ESA Mandatory Review

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If you have not already done so have a look at our ESA MR & Appeal guide for assistance on the process.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1

ESA tests a claimants Mobility this consists of two components, the claimants ability to walk a given distance and secondly their ability to self-propel a manual wheelchair, the claimant does not need to be using a wheelchair for its use to be considered as long as the DWP can show that the use is reasonable then it can be considered.

There are three strategies for dealing with the wheelchair issue.

First, the claimant is physically unable to propel a wheelchair this could be because they have problems with their hands, arms, shoulders or upper body or because they have issues such as a heart problem or difficulties with breathing.

Secondly it would be dangerous for the claimant to use a wheelchair, this might be because they would struggle to control a wheelchair, perhaps due to a general physical weakness, or medical advice says that they should not use one, this is common for people with leg conditions where there doctors do not want to risk any further deterioration of their muscles.

Finally, you can show that it is not practical for the claimant to use a wheelchair, this is where most of the latest Tribunal rulings have been. Reasons why this might be the case are that the claimant lives in a flat or a building with stairs and no lift, and the claimant would be unable to carry the wheelchair to the street. A recent ruling suggests that a claimant could leave the wheelchair at work as a means of circumventing issues of storage, however, this argument ignores the fact that the claimant would likely need to use the wheelchair to actually get to work in the first place, so if this is your approach then you might want to include information about this in any response.

Gordon