist who carried out the WCA).

Rant over. I feel a bit better for having got it off my chest.

Tommo1980 · 11 April 2018 at 8:36PM

Good for you, sticking to your guns :-)

ceegee · 11 April 2018 at 9:23PM

Tommo1980 wrote: »

Good for you, sticking to your guns :-)

I am sticking to them, and thank you for the vote of confidence........it really does help!

TELLIT01 · 11 April 2018 at 9:35PM

The positive is that you have been placed in the WRAG so at least you will continue to get ESA payments. To successfully get placed in the Support Group you will need to show that you fulfil the requirements of the various descriptors for the group.
This link details what they are https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors

Wanting to be placed in the Support Group is not the same as qualifying to be placed there.

Guido_Fawkes · 13 April 2018 at 8:58AM

My own limited experience gained after working many years before being dismissed on capability grounds and claiming benefit for the first time was as follows:

I claimed ESA (MH issues), was assessed by a physiotherapist. Nil points - she didn't / couldn't / wouldn't understand. I asked for MR which was turned down, so was referred to JC to claim NI credits (getting ill health pension from work which cancelled out any basic JC/ESA monetary award).

After a few weeks, JC advised me to get signed off by GP for 13 weeks as they didn't feel I should be working.

In the meantime I appealed to a tribunal and was advised that pending the hearing I could go back on ESA to save me signing on every fortnight. The Tribunal was in February and I didn't attend personally but sent a note to them explaining the reason - I was stressed and my behaviour was sometimes liable to be 'erratic'. The tribunal requested medical reports as they couldn't reach a decision and I received a copy of these in due course along with DWP.

The end result was that DWP 'reconsidered' in the light of the reports and advised me that I had now been placed in the support group. As support group gets a higher rate, I now do get a nominal sum from DWP each fortnight, and also received a year's back-pay of benefits.

I hope that my own experience may encourage you as you fight your own battle.

As mentioned on another thread, this was all thanks to 'evidence' being presented, fortunately for me this was requested on my behalf.

ceegee · 13 April 2018 at 10:45AM

Guido_Fawkes wrote: »

My

I hope that my own experience may encourage you as you fight your own battle.

As mentioned on another thread, this was all thanks to 'evidence' being presented, fortunately for me this was requested on my behalf.

I have just quoted a small part of your post, to save space......I hope you don't mind.

Thank you so much for this, Guido, it is both comforting and encouraging. I see so much of my own situation in yours. Most of the time I wish I could just fade away, I am so weak from all the "fighting". There is so much I could say, but it would take forever, so I won't even try.

I am going to find the other thread that you refer to.

I am going to go to the tribunal and put my future into their unbiased and independent hands. I will not accept the judgement of a physiotherapist from the WCA who wouldn't let me speak, who made wholly incorrect assumptions and who even told lies in the report. Nor will I accept the judgement of the woman from the DWP who phoned the other day as she has not met me and cannot make a proper "judgement" based solely on paperwork, even if the letter from my GP was scathing of the WCA report.

What I will accept is the decision of a judge and a doctor, together, who will see the whole situation, rather than just picking on the bits that suit their agenda as so many other people have done. What happens beyond their decision is something for another time.

Thank you again, Guido, for taking the time to pass on your encouraging experience. I wish you all the best for your future.

ESA decision changed.

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