ESA appeal

Hi my wife has to appeal her ESA can you help us go about this thanks

Ben10 wrote: Hi my wife has to appeal her ESA can you help us go about this thanks

Hi B10,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

Can you provide us with a bit more information ?

1. Does your wife wish to appeal a "fit for work" decision, or is it a decision to place her into The Work Related Activity Group (WRAG), when she feels that she should have been placed into The Support Group. (SG) ?

2. What date was the decision made ?

3. Has she received a Decision Notice letter formally informing her of the decision, if so, does it mention that if she disagrees with the decision, she must first request a Mandatory Reconsideration. (MR) ?

bro58

Hi she was on ib and was placed onto the wrag,she asked for a reconsideration and was told that they have kept her on the wrag.the date of the letter is the 10th Jan she has severe walking problems and is on high dla mobility and middle care

Hello Ben,

Welcome to the forum.

That is a very general question. If the decision has been made recently you will need to ask for a mandatory reconsideration. This is where the DWP review the decision first. It is unlikely but not impossible that they will change their mind. If she has been refused ESA she will not be able to claim the assessment rate whilst they review their decision but can if she ultimately appeals.
If they do not change their decision you can then appeal which will probably take a few months. The mandatory reconsideration should take no more than a few weeks.

You will need to prepare a case for appeal. If she is in the WRAG you will need to see if any of the Support Group criteria apply. If she has been refused you should find out how many points if any she was given. Then you will need to see what descriptors she scores points on. The ESA guides on this site outline the descriptors. You will then need medical evidence to back this up.

Nearer the time you will get the appeal papers and will want to go through them to see if there is anything in them that contradicts your views of her capacities. You will want to ask for an oral tribunal as you will be much more likely to be successful this way. You can supply reasons and evidence at the reconsideration phase but this is unlikely to help unless she has clear entitlement and will probably just slow the process down.

Hi Ben,

You will need to have a look at the Support Group criteria and see which apply to your wife. Please note that the first descriptor deals with mobility rather than walking, to gain full points in this section, the claimant must also show that it would not be possible/reasonable to self-propell a wheelchair over the same distance.

Qualifying for the Support Group

You might also find the appeals FAQs helpful

Appeal FAQs

Please come back to this topic if you have further queries. You will find it easily if you make it a favourite, or bookmark it, on your web browser now

She gets pain in her feet and lumps as soon as he puts weight on them,she also gets pain and lumps when lying in her bed,she also get lumps in her hands when any pressure is put on them.she has a walking stick but struggles to use it as it also gives her lumps in her hands.she has ankolosing spondilitis in her back and coxis which she has problems walking and sitting and she suffers from raynauds disease which she is always freezing there is also problems with her shoulder which she had an accident