ESA Evidence?

Hi, thank you for any help you can offer.

I am trying to collect a pack of evidence to go with my ESA Mandatory consideration, and am starting to wonder what counts as evidence, and what I should write in a letter explaining why I want to be reconsidered.

The decision-makers report contains some things that are not true, for example that I said I can easily make hot drinks and move around my home. I understand it isn't a good idea to write in my letter just a contradiction of these? Is there anything I can do to query specific untrue statements like this?

But also what kind of evidence is worth including? I am hoping to get letters from a couple of doctors, but I don't know exactly what they will write or how much they will bother with.

I also have a report written by a social worker assessing me for direct payments for a carer that has several specific points that contradict the report about how I move around the house and do basic care, etc. But this is like 20 pages long with weird spacing and lots of wasted space. I was thinking of including the whole thing with highlights and pages marked for the important bits. Is this going to work?

In my interview I foolishly mentioned that I attend a pottery class. This has been included at several points in my decision makers report as evidence that I can walk, take journeys, plan and complete tasks, etc, etc. But this is something that I find easier than any other activity I try to do and I really don't know why. I very often miss the class because I am unwell, and have had a lot of times when I miss it for months at a time. I've only recently started attending when I can as part of CBT to help me get out and about more. Is it worth asking the instructor to write a letter explaining I am a rare attender? Obviously he is not doctor or anything like that. How is the best way to word such a letter?

Thank you so much for any advice you can give, I am finding it hard to get guidance about exactly what to include when I send off the mandatory consideration material.

Louise

Gordon,

Thank you very much for these very useful comments. I am following up my GP and two other specialists in the hope I can get a few examples of those 3 types.

The bits I feel more concerned about are any extras. For example I'm worried this issue of the pottery class is going to dominate any decision and that its giving a disproportionately bad impression.

Am I wrong to be focusing so much on that and the doctor's evidence is far more important?

Also I'm not going to see my doctor until the week, I'm wondering if he will just offer me a sick note (as I've had many times before), rather than being willing to comment on the descriptors. Is a sick note useless at this point?