Please consider the following facts assuming you are using an NHS service... You can add anything you like to your claim for ESA as a reason fo rneeding it, it is ofcourse best supported with Your medical teams confirmation.. Your medical team is your NHS doctor and your consultant if you have one. Any body else who wishes to become your medical health professorial can do so by requesting the position from you but it is upto you to accept or decline and DWP or ots agents cannot force you to take there medical advice. The DWP have the right to assess you using there medical health professionals but it is just an exam to determine a finding they cannot force you to accept any treatment if offered in any form ;-) It is the DWP's opinion V your opinion and that of your medical team..... DWP and its agents They will trick you, fool you, tease you and play with your head all you have to say when faced by them is soemthing like this "I have a medical team already and I am happy with them thankyou." And make sure not to sign anything offered by a DWP agent like ingeus because they have merged an attendance form with a consent form for them to become your medical health team, its very naughty indeed... Be strong it can be tough i knwo I write form first hand experience.

The op did not ask for your medical opinion are you qualified?

Another point on the use of telephone communication devices, I successfully argued that for somebody dependent on beenfits a telephone was a luxury and could not be relied upon and so that is why I could not give a telephone number to the DWP, its a matter of prudence and forsight to see the fall they like to set up, some call it meeting targets to sanction folk just becasue.... Do yourself a favour and dispose of your phone "officially" and become famailiar with the Interpretation Act 1978 .... It supports the use of postal service when legislation requires it of a party..... Very handy

Hello to anybody who is interested in this case. To let you know i won and got a full backdated payment as the tribunal found in my favour. The reason in law is because the DWP or its agents lied about receiving my written response to there request that I telephone them. There is no legal or lawful obligation to use the telephone, I kow many get conned into it so please stop and think why give a number where you can be instantly sanctioned for not answering etc... The DWP require you to communicate its true, there own leaflets say so and so feel free to do it in writing regardless of what the DWP demand but make sure you inform the DWP if you have already given a telephone number what they call a "a given number" that is no longer is connected etc..... And guess what you can do that in writing to your JC+ and get a certificate of posting for free at the post office that is what won me my tribunal because i could prove without a doubt I had communicated and the DWP had failed to respond not I. Inbox me if you are in a similiar situation or just want to know more.

Hi, Ive been to appeal before I know what they are like, thanks though. I submitted my appeal successfully with the points clearly set out and have received confirmation from HMCTS that a hearing is been arranged locally Still waiting for DWP response, they are taking ages but i guess it takes time to fabricate lies to support lies lol. Its been almost a month since submitting the appeal and DWP are silent and not even paid any assessment rate yet so i'm proper skint they have till end of month then i will have to chase it up.

Thats exactly it thanks i know you know! Did they do free phones lol, i never knew that but its not the cost of the phone outright its the cost of topping it up £10 a month at a min. To use a payphone would mean first finding one, then if it works and accepts actual coins which many if most dont now then standing there for how long it may take given that one has a disability that prohibits standing for long....... Must dash my mate wants his smart phone back...

Thanks for you response, who do you work for because you sound like a DWP employee or supporter lol. Next youlle be telling me there's nowt wrong with my health and I should stop scrounging! I dont need a babysitter thanks not yet, but i do need the rule of law returning to this land! If you read my OP properly you would know that I was asked to communicate with the CFHADA to arrange a taxi so I wrote to them because I do not have a phone and they cant make me have a phone as you know. DWP say that CFHADA say they have no record of this letter but I have copies with proof of posting that was sent to both of em and the DWP decision maker seems to have dismissed it and stated some strange and contradictory things regarding both having no need to contact me directly to reconsider and then been unable to call me on a previously given phone number, they have not kept there records up to date which is not my fault and I can prove i have written to DWP laods of times this year stating I no longer have a phone! The Crux of it is the CFHADA are lying and the DWP are trying to support that lie and I am about to expose this at tribunal. The advice in the DWP leaflet I mention says to simply contact us, it does not say what method of communication is valid or invalid. As I am not enslaved and will not follow instruction mindlessly without question because slavery is unlawful in the UK as of 2016. I have previously informed the DWP and there agent that I cannot afford a telephone and so I assert it is unreasonable of the DWP and its agent to instruct a claimant to use the telephone given there is no legal or lawful requirement to do so and certainly no DWP rule or policy that requires it ether, especially when they have been informed prior to any instruction that the claimant cannot afford to run a telephone out of the money the law says we need to live on! Also the idea of having to pay upfront for transport to get to a DWP assessment is challenging, it may sound ridiculous to somebody more fortunate maybe sat in an office detached from the front line? but when your on a low income for along time every penny has to count. No phone makes me £100's a year better off which is significant money when you circling the drain. I think i could say more on this but im saving some aces for the hearing and when its done I will post up my claim if it succeeds. There is also sound legislation to support service by post when it is required but nothing for telephone haha! BTW, Your response, the tone of it is what i am challenging because those who are not on a low income for a long time have no idea what its like living hand to mouth day after day. Oh just call please they say, theperson who sits in a office and has no idea what it is they are asking us to do! Do telephone boxes in your town still take actual money coins?

