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9 years 5 months ago - 9 years 5 months ago #146325 by Nati
Support Group was created by Nati
Please advice me with the ESA benefit. My wife was placed in the WRAG. She has several years problems with her arms, she is now waiting for her second surgery. She has difficulty in moving arms, numbness of the hands, she drop everything also she has rheumatic problems causing severe pain. She can't cook, often she does not feel power in her hands, she can't take a bath. I am helping her in many activities.
She had an MRI scan which showed lordosis and hernia on the middle and cervical spine.
These problems also affect the mobility of my wife. She have severe headaches, dizziness, fainting leg, twice she fell down the stairs, we had to move our bedrooms downstairs.
She also suffers from a herniated stomach, which causes severe attacks, she does not sleep all night, she has a strong stomach cramps, vomiting evokes the pressure of the spine. She is very weakened. It is a very depressing experience. My wife can't look at herself, she fell into depression, often she does not give advice to the smallest actions, she has suicidal thoughts. These conditions led to IBS syndrome, my wife has difficulty in reaching the toilet in time. She became nervous and aggressive, often not able to communicate without anger attacks, she can't concentrate. Her GP is not too good, most of visits are held over the phone. She do not want to give referrals to any specialist for which my wife ask repeatedly.
While on medical exam, my wife were asked only a few questions, she explained her problems, but she received only 6 points. After phone call from DWP, she was asked about the possibility of movement and added 9 points.
It seems that these problems are not treated as serious and are not understood until the end by the committees. My wife moves with pain to the toilet and did not leave the house, do not communicate with friends, she is totally closed person, that never was before. The disease changed her life. She was told to walk to meetings and she is not physically and mentally able to get up. Do I have a chance with her disease to appeal to put her into the support group? What arguments used to they believe that she has a problem? Only that she reached with me by car to the medical center and she could sit on a chair, does not mean she is healthy, to take such a decision..I do not have too many documents from the hospital, only regarding surgery and MRI and the results of gastroscopy, because, as I wrote, the wife can not obtain a referral in order to see a specialist.
Last edit: 9 years 5 months ago by slugsta.

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9 years 5 months ago #146336 by slugsta
Replied by slugsta on topic Support Group
Hi Nati,

How long ago was the decision to place your wife in the WRAG? If it is more than 13 months there is no option to challenge this. If it is less than 1 month there is no problem - between those time frames it is possible but gets more difficult as time passes.

Getting into the Support Group depends entirely on meeting very specific criteria, this does not take into account whether there is any job that the claimant might be able to do or whether anyone would employ him/her.

I suggest you have a look at the Support Group descriptors, including the exceptional circumstances and see if you think your wife qualifies under any of these.

Qualifying for the Support Group

Did you use our ESA guides when completing the ESA50? If not, have a look now and see if you could explain her limitations more fully. Can you provide anything to back this up? Might it help to request a look at her GP records? If trying to qualify under Exceptional Circumstances the onus is entirely on the claimant to prove this.

ESA claims and appeals

Once you have had a look at the above links you might have a better idea of whether it is possible or helpful to pursue this matter. Please reply to this message if you have more questions and we will do our best to help :)

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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9 years 5 months ago - 9 years 5 months ago #146431 by Nati
Replied by Nati on topic Support Group
Hello,
Thank you for your reply.
Please advise, because my wife received two weeks ago a letter with the decision, she has a month to appeal. Unfortunately she did not receive a letter of explanation of the decision. Am I supposed to ask for such a letter fist or I can immediately send a letter asking for a mandatory reconsideration? I know how many points she received and the questions they are concerned.
Thank you.
Last edit: 9 years 5 months ago by slugsta.

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9 years 5 months ago #146451 by slugsta
Replied by slugsta on topic Support Group
You do not have to wait for this letter. It is more important to get the MR request in on time so that DWP do not have an excuse to argue it.

Our guides explain how to go about requesting the MR (and an appeal if that proves necessary).

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9 years 5 months ago #146454 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Support Group

Nati wrote: Hello,
Thank you for your reply.
Please advise, because my wife received two weeks ago a letter with the decision, she has a month to appeal. Unfortunately she did not receive a letter of explanation of the decision. Am I supposed to ask for such a letter fist or I can immediately send a letter asking for a mandatory reconsideration? I know how many points she received and the questions they are concerned.
Thank you.


As your wife received an award (eventually) the DWP will not have issued a Statement of Reasons, this only happens when a Fit for Work Decision is made, you don't need to go into detail about your/her reasons for requesting a Mandatory Reconsideration, it's enough to say that you believe you supplied sufficient information for a higher award. There are template letters you can use to make the request in the ESA section.

You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report if you have not already done so, it is referred to as an ESA8, I would phone them but again follow up the request in writing. Once you have the assessment report you will have a better understanding of how the DWP Decision Maker has come to their conclusions and will then be able to argue against them.

Your primary task is to show that your wife meets the criteria for the Support Group, there are many reasons you may have failed, you need to address each of these but don't get bogged down in criticising the assessment report unless you can clearly show that it is incorrect, it is a lot easier to argue the facts of the situation;

"the assessor recorded that I walked 50m, I did but they have failed to document that I had to stop every 10m for a rest due to breathlessness"

than their opinions

"based on my observations of the claimant walking I believe that they can reliably walk more than 200m.

When you have a better idea of the issues with your claim, come back to the forum and we will do our best to help.

ESA has very specific criteria, often with multiple criteria and all of those criteria need to be met in order for a claimant to be placed in the Support Group, so have a good look at the ESA Claim guides and make sure that you tick of each element in your response to the DWP.

Gordon

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9 years 5 months ago - 9 years 5 months ago #146508 by Nati
Replied by Nati on topic Support Group
Thank you Gordon for your reply.

So, if I will send to the DWP letter informing them about the fact that I want to ask for a mandatory reconsideration, but before that I am asking to send me copy of the assessment report, will they extend the time for appeal?
Last edit: 9 years 5 months ago by bro58.

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