ESA medical assessment Fail....

Suzi

Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

I'll answer your questions later in the post, first you need to be aware of the things that you need to do in order to challenge the Decision.

First you need to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, you have one month from the date of the Decision letter to do this. Have a look at our ESA MR & Appeal guide for details of the process and for template letters that you can use to make the request. See

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

You appear to have a copy of the ESA85 assessment report, but if you do not then you should phone the DWP office that dealt with your claim, we recommend you follow up the request in writing.

To your questions.

1. We recommend that you take a different approach.

First you must show that you meet the criteria for an award. I would start by having a look at our ESA Claim guides for a better understanding of what these are (same link).

Wherever possible reinforce your statements by references to your medical evidence.

Lastly refer to the inaccuracies of the assessment report but try and keep it in context to your problems, so for example; raising the issue of your touching your toes is only relevant if you would have problems doing this.

The problem with the recording is that the DWP Decision Maker is unlikely to take any notice of it, for them to do so, you would have to provide a complete copy of the recording, but even then they may say that as the copy cannot be authenticated it is of no value.

2. As you have been declared Fit for Work, your ESA has ended and you will not be entitled to any further support at this time. If the MR fails and you lodge an appeal, then you be entitled to payment of the ESA Assessment rate until a Tribunal is heard, but this does not apply during the MR process, so you have two options.

- You can claim JSA, this will not impact on any MR or appeal. You should be able to negotiate a minimum commitment but will still be expected to meet those minimum requirements.

- If you have the funds available to support you during the MR, this should be 6-8 weeks but can be longer, then you do not need to claim JSA, the period will be covered by back payments if the MR is successful or you go on to appeal. You will need to provide a Fit Note to cover the period.

Although your GP has provided a Fit Note, the Fit for Work Decision overrides this, he can issue a new Note but if you intend to claim JSA, you should not present it to the JC+ as they may decide that you are not capable of fulfilling the requirements of the benefit and refuse your claim.

If you have any questions about what I have posted or about the process, then please reply to this post and we will do our best to help.

Gordon

Suzi

The ESA65 is the Decision Makers Statement of Reasons, so yes, you need to request the ESA85 which is the assessment report.

The DWP will have notified your Local Authority of the Decision and your HB will be stopped, but you can contact them and request that it be re-instated due to zero income. Don't wait for them to write to you about it, try and phone them today.

You currently have no entitlement to free prescriptions, you have a couple of options, you can apply for an exemption certificate due to low income or purchase a pre payment certificate. See

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/HealthCosts/1128.aspx

or

www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/1127.aspx

Gordon