ESA ISSUES

My brother in law has severe permanent vertigo meaning he is always dizzy and hobbles around like he is drunk all the time. He has diviculitis (a bowel condition) and constant diahorrea, soiling himself etc. He can not get out except to the shop literally a few yards from his home. He has diabetes and severe depression. The condition causing the dizziness is progressive and there is no cure whatsoever. His consultant told him ha cannot drive or use any machinery for health and safety reasons.

He is in receipt of PIP however today he finds out he has been denied ESA and with ZERO points!!

They said to him on the phone that as he had an assessment 2 years ago that he failed they will not take into consideration any of the medical condtions stated on that application again. They said as his arms and legs can move then he has to go on job seekers and get a job!!

He struggles to get to the job centre if I cant take him let alone going out looking for jobs. He lives on the 13th floor of a tower block and he is ready to just jump off cos he has had enough!

We are of course going to appeal for him but I want to know can they refuse to take his other medical problems into account? its TWO years since that assessment was done. His bowel problems have got worse since then as well.

Thanks in advance

Hi,

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Are you saying that your BiL had an ESA "medical" F2F two years ago, and has only just received a nil points award ?

Has he only been receiving Assessment Rate ESA since that time, or was he being transferred over to ESA from another benefit such as IB, IS or SDA.

Either way they should not be coming to a decision using evidence that is circa 2 years old.

This being the case, I would most certainly recommend contacting your M.P. to complain.

Contacting your MP

A decision is supposed to be made on how you are at the time of the decision, not how you may have been 2 years earlier.

In the first instance, you need to make a written request for a Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) of the adverse ESA decision within one month of the date of the ESA decision notice letter :

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

Have a read through our ESA MR/Appeals Guidance.

Whilst on the same page, you might also want to read through our ESA Claims Guides 3rd and 4th links down.

They cannot force him to sign on for JSA, but if he has to due to monetary problems, they have to take his limitations/disabilities into account in any "Conditionality" that they may set.

He cannot sign on for JSA however, unless he is fit enough to actively seek and take up employment, allowing for any reduction in conditionality.

If he is in financial difficulties, he may be entitled to help :

www.cpag.org.uk/lwas

&

www.trusselltrust.org/map

He could make a fresh claim for ESA, but he would have to provide documented evidence that his medical conditions had changed or deteriorated since the date of the nil points decision, which seems to be pretty recent.

See also : Mandatory Reconsiderations Explained

&

Disability Rights UK Factsheet - Appeals and Mandatory Reconsiderations.

From what you have wriiten something is blatantly wrong here, and this comment :

"They said as his arms and legs can move then he has to go on job seekers and get a job!!"

Is absolute garbage !!!

You should be aware that when you ring THE ESA PHONE NUMBER DWP : 0345 608 8545 Press Option 3 for ESA. That you are only speaking to a Call Responder.

If you wish to speak to someone more senior, you ask for an escalation to a Supervisor/Manager this will involve a call back so it is best to ring as early as possible 8.30 AM onwards.

You might want to Bookmark/Favourite this page in your browser, that way you can return to easily for future reference and pose any further queries that you might have by replying to the topic.

bro58

He had an assessment 2 years ago but since then he was diagnosed with a vestibular disorder (the permanent vertigo). (He has a large pocket of fluid on his bran) He was assessed and got PIP a few weeks ago. His ESA assessment was 2 weeks ago and they are telling him that anything he had wrong with him on the previous assessment 2 years ago doesn't count only new medical issues that have arisen since then. His problems he had back them have got worse and collectively everything stops him from working.

I forgot to add on the previous assessment he got 10 points for all his other medical conditions but this time scored ZERO!

ChrisN68 wrote: He had an assessment 2 years ago but since then he was diagnosed with a vestibular disorder (the permanent vertigo). (He has a large pocket of fluid on his bran) He was assessed and got PIP a few weeks ago. His ESA assessment was 2 weeks ago and they are telling him that anything he had wrong with him on the previous assessment 2 years ago doesn't count only new medical issues that have arisen since then. His problems he had back them have got worse and collectively everything stops him from working.

Hi CN68,

That throws somewhat of a different light on things.

From your first post it seemed that they had made a recent ESa decision based on a "medical" that he had 2 years ago.

Although historical evidence should have relevance, it is most probable that The ATOS Assessor who awarded the nil points this time, had no access to any previous medical reports.

This is why we always recommend that each reassessment should be treated as if it was the first.

i.e. You have to show that you Still qualify for the appropriate group at the time of the actual assessment/decision.

I think that you need to have a read through the links that I provided, and request your MR within the one month deadline, to protect your right to appeal.

bro58