Appeal Advice

buffy12 wrote: I included a letter from my midwife. I have received no ESA50, I was just told that they would not change their decision from october. And they have considered the new points that I raised in my letter.

You need to get back in touch with the DWP to find out whether they have treated your request as a Reconsideration or a Supersession.

If it is the former then this is an error on their part and you need to make it clear that you are requesting a Supersession, see next paragraph.

If they have treated it as a Supersession, then you can appeal this new Decision, but the fact that no ESA50 was issued suggests to me that you failed to provide sufficient evidence that you met the criteria for Regulation 35.

First of all you need to provide medical evidence that you suffer from a "specific disease or bodily or mental disablement".

You then need to show that because of this specific disease or bodily or mental disablement that there is substantial risk to the mental or physical health of you or another person. Substantial means more than average.

Specifically you need to detail what those risks might be.

Finally you need to show that those risks exist because of your being asked to do Work Related Activity, so you need to say what those activities are and why your doing them creates a risk.

I think it unlikely that a letter from your midwife, on it's own, would satisfy these requirements.

Gordon

buffy12 wrote: Thank You for all your advice, can I just ask one more thing, when my year finishes will I be reassessed or will that be it? I'll almost be due to give birth when the year is up and I don't think I have the energy to go through letters etc back and forth and worrying inbetween while waiting for replies.
The more stress I go through the greater the risk to my baby and I'm not willing to take that risk.

OK, I did not realise that you were pregnant, Regulation 35(1)(c) is less strict than 35(2)

"in the case of a woman, she is pregnant and there is a serious risk of damage to her health or to the health of her unborn child if she does not refrain from work-related activity."

But still requires evidence from a doctor that there is a serious risk, not just an enhanced risk and what that risk might be in relation to WRA, your midwives statement is likely still insufficient.

The DWP should be able to tell you when you will be re-assessed, your failing to return an ESA50, if one is issued, would likely result in your claim being closed, this could have an impact in the long term, but I understand your comments.

Gordon

buffy12 wrote: Hi Gordon asked when I posted two weeks ago if I had received a new ESA50 after asking for a supersession.

I received one a couple of days ago, will this be because of my letter even though they refused to change the decision or will it be that my case is due to be reviewed anyway?


Also I visited my GP and he has said he wont be able to give me a Medical Report to send with the form but he wants me to write on my form that he wants to be contacted so that he can provide one to them. Will they do this or completely ignore his request??

To be honest, it does not matter, it is a re-assessment and it will result in a new Decision, which is what you want.

Complete the form in detail and in reference to your concerns over your pregnancy.

With regard to ATOS asking your GP for a report, I will be honest, they are under no obligation to do so if they believe they have enough information to make a recommendation on your claim without it, whether they will or not, there is no way to know, but their track record is suggests that they will not.

Gordon