Pussy cats, no teeth they employ graduates to manage the accounts the amount of letters and statements they sent was getting annoying like sometimes 3 fat letter a month but haven't heard from them in a while actually but they still get paid managed to stay up to date. Last i heard they had reduced the monthly amount thanks to the lowered interest rate. Not looking forward to that sucker going up any time soon. Still here been busy chasing other peoples bailiffs away hahaha.

There are clubs you can join or start a club to register all your vehicles to or find a friend for a mutual? After defaulting on the unsecured debt which it sounds likely you will anyway soon without some good fortune I would say perhaps now is the time to consider making a reduced min offer of payment to them all till your able to afford more so offer them creditors all a £1 a month deal or whatever you can afford pro rata till your fortune improves? Obv your credit rating could suffer blah blah blah thats prob what I would do in your situation once those essential family assets are safe.

# Thanks i cant see how to do it.

Sorry for the wall of txt but it do not post in the format i wrote it!

Hi folks I havent been about for a while but i sure would appreciate some thought on this... apologies for the length its hard to be concise, the issue is very simple but DWP have made it complex in there own special way. DWP have stopped my ESA from the day after the WCA they claim i failed to attend back in mid summer, I asked for Mandatory reconsideration already once i had got all the details in from DWP and just received the notice last week that they have not changed the decision and they are claiming I have a history of failing to attend assessments but the decision maker did put his name to it which i thought was a nice touch for a change! So I have only failed to attend one WCA to my knowledge really despite what DWP claim and that was because the CFHADA wanted me to travel for 8 hours on public transport again. Of course they accepted this as a good reason the first time but they are claiming I missed two assessments and the second one they also say was because I failed to telephone the CFHADA as instructed to arrange the taxi that had been offered, which i did not ask for btw nor did i ask for the two home assessments they say they where unable to provide. So over about a 4 month period this year mainly through the summer, CFHADA have invited me to two assessment, canceled two and rescheduled two i think but i have lots of paperwork to manage on this. I dont believe they are very good at administering this business and certainly dont appreciate how rural Lincolnshire is and how scarce public transport is around these parts and how that is a challenge for those with painful chronic disability's. I intend to appeal and have been working on it for days already starting to get fed up with it all but I wish to assert that CFHADA have a history of inviting me to assessments that are miles away so that i struggle to get to them for both financial and health reasons. I live in a small rural town and they expect me at my own expense to travel to a city that is only 20 miles as the crow flys but there is no direct public transport so it can take upto 8 hours for the entire journey there and back and it can cost £50 for the train and bus fares which is mad! The decision maker already accepted this the first time yet CFHADA just cracked on regardless and kept inviting me to this WCA in the near yet hard to reach city! Why they couldn't invite me to the closer assessment venue like three years ago! Yes that was ATOS back then I believe i really dont know at present whome Nottingham's CFHADA actually report to other than the DWP it doesnt matter to my appeal. DWP have said on the mandatory reconsideration notice that On the last assessment I failed to attend the assessment and also failed to contact CFHADA to arrange the taxi that they had offered me among some other things that dont make sense, stocking filler material that is contradictory imo i will leave it out. CFHADA wrote and requested I ring there office to arrange the taxi but i have already informed DWP and CFHADA previsouly in writing loads of times that i have no phone because i class them as luxurys that i cannot afford at present not to mention the health and safety risks of mobiles! So I wrote to CFHADA instead a good two weeks or more before the assessment date following the guidance I found in leaflet “About your face to face assessment - WCA AL1C 02/15” which makes no statement that there is any requirement to use the telephone to contact CFHADA, it simply says; “Please contact the Health Assessment Advisory service if you can only travel by taxi”. The leaflet also offers advice on page 6 titled “When and how to contact the Health Assessment Advisory Service” The first sentence of page 6 states “please contact the