ESA FAIL AND WORRIED RE DLA

Debbie wrote: Sorry to be a nuisance but this is all new to me. And need clarity and looking for a bit of reassurance . Could you please comment on the what I said about esa informing dla RE that i failed esa medical. I'm very emotionally stressed at the moment and worried this is something they automatically do. I also asked if I would have to go in front of a panel for appeal after MR fail or can they make a decision based on evidence I provide before it gets to panel. Thanks

I understand that you are very concerned about this, but starting a new topic with exactly the same questions won't result in any more assurance and wastes Moderator time.

I'm afraid we cannot give you a cast iron guarantee that your ESA failure will not impact on your DLA, but I would be very surprised if it did. If I am wrong then I would expect you to receive an invitation to claim PIP, but this will happen anyway in the next couple of years.

To explain further, DLA uses a walking test, The distance usually used is 50m but this is not defined in the legislation and it is possible to receive an award even if you can walk further than this if, as an example; you walk very slowly or have to stop regularly.

ESA is a mobilising test, in addition to looking at your ability to walk it also considers whether you could self-propel a wheelchair over the same distances. As a result someone could fail the ESA test even if the could not walk at all, but could self-propel a wheelchair.

Because the ESA test is stricter it would be unusual for it to affect a DLA award, there would need to be a clear statement of your walking distances and even then ESA does not take into account your speed of walking, gait and the time it takes to walk in the same way that DLA does.

As to an appeal, you can request a Paper hearing which you do not need to attend, but you need to be aware that the success rate is a lot lower and will totally depend on the quality of your submission.

Gordon