Can anyone offer me some advice on this situation?

I have been claiming ESA for about 9 months - I suffer from severe panic attacks and depression.

Following my initial medical I was placed in the support group.

Within 6 months I was sent another ESA50 form to fill in and asked to attend a second medical.

I was asked to attend two medicals in Dec which i could not make because of ill health - on both occasions I contacted them to explain why I was unable to attend.

They then suggested that they may arrange a home visit to carry out the medical.

In the meantime the DSS asked for a doctor’s note confirming my symptoms - I was forced to cancel a doctor’s appointment again due to ill health - but attended my doctors the following week and obtained a letter.

I then forwarded this to the DSS at the first given opportunity by recorded delivery - along with a letter explaining my circumstances, as to why i could not make the interviews in January - however they claimed this was received by them a day late after their deadline.

I then received a letter dated 31st January saying i was not entitled to ESA anymore;

" This is because you have been found to be capable of work following your recent work capability assessment."

I called the dss several times and finally got thru; they had received my covering letter dated 1st of February, but inconveniently had lost the doctors note.

I was advised that if i wanted a 'reassessment' of the decision, that i would need a duplicate Doctor's letter - that needed to be faxed thru via an appointment with the jobcentre.

Again this was to no avail- they kept their decision (16th February).
I then made an official appeal using the GL24 form, on the 20th of February, well within the slotted one month deadline to make an appeal. I stated without a doubt that I wished for an appeal not the revision. I then got a letter from the DWP dated the 28th of February stating that they were reviewing my claim and if they still reached the same conclusion they would then pass it on to the appeals service.


I visited the CAB, who advised me to either:

A) claim Jobseekers allowance in the meantime (surely this could affect my ESA Appeal - plus I am simply physically incapable of working at the moment).


Or,

Make a new claim for ESA – If I have a different/new illness??


To me both these options seem illogical and ill advised.


With my appeal letter, i included that i wished to claim ESA in the assessment phase, but still to this day have received no money from the DWP.



It has been two months now since my last payment, can anybody advise me as to what i can / should be able to claim, in the meantime - as i understand this whole process could take up to a maximum of 22 weeks including revision and appeals tribunal.


This situation is causing me severe distress as I really do not know what to do next - any advice with this situation would be appreciated.

Hi,

I'm afraid you do need face-to-face advice for this.

But, in general, if a claimant has been found capable of work due to failure to attend a medical or provided required information then they can make a fresh claim but will not receive payment until the claim has been decided, unless there has been a significant deterioration in their condition or they have a new condition.

Claiming JSA should not prejudice an ESA appeal - it is not treated as an admission that the claimant is fit for work.
Good luck,

Steve

Sorry to interrupt this conversation!

Steve said re:Claiming JSA should not prejudice an ESA appeal - it is not treated as an admission that the claimant is fit for work.

Is this fact Steve I only ask as I am almost in the same position.

I have read numerous posts of people who have been placed in the suopport group only to have the entire process started again in a few months, and also many who win their appeals end up with a form after a few months

Is this more common that it used to be under IB ?

If so, it looks to be quite wilful, designed to make the claim experience extra irksome and stressful

XFACTOR wrote:

I have read numerous posts of people who have been placed in the suopport group only to have the entire process started again in a few months, and also many who win their appeals end up with a form after a few months

Is this more common that it used to be under IB ?

Yes it is more common, no doubt to coerce people to give up on their ESA claims/appeals.

Hi Paul,

It is fact that the DWP cannot argue that because the claimant signed on for JSA they are admitting capability for work. A JSA claimant can also place restrictions on their jobseeking based on their health condition.

Steve