ESA - Help and advice needed.

[doktorjohn]

Yeah, I'm not on ESA (yet) so I should not have jumped in there.

 

What I would say though is everyone should appeal and not be put off or give in to their nasty tactics.

 

dj

[happyhamr]

hellow Two4Tuesday, i was writing (not very fast),did not realise you had posted. " hope you are well", thanks for your reply:-)

 

The system is very "confusing",(well it is to me),and it does appear that the dwp are still making mistakes(reading your post:rolleyes:)

 

After having my medical,(getting 0 points,and appealing),I phoned and got a copy of my medical report.

 

--LCFWRA-- (Section 34-to 45)----medical report.

so according to medical report above section ,can any one "clarify" if this was done:?:, and is this known as a WCA(work capability assessment)

(this was all in the medical report)

The medical only lasted a total of 29minutes:eek:

 

cheers Two4Tuesday and doktor john:-)

[Two4Tuesday]

Hi happyhamr

 

From the info you have posted, yes I believe that the WCA was done. This was your 29 minute 'medical'. Mine lasted about the same length of time.

 

During this WCA, the 'medical' examiner makes his own recommendations about how many points you should score and if you should be in the Support Group or not.

 

Then the whole lot goes to a Decision Maker at the DWP who makes the final decision.

 

It seems that although they might tell you not to supply GP letters and stuff yourself, when you inevitably get an unfavourable decision you are told that it's up to you to provide proof of your health condition. Without GP/Hospital consultant's letters, they are more likely to believe the ATOS doctor than the client.

 

However in my case, after I emailed the DWP again in May with a copy of my GP's letter confirming my health problem they agreed to look at the decision again (my appeal was written in November last year.)

 

As has been said on another thread on this site, it's a good idea to assume that DWP won't contact your doctor themselves, and maybe ask your GP provide the evidence you need. This can cost money though - I had to pay £15 for my letter.

[happyhamr]

Thanks for that Two4Tuesday.

 

I did think that the LCFWRA was/is the WCA but was not quite sure:rolleyes:

 

Its just the way they,DWP word their letters:confused: "to me it is never straight

forward" It always leaves me thinking/feeling like somethings "not quite

right"

---(Does any body else ever feel like this)

so the LCFWRA is the WCA (100%)

cheers happyhamr:-)

[doktorjohn]

The DWP couldn't be more confusing if they tried. They (the people that work there) contradict each other all the time. A letter will tell you one thing and a phone call will tell you another and so on.

 

For people (myself included) who suffer from anxiety and stress, it's very bad for your health.

 

dj

[happyhamr]

hellow:)

 

Operation on my back monday 12 of july(hopefully,this time:rolleyes:)transport been laid on from hospital.

 

one small query?----my sick note/unfit for work runs out on the 15 of july, thinking about it i will still be in hospital for a few days at least(according to hospital),before being able to come home.My doctor said he is more than happy to do a sick note but i will not be able to get it:eek:

the surgery is now saying they do not issue sicknotes in advance.(never had this problem,previously)

 

Can the hospital / consultant issue a sicknote?

the consultant who is doing the operation said it could take 4 to 6 weeks recovery time for me "if all goes well",,(fingers crossed)

 

also if all goes well, i could be back working,:)"(within 2 months:),thats ok with me,this has gone on to longgggggggg:rolleyes:

 

Also what would happen with "Appeal",if it still had not been heard:confused:

would it just be lost to the bottom of the ocean?

 

"any thoughts" people:) happyhamr:)

[happyhamr]

hellow:-)

 

operation has been done(hooray)

it all went well,i feel it has been a success,"looking good for future":-)

continuous pain in leg seems to be gone. "heaven"

 

i have been signed off sick (unfit note) for another 6 weeks so that i can rest and recover on the advice(letter)from the consultant(nero-surgeon).,

and then go back to work after this period.

 

can anyone advise/help if my appeal is NOT heard in this time frame.,

if i am well and able to go back to work,what happens with the appeal:rolleyes:

 

1-will it just be forgotten about?(because i am all better)

2-because i am better(no more unfit sick notes issued)

 

"what happens next" cheers happyhamr:)

[antone]

hellow:-)

 

operation has been done(hooray)

it all went well,i feel it has been a success,"looking good for future":-)

continuous pain in leg seems to be gone. "heaven"

 

i have been signed off sick (unfit note) for another 6 weeks so that i can rest and recover on the advice(letter)from the consultant(nero-surgeon).,

and then go back to work after this period.

 

can anyone advise/help if my appeal is NOT heard in this time frame.,

if i am well and able to go back to work,what happens with the appeal:rolleyes:

 

1-will it just be forgotten about?(because i am all better)

2-because i am better(no more unfit sick notes issued)

 

"what happens next" cheers happyhamr:)

 

Glad to hear you seem to be getting better. If, six weeks down the line, you and your doctors decide you are fit for work, you would of course need to stop claiming ESA from that point onwards. But your appeal relates to a period in the past when you are asserting that you were not fit for work.

 

So, your appeal will continue unless you withdraw it in writing, and if the Tribunal decides that you did indeed have limited capability for work and should have been paid more money then arrears would be paid to you for that past period.

[happyhamr]

Thank you antone for that swift reply:) "appreciated"

 

i will definately keep on with the appeal.(have to see it through,no matter what the outcome)

 

keep going everybody in the fight/struggle with atos/dwp.

 

"onwards and upwards" happyhamr:)

[sj01]

Hi Happy hamr and good luck. Would it be rude to ask what the operation was for?

[happyhamr]

hellow sj01:-) " no problem"

 

elective admission for lumber discectomy:)

Main Diagnosis-Lumbar spondylosis and dics prolapse.

 

cheers happyhamr:-)

[sj01]

hellow sj01:-) " no problem"

 

elective admission for lumber discectomy:)

Main Diagnosis-Lumbar spondylosis and dics prolapse.

 

cheers happyhamr:-)

 

I hope its not as painful as it sounds:-o

[happyhamr]

hellow

 

Recieved lettre dated 19 july from jcp,belfast BDC which seems a bit odd/ timing of letter:-o

 

in the letter; From the 15 December 2009:eek: your ESA will be £64.30 a week (have been off sick since november 2009)

 

From 13 April2010 your ESA will be £65.45 a week.(know this already:rolleyes:)

 

Page 2 of 4: HOW TO APPEAL:confused: "what/why should i want to be appealing:confused: (appealled 17 of feb recorded delivery,esa re instated ,been on assessment rate ever since)

 

 

Page 4 of 4:(right at the bottom it reads)---The amounts on this page apply from 15 December2009 to 8 Febuary2010:idea:

(esa initial 13 week period ended 11febuary)

 

why would they send me this letter now?(relating to these dates,15dec to 8feb) "does not make sense"

 

have i got to put in a new appeal again:idea:(and if so within 1 month of this

letter ) "This is where the DWP try and catch you out"

with,

HOW TO APPEAL (section),.if I JUST FILE THIS LETTER.(what could happen to me ,any of us:?: "food for thought"

 

sorry this letter, coming at this time, with this content just not feel me with any confidence:x (look at the dates,,,,,crazy)

 

readng this letter , i am thinking ",,,,,,,,,,,

 

i will have "i suppose" phone them again:-x,be put on hold , finally get through (eventually) costing more money:-x it just makes you sick/ill.

 

these numbers should be free if you are ill/sick ,and disabled(or you be given a free phone number once your claim starts. "i live in HOPE,,,

 

keep pluging on happyhamr

[antone]

This is a system-generated letter which gets issued when the processor runs through your claim to make some minor change. Operators can and should inhibit the sending of these letters when they're not necessary, but sending them by accident is a fairly easy mistake to make.

 

A "minor change" could be something as small as the processor updating your claim with a new medical certificate, for example. Or sometimes a computer glitch stops payment, and operator intervention is needed to get it started again.

 

The wording of the letter is standardised, and they all have the "How to Appeal" section in them, no matter what else they say. I'd be 90% sure you could ignore this letter, but it would be worth calling your BDC to ask if there's anything you need to know about.

[doktorjohn]

Yep, sounds like the typical waste of paper and time letter. I've had hundreds.

 

It's just blocks of sentences spewed out from a computer to tell you practically nothing.

 

You have to ignore 90% of it and find the bit that is relevant now if you can.

 

Sometimes they will send you two conflicting letters which is quite a challenge.

 

dj

[happyhamr]

hellow:) thank you antone and doktorjohn for your replies:)

 

i am still worried especially about the last page (4of4),when it states;

The amounts on this page apply from 15 December2009 to 8 Febuary2010:confused: .

these are significant dates(very),and "specific which can not just be explained away by system generated letter. "sorry"

 

If it is as simple as it seems, why is a letter dated 19 july relating to dates

7 months ago:-o if it was something as simple as a new "sick note".

(why does"nt it just say that)(does not wash to me )

 

yes doktorjohn have had the 2 conflicting letter "party piece":rolleyes:

 

somethink just not right here,to be honest i have had all the way along

since november."makes you sicker" and "worse".

 

I will phone monday:sad:

 

just 1 more thing (get it out my system)

 

yours sincerely Anne Hanna - Manager (BDC).

Does this person "exist". asked to speak her a few times, throughout this

whole saga. the "Scarletpimpernail(es)

 

has any body ever spoken to "illusive" anne hanna

 

cheers happyhamr:)

[antone]

It's definitely a system-generated letter. No doubt about that at all. Now the system is not particularly intelligent about the letters, as you'll have noticed. It doesn't know what to do about the post-assessment-phase bit of your claim. Why? I don't know, but I suspect that it wasn't written with the assumption that vast numbers of people would appeal decisions.

 

So it can see that you're past the assessment phase, and you should be receiving a higher rate of benefit (or none at all). But it can't specify what the actual rate should be, because the appeal hasn't been decided yet. In effect, you're being paid an "interim" rate of ESA until your appeal result is handed down, and no-one has coded the computer to be able to explain this properly. Which is, sadly, about par for the course.

 

Anne Hannah exists, yes. At least, I presume she does: the names on the letters from the BDCs I've worked in have been real people.

 

For some reason that isn't clear to me, the centre manager's name is always put at the end of the letters. But you won't get put through directly to her and indeed, you wouldn't want to be - not at first, in any case. You might end up speaking to her if you make a noisy enough complaint, I suppose, but BDC managers are not usually experienced in dealing with the nuts and bolts aspects of claims.

[happyhamr]

hellow:)

 

when i originally put my claim in for ESA in November2009 i got the 12 page letter back with regard to all the information i submitted.(telephone claim)

 

on page 6 of 12 it states;

 

claim sub- type ESA©

 

From this i cameto the conclusion that i would be on ESA contribution based. (would i be correct in this)(been self employed since 2002)

 

antone if you are about , can you confirm this:)

 

thanks happyhamr:)

[antone]

hellow:)

 

when i originally put my claim in for ESA in November2009 i got the 12 page letter back with regard to all the information i submitted.(telephone claim)

 

on page 6 of 12 it states;

 

claim sub- type ESA©

 

From this i cameto the conclusion that i would be on ESA contribution based. (would i be correct in this)(been self employed since 2002)

 

antone if you are about , can you confirm this:)

 

thanks happyhamr:)

 

I can't 100% confirm what type of ESA you get, but if you were paying NI contributions in tax years 2007/2008, 2006/2007 and 2005/2006 then it does seem likely you would qualify for ESA© - the contribution based benefit.

 

The self-employment issue does make it a little more complicated, and I was never a New Claims processor - they're the people who usually deal with such things. But in many circumstances, NI conts you make while self-employed will count towards ESA©.

 

So I'd say it's likely you get ESA©, but I can't be certain.

[happyhamr]

hellow everybody:) update;

My operation has been a success,at the moment i am just recovering/ resting after op.

I will be going back to work in the near future,but my battle with atos/dwp will carry on.

 

win or lose i will have my day in court:)( if they let me)

 

question; what will happen when my certificate runs out and i return to work, i dont just want to be

"fobbed" off, am i right in thinking this is not the case. (even though i would not put it past atos/ dwp)

 

keep plug IN ON everybody happyhamr:)

[honeybee13]

Hello there. I don't know the answer to your question, sorry. I just wanted to say I'm pleased about the op and hope life improves for you. We're here to help you in your Atos/ DWP fight, don't give up.

 

My best, HB

[loan_ranger]

Please get your admin to fix this forum. I just received this email notification at 21:11 08/09/2010 and yet it doesn't show on the thread.

peksy has just replied to a thread you have subscribed to entitled - ESA - Help and advice needed. - in the Benefits, Tax Credits and Minimum Wage forum of The Consumer Forums.

 

This thread is located at:

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=258146&goto=newpost

 

Here is the message that has just been posted:

***************

Hi everyone,

 

I'm a newbie to the site =) I have a few q's I was hoping someone in the know might be able to help me with.

 

I was told that if you are going to be in the work related limited capability group rather than the support group after an assessment your appointment for the next medical is made then and there. Is this true?

 

I was also wondering what the average waiting time is for a decision maker to decide on entitlement for ESA is and is there an emergency ESA fund for people in financial distress?

***************

[ErikaPNP]

That was a new post started on someone else's thread. It was moved to a thread of it's own which is here

[happyhamr]

Hi everyone

 

Just an update, I have returned to work , and have informed DWP and tribunal services that I still want to continue with my appeal.

 

The tribunal service say it should be heard about November.

 

The funny thing about it is I received a letter from the DWP stating that according to them that my appeal had already been heard by an independant tribunial. This is a complete lie. and shows the DWP in their true colours.

It also states that the tribunial have confirmed that the decisions makers opinion that i do not have limited capability for work.

Another load of lies.

 

Considering I am still waiting for my tribunial date to come through how can they send this letter.?????

[happyhamr]

i have just tried to post in the "legal" forum.

 

it would not let me, just wondering why.

 

happyhamr