IC to ESA migration

alwill09 wrote: I have been on IC for many years and after a medical asessment for ESA I received a letter from DWP telling me that I received 0 points and am not entitled to ESA. I have just sent a letter to DWP requesting a mandatory review. Please could you tell me if I need to get a sick note from my doctor immediately, or do I (assuming the DWP don't change their decision) wait until my appeal to a tribunal is lodged.
Also, any info on how long people are having to wait for the mandatory review to be completed, and how long appellants are having to wait for a tribunal hearing after lodging an appeal, would be welcomed.
Thanks,
Alwil09

Claimants found Fit for Work have two options; claim JSA while they wait for the MR to complete or wait (unpaid) until the MR completes, when an appeal is lodged they become eligible for the ESA Assessment rate from the date of the FfW Decision, obviously if you have claimed JSA this deducted first.

If you claim JSA then a Fit Note would not be required, in fact having a current Fit Note would probably prevent your JSA claim.

If you do not claim JSA then you need to provide a new Fit Note from the day after the FfW Decision was made.

MRs are supposed to take 10 working days, but we have seen little evidence to support this, factors that will affect the time include the claimant submitting new evidence which can extend the period by four weeks.

The time to Appeal for ESA has not really reduced and I would expect you to wait about six months from when the appeal is made.

Gordon

susie_o wrote: My daughter has just been turned down for ESA after not being able to attend the assessment because she has ME and was not able to move without being sick. I phoned to tell the assessment centre and they said that it was fine. They then rang back and said not to be alarmed if we receive a threatening letter and to just fill the letter/form in and send it back as quickly as possible. This we did with some evidence. Received a letter saying that she is not able to get ESA and that her IC will stop after the next payment on 13/3/14 as she did not attend the assessment. We rang and they said they could not find the letter/form that we had sent. They rang back to say they had found it but we would still have to ask for a mandatory reconsideration.

I have done some research and it appears that ATOS immediately receive a £1,500 once these refusal letters go out - is this true?

PS They said that they are working on reconsiderations at the moment dated 1st February?!!

To first deal with the "£15,000" bounty. This is rubbish, ATOS get paid for carrying out assessments, they do not get paid for failing claimants!

Just to confirm, you need to speak to the DWP about this problem, not ATOS who have no authority to act in this area.

As your daughter has been found Fit for Work due a technical failure, her options are limited.

The first thing is to clarify how many assessments she has missed. ESA claimants are allowed to move or miss one assessment without problem, it is only when a second is missed that that their file is returned as a no show. You only mention one appointment so if there has not been a second one, then this should be at the centre of any Mandatory Reconsideration.

If she has failed to attend two appointments then you need show Good Cause why her attendance was prevented. Her being unable to travel on the day may be accepted, but without support from her GP I have to warn you that the likelihood is low.

You should pursue all options to overturn the Decision as she will no longer be able to reference her NIC history in any future claim if it is not.

She can make a new claim for ESA, which can be done in parallel to any challenge, but this will not be liable to payment unless she can show deterioration in her condition since she was assessed for the transfer, or she attends a WCA, or six months have elapsed since the FfW Decision.

If you have any questions on the above, please reply to this post.

Gordon