ESA to JSA

Just received call from DWP to say failed medical assessment & received no points.

Have suffered from depression & anxiety & on ESA for over a year before I had medical. Also had back & knee problems due to osteoarthritis with recent MRI scan on knee. Gave copies of hospital paperwork to medical assessor (a nurse who talked very quickly) & included letter my sister helped me write, detailing how depression & anxiety affect me now as it was over year ago since submitted ESA50.

'Due to my depression & stress and the symptoms I suffer because of it, I feel I would be at Substantial Risk if I was not found to have limited capability for work.
As you can see from the above examples there are many reasons why it would be putting me at substantial risk if I were expected to attend the Jobcentre, not least because of my anxiety in talking to people and going to strange places and forgetfulness. I live on my own & trying to remember what I had to do and where I had to be would cause me considerable stress and anxiety, which would only serve to increase my symptoms and it would not be long before I forgot an appointment, which would then mean I would be sanctioned and not be able to pay my bills, resulting in me becoming homeless'.

Apparently they have no knowledge of this letter, so it was not taken into consideration nor was request to go on WRAG.

I was obviously distraught at this and asked DWP person was it fair to assess me when they hadn't taken into account all of the information. Apparently they had all other info. It transpired further on in the conversation, that the person phoning me was the assessor so I asked if it was possible for me to send her a copy of the letter & she could then make an informed decision. Was told letters from my sister or myself were not evidence and I would have to ask for Mandatory reconsideration.

Also told, as I am going to sign on to JSA, I can apply to be signed off again to go onto ESA but GP has already signed me off til 3 March.

Reading back what I have written (which has taken nearly 2 hours) & looking back at the guidance, I realise I made a huge mistake by using Substantial risk to go on WRAG. I see now that the reasons for Substantial risk on WRAG are very limited.

Any ideas where & how I go from here would be helpful?

It's bad enough suffering with depression & anxiety but to not be listened to & understood is very hard.

Hi mb, I am sorry that you are going through this

Yes, your only recourse is to ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration*. You can submit your letter (again) plus anything else that you want to send in. The ESA guide talks you through the MR process.

It would be helpful for you to request a copy of the assessor's report so that you can see why you failed to score the required points. You can ask for this (it is a ESA85 if you had a face to face appointment or ESA85a if you did not) over the phone or in writing. We do suggest though that you back up this request, and the one for the MR, in writing. It might take a while for this to arrive. Don't wait for it if that would result in your MR request being late ( you have one month from the date of the decision letter), you don't have to supply a lot of information initially.

If you need money, your only option now is to claim JSA, you should be able to negotiate a reduced agreement to take into account your problems. Do not show them a fitnote or they will refuse your claim.

Even though you have submitted a fitnote to DWP the fit for work decision has over-ridden this so you should get a new one. This needs to start from the day after the fit for work decision and you must continue to get them until the MR has been completed and the Tribunal Service has accepted your appeal (I am assuming that DWP will not find in your favour at the MR as they rarely do otherwise), then you can reclaim ESA. Keep this fitnote safely until you need it/them.

If you were on income-related ESA and also claim housing benefit this will also stop but payments will start again once you contact the department and ask to make a zero income claim.

Once the assessor's report has arrived, please reply to this message and we will be able to give you more specific advice.

* In some circumstances you might be able to make a new claim, if you think you might want to do this please let us know and we will do our best to tell you what you need to know.

My MR was refused 12 Feb - 0 points. Some of the points they made were wrong but I don't know to what extent they would have changed the points awarded. Have been suffering from Anxiety & Depression since Dec 14.

When my GP rang me on 17 Feb to ask how I got on I told her that I had resigned myself to looking for work. I told her I had been very tearful for about 2 weeks but I hadn't got the energy to appeal.

Since then I have been so down, not wanting to open the curtains, get out of bed or speak to anyone. Also not looked on Gateway for work.

GP is on holiday now & don't know if she's signed me fit for work.

Would this mean I would not be able to appeal the MR now.

Thank you Gordon.
I did sign onto JSA when I was told I had failed assessment.
However, I completely forgot (which happens all the time) that I had been given advice on here & did not get another Fit note from my GP following the MR request.
As I told my GP on 17. Feb, I wasn't going to go to Appeal, have I lost my chance to appeal as I haven't got a follow-on Fit note? She is now on holiday for 1 wk.