PIP/ESA Horror

Jen

DWP guidance to the Assessment Providers requires them to book appointments no more than 90 minutes travel each way!!!

You should contact Maximus and ask for a new appointment that conforms to the requirements set out by the DWP, also you should make it clear that this should not be counted as a refusal to attend.

I would also write to the DWP office dealing with your claim informing them of the details of the appointment and pointing out that AP has not met the requirements, this should be addressed to the ESA Assessment team at the DWP office dealing with your claim.

Gordon

Jen

I'm afraid it's not unusual for a letter from the local JC+ to beat the Decision Letter to the claimant.

To deal with the WRAG award first.

As you are now in the WRAG you are liable to attend WFIs and to participate in Work Related Activity, these can be mandated and you risk your benefit being sanctioned if you do not participate.

It's important that you are proactive in contacting your new JC+ advisor, they do not have access to the computer records that document your assessment and will be dependant on you informing them of your conditions and how they affect you.

You should make it clear that you will be challenging this Decision as it should reduce any WRA that they ask you to do.

A Fit Note is unlikely to have any affect, all it certifies is that you have Limited Capability for Work and this is already accepted, however, some advisors pay some attention to them, so it's worth exploring with your advisor.

The first stage to challenging a Decision is for you to request a Mandatory Reconsideration, this needs to be done in writing to the DWP, within one month of the Decision, to the office that dealt with your claim, have a look at our ESA Appeal guide for details of the process and template letters that you can use to make the request with.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa1

You should contact the DWP for a copy of the assessment report (ESA85) if you have not already done so, 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 you meet the criteria, 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.

Gordon