ESA

Louise wrote: Hello, so sorry to jump into someone elses post, I am new and need help desperately regarding my ESA being cancelled even though I am extremely ill.
Can someone advise me how to start a new post please. When I click on new topic it says I cannot access page without paying a fee.

Sorry if I sound daft, not sure what to do.

Many Thanks
Lou

To post in the forum you need to be logged in, you were when you created this post but it's possible that you either weren't when you tried to create a new topic or that your new subscription hadn't finished processing when you clicked on the New Topic button.

I've moved your post to it's own topic so you can now add posts this one without problem.

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, ask for the 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