Health Assessment Advisory Service now if:” and below that the first option in the list given is “you will have problems getting to the assessment center”. So i chose to contact the centre in writing in order to save money and avoid health risks but DWP seem to be objecting that i did not do as i was instructed and DWP state that CFHADA claim i did not contact them to arrange the taxi yet I did but in writing which they also deny but fortunately i have the proof which the decision maker seems to have dismissed but that letter is soon to be on its way to the tribunal for consideration along with proof of posting of course. As far as i know there is no law or requirement that obliges anybody to use the phone and especially so if you have declared previously that you are unable to do so and request communication in writing by post only. I dont think its to unreasonable to suggest that being on ESA as only income means there is no money for luxurys like telephones in any form and at a minimum a payg mobile is a tenner a month which is equal to the cost of sending 20 odd letters a month which is no where near what i have to spend on stamps monthly, that many could last the year if one is efficient so a saving not to be ignored, also i dont want to spend the money the law says i need to live on, on things i dont need to live, do i need a phone to live? No! so off it goes! In this day and edge yes people do give me looks like you mad mate. haha I am trying to battle this insanity but i am tired and hurting from it all i do have a painfull chronic conditin and won my appeal in 2014 but here we go again, does anybody have any thoughts on this because im not going to be told i need to pay for a phone at my own expense when i dont bloody want one and cant afford one anyway and there is no law that says i am obliged to have one even if the DWP's agent issues some instruction in conflict to what they have been told already and what the law says and there own guidance in the leaflet ofcourse. I bet theres loads of people who have been led into a trap over this phone business and its only going to get worse if we dont challenge it now so I have no option but to meat this head on. Any advice or what lol? I actually have managed over the last couple of days to condense the 5 pages of A4 appeal letter im composing down to a single bullet point list for presentation to the tribunal with evidence of those letters i have sent to DWP and CFHADA so just trying to get the facts over with less narrative lol. rying hard to avoid the judge going googley eyed on me or something.

Interesting things happening today, havent heard from Ingeus since last visit to them and today received a brown envelope from the jobcentre plus. The letter simply states I now have a work coach and he will be phoning me next week for an interview that i must attend to discuss the first steps towards moving into work, then the rest of the letter is sanction threats for not complying etc. No notice at all that i'm no longer on the Ingeus health and work pilot scheme.

Superb! Thanks Mr P. Havent yet received an invite to my next Ingeus appointment and usually those invites come a day or two after the last appointment has been attended so seems something different is happening now but only the postman will be able to shed light on that so let him stay away lest i beat Ingeus over the head with a print out of your excellant FOI link! cheers Mr.P!

Bit of an update, i have now attended 10 initial assessment sessions and i still refuse to sign any document Ingeus offer up except the petty cash sheet for my bus fare, they threaten me with sancitons but they cant do **** because still the law prevents them from forcing anybody to accept there help and the "attendance/consent" form is joke DO NOT SIGN. Last week the adviser changed from this disgraced ex NHS employee ive had for all the appointments till now to a person claiming to be a psychologist, im not really happy at the way she carried on but i think i pretty much owned the session despite giving her some personal info "in general" that i made her work very hard and left her very clear that i do not want her help as a medical professional. She told me she was there purely to get the initial assessment and action plan done and signed off but nope that didnt happen no signee from moi lol. Next time I will not be so generous she will be asked of the questions she just asked is any of her business. ( Thankyou Mr P) Interestingly did you know the Ingeus invite letter says they can raise a sanction for failing to attend but it doesnt say anything about participation, as i keep telling these people attendance is participation and i can prove my attendance if oyu dare even try to rais a doubt by suggesting to DWP that i did not attend because i did not sign the attendance/consent form, oh they try. "it might be a problem for you" No my lovely, it wont be.