Messed up Mandatory Appeal

So so upset just received notification that we have lost our mandatory appeal .... my husband has Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Guillian Barre Syndrome and now has been referred to the Hospital of Neurology due to further complications and problems with his spinal cord ...... but after our ATOS assessment the HCP made it sound as if he was up for running the London Marathon!!!!! hence he was kicked off ESA and we asked for the mandatory reconsideration. We thought we only had 1. month to appeal...... chased hospital results...the consultant we had seen had left and the results were sitting on someones desk ..... got them to fax the over to our GP..... got one of the last appointments to see him before he went off on holiday for 2. weeks ..... 2 doctors at the surgery confirmed his illness, concerned about results and referred him to the Hospital of
Neurology..... stated this in a letter to DWP but did not state how the illness affected his life .....
BIG mistake... the person reconsidering his case has not taken this into account......we did not receive any phone calls from the DWP where this could have been clarified and we could have gone back to our GP ..... now we are going to have to appeal again. So yes we are at fault for rushing everything but so upset sleepless night and could put my head in my hands and cry .... but l won't as l am the one who has to stay strong and keep everything together ...... so so sorry for moaning ..... all the best to everyone out there.

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I'm sorry that you and your husband are going through this. It can be hard when you have to be the 'strong one'.

There is no point in worrying, or beating yourself up, about what has happened. What you need to do now is submit the best possible appeal.

If you did not use our guides when completing the forms ( was this for ESA or PIP?) then I suggest you do so now so that you can see how best to present your husband's limitations. As you have found, emphasis is placed on the limitations caused by the condition rather than the diagnosis itself.

ESA claims and appeals

Make sure that you submit the appeal request in good time. You don't have to go into great detail at this stage but you then need to follow this up with a formal submission that clearly shows which of the descriptors your husband meets, and why. You can send in additional evidence if you have it. If not, you will need to point out where, in the original forms, you have already made your case.

How to submit an appeal

Preparing for a tribunal

Appearing before a tribunal

I have pointed you to ESA resources, please let us know if it is actually PIP that you are talking about.

If your husband is applying for ESA, he can start to receive payment again once the appeal has been accepted. If it is PIP then I'm afraid no payment will be made until/unless a tribunal find in his favour.

If/when you have further questions please come back and reply to this post, we will do our best to help. You will find it easily in future if you bookmark/favourite it on your web browser now