- Posts: 1
× Members
ESA " Need help please"
- Wayne
- Topic Author
- Offline
Less More
8 years 10 months ago #136548 by Wayne
ESA " Need help please" was created by Wayne
Hi
My wife who suffers with M.E had a home medical a month ago, all went well we hoped and the Doctor told us a letter would be sent to her within the next two or three weeks, having waited for the said letter for a month we called the DWP to see what was happening.
The first call we made was received and we were told the letters could take four to six weeks
to come ? but the person told us that a decision had been made and a letter sent out to us so we should get the letter any day now, we asked what the decision was only to be told that they could not tell us ???
The next day we called again with a different tact and was told that my wife had been awarded ESA but she had been placed in a work support group !!!
My wife told them that she felt the decision was wrong and told them that she wished to make a mandatory reconsideration, the person was somewhat shocked and speechless for a few seconds and then responded with a stuttered oh err, right I will get your request emailed though and you will here from someone within the next three hours, well ten minutes later a lady called her back and asked a load of question about her condition.
The lady was very kind and understood that my wife's health problems did warrant her looking at making and overturning the original decision, she would now be placed in the support group and she would send a letter out confirming this ... Brilliant result.
However the next day, remember will still had not had the letter saying that my wife had been put into the work group !!!, we got a letter from our local DWP office telling my wife she had to come into the office and have a work focused interview ???
We called the office as the letter as usual stated her benefit would be affected !
we told them that we had not even had a letter stating any decision yet but that we had made a call asking what the decision was and that we had made a mandatory reconsideration request and that her case had been looked at again, the decision had been overturned and I would be now placed in a support group.
We were not believed and we would have to explain this all again to someone a bit higher up, again we explained the situation to the member of staff and we told them the full name of the decision maker who had overturned the original decision the day before, my wife was then told that she must attend and given a load of info on how they could help with low or darkened rooms and such things ? my wife stated again that it would be far to difficult for her to attend and that, again the decision had been overturned !
We were told that if she did not attend she would be sanctioned but she would ask a superior to call us back on Monday so we could again tell them why my wife could not attend ???
Any help on what we can do or say would be really useful
Kind regards to this wonderfully helpful site
W & M
My wife who suffers with M.E had a home medical a month ago, all went well we hoped and the Doctor told us a letter would be sent to her within the next two or three weeks, having waited for the said letter for a month we called the DWP to see what was happening.
The first call we made was received and we were told the letters could take four to six weeks
to come ? but the person told us that a decision had been made and a letter sent out to us so we should get the letter any day now, we asked what the decision was only to be told that they could not tell us ???
The next day we called again with a different tact and was told that my wife had been awarded ESA but she had been placed in a work support group !!!
My wife told them that she felt the decision was wrong and told them that she wished to make a mandatory reconsideration, the person was somewhat shocked and speechless for a few seconds and then responded with a stuttered oh err, right I will get your request emailed though and you will here from someone within the next three hours, well ten minutes later a lady called her back and asked a load of question about her condition.
The lady was very kind and understood that my wife's health problems did warrant her looking at making and overturning the original decision, she would now be placed in the support group and she would send a letter out confirming this ... Brilliant result.
However the next day, remember will still had not had the letter saying that my wife had been put into the work group !!!, we got a letter from our local DWP office telling my wife she had to come into the office and have a work focused interview ???
We called the office as the letter as usual stated her benefit would be affected !
we told them that we had not even had a letter stating any decision yet but that we had made a call asking what the decision was and that we had made a mandatory reconsideration request and that her case had been looked at again, the decision had been overturned and I would be now placed in a support group.
We were not believed and we would have to explain this all again to someone a bit higher up, again we explained the situation to the member of staff and we told them the full name of the decision maker who had overturned the original decision the day before, my wife was then told that she must attend and given a load of info on how they could help with low or darkened rooms and such things ? my wife stated again that it would be far to difficult for her to attend and that, again the decision had been overturned !
We were told that if she did not attend she would be sanctioned but she would ask a superior to call us back on Monday so we could again tell them why my wife could not attend ???
Any help on what we can do or say would be really useful
Kind regards to this wonderfully helpful site
W & M
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
- Gordon
- Offline
Less More
- Posts: 51078
8 years 10 months ago #136551 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA " Need help please"
Wayne
From your post, everything appears to have moved too quickly for the DWP systems to keep up.
If your wife has been placed in the Support Group then she is not required to attend WFIs and to participate in Work Related Activity, your difficulty is that the Decision Maker is usually physically separated from the JC+ staff, it's quite likely that they are not even in the same offices so the JC+ staff are reliant on the ESA computer system for information about your wife's claim, which is obviously still showing that she is in the WRAG.
Your best short term strategy is to ask the JC+ to defer the first WFI until the matter can be resolved, hopefully next week you will receive the Decision Notice placing your wife in the Support Group and this will then allow the JC+ to cancel the appointment.
If the JC+ are unwilling to defer the appointment even for a week of two, then you will need to go back to the DWP and get them to contact the JC+ about the award.
Hopefully the call booked for Monday will resolve everything.
Gordon
From your post, everything appears to have moved too quickly for the DWP systems to keep up.
If your wife has been placed in the Support Group then she is not required to attend WFIs and to participate in Work Related Activity, your difficulty is that the Decision Maker is usually physically separated from the JC+ staff, it's quite likely that they are not even in the same offices so the JC+ staff are reliant on the ESA computer system for information about your wife's claim, which is obviously still showing that she is in the WRAG.
Your best short term strategy is to ask the JC+ to defer the first WFI until the matter can be resolved, hopefully next week you will receive the Decision Notice placing your wife in the Support Group and this will then allow the JC+ to cancel the appointment.
If the JC+ are unwilling to defer the appointment even for a week of two, then you will need to go back to the DWP and get them to contact the JC+ about the award.
Hopefully the call booked for Monday will resolve everything.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: Wayne
Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.
Moderators: Gordon, Gary, BIS, Catherine, Wendy, Kelly, greekqueen, peter, Katherine, Super User, jimmck, Chris