Refused ESA upon re-assessment

A friend has just been refused ESA upon re-assessment F2F. Previous F2F 1 year ago, put in S.G.
No income now.
I assume he now has to ask for a mandatory reconsideration before going to appeal, is this correct please?
Is there a form or template letter to ask for M.R?
Think he needs to put in a SAR to dwp too.
Any guidance appreciated.

vision wrote: A friend has just been refused ESA upon re-assessment F2F. Previous F2F 1 year ago, put in S.G.
No income now.
I assume he now has to ask for a mandatory reconsideration before going to appeal, is this correct please?
Is there a form or template letter to ask for M.R?
Think he needs to put in a SAR to dwp too.
Any guidance appreciated.

Hi v,

Sorry to hear that !!!

Yes, if they wish to challenge the decision, they must request an MR in writing within one month of the date of the adverse ESA decision notice letter.

See : ESA MR/Appeals Guidance

&

Disability Rights UK Factsheet - Appeals and Mandatory Reconsiderations.

They could request The ESA85 verbally over the phone :

THE ESA PHONE NUMBER DWP : 0345 608 8545 (Open 8AM-6PM. Mon-Fri.)

They could also issue a SAR requesting all documentation used in coming to the fit for work decision which could include an ESA85, an LT54 and an ESA113 if one was sent to their G.P.

There should also be a Statement of Reasons from The ESA DM explaining how and why they came to the fit for work decision.

They can do this using a SAR Form :

SAR Form Download

From this page :

DWP Data Protection Policy

Or you can make the request in the form of a letter, as long as you make it clear that you are making a formal SAR under The Data Protection Act 1998.

Address the envelope : FAO The Data Controller, at the Benefits Office dealing with your ESA.

Write DPA 1998 SAR in front, top, left corner of envelope.

Once received, they have 40 calendar days to comply.

Sending Documents to the DWP, ATOS, Capita or Maximus.

Any SAR should be sent as a separate issue, in a separate envelope to their MR request, and if the SAR documentation has not arrived, they should not miss their one month MR deadline date.

They can simply include a note with the MR stating that they have requested documentation, and will submit any fresh evidence as a result of the SAR documents as soon as they have received the requested documentation !!

Whist the MR is ongoing, they cannot be paid ESA, but they can claim JSA with reduced conditionality to their JSA Agreement to take account of their medical conditions.

If the MR is unsuccessful, and they then go on to appeal, they can revert back to ESA once The Tribunal Service (TS) have accepted their appeal.

See : This Post for further information on this.

You should Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser now. That way you can return to this topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have by replying to the topic.

See : This Topic also !

Thanks in anticipation of your future co-operation in keeping all your ESA related queries to this topic !

bro58

If he has to go to appeal , i understand he will be paid the assessment rate until the appeal is decided.
During this period does he have to go back to his GP and provide the DWP with new fit notes? He was in the S.G and did not have to supply any fit notes.
Thank you again

vision wrote: If he has to go to appeal , i understand he will be paid the assessment rate until the appeal is decided.
During this period does he have to go back to his GP and provide the DWP with new fit notes? He was in the S.G and did not have to supply any fit notes.
Thank you again

Hi v,

It doesn't matter that he was in The SG !!

He is now classed as fit for work, so he will need fit notes from his G.P. right through the MR and Appeal process.

As previously advised, he should keep hold of the fit notes until his appeal has been accepted by The TS and he wants to revert back to ESA.

bro58

Friend has been to GP to ask for letter of support for MR and GP refused.
What about the fit notes he will need if the MR is refused? How will these be obtained if his GP
will not issue them ? GP seems very unhelpful.
Thank you

vision wrote: Friend has been to GP to ask for letter of support for MR and GP refused.
What about the fit notes he will need if the MR is refused? How will these be obtained if his GP
will not issue them ? GP seems very unhelpful.
Thank you

Hi v,

Quite a lot of G.P.'s are taking this stance as they are not contractually obliged to provide letters of support for benefit claims even if the patient offers to pay.

They could try another G.P. in the practice or consider changing G.P.'s.

They could also request copy of their G.P. Medical Records which cannot be refused although there will probably be a charge.

Requesting your medical records

Charging for medical records

They could then use relevant extracts from their records.

Providing a letter of support and issuing a fit note are totally different, so that should be approached as a separate issue.

If their G.P. also refuses to provide a fit note, then maybe it is time that they changed G.P.'s !!

They could seek personal recommendations from friends & relatives regarding a G.P. that may be more supportive.

They cannot be stopped from changing their G.P. practice if they wish to !

bro58