Won ESA appeal - Now another Medical

[Zorro01]

Hello all. I had a medical with the lovely Atos last year regarding my entitlements for ESA. They said I passed; which is ridiculous to be honest.

I appealed and at the end of last month I won my appeal. Yippee....or so I thought.

Over the past year my conditions have gotten much worse and so I was very surprised when just 3 days after I won my appeal I recieved a letter saying come to a medical blah blah blah.

 

It annoys so much because the only reason I had to appeal is becuase one of the so called "medical assesors" didn't take note of ANY of the info that was in the documents.

 

How on earth can they get away with it and is there anything I can do about this????

[RaeUK]

Hi Zorro, complain to both your MP and the head of JCP if you wish to make your mark.

The chances are this second 'medical' is to place you in either the Work Related Activities Group or the Support Group. I may be wrong but that's my understanding...

Best wishes

Rae

[honeybee13]

I agree, Rae. It wasn't until I read a report that someone posted on the forum that I understood there were 2 assessments by Atos, one for your medical and then another one to decide which work-related group you should be in.

 

It seems that both were intended to be done at the same time, but the system got so clogged up that Atos ended up concentrating on the 'medical' assessments and doing the assessment for which type of work group you should be in later, if that makes sense.

 

I hope that helps a bit. No doubt Erika will be along later to explain it far more eloquently than I have.

 

HB x

[sj01]

cancelled

[Zorro01]

thanks for the replies. the thing is that winning my appeal meant I was entitled to the work related activity group and now straight after I got it all sorted out they want me back in again for another medical.

I am pressuming they will "miss out" the important information again so that I will have to appeal again. I may write to the MP and JCP. once again thanks for the feedback

[RaeUK]

Not my understanding of it. You've been awarded ESA now and this assessment can't take it away. It's purely to confirm which of the two groups are for you...

Best wishes

Rae

[antone]

thanks for the replies. the thing is that winning my appeal meant I was entitled to the work related activity group and now straight after I got it all sorted out they want me back in again for another medical.

I am pressuming they will "miss out" the important information again so that I will have to appeal again. I may write to the MP and JCP. once again thanks for the feedback

 

Are you being asked to attend a WCA (Work Capability Assessment) or a WFHRA (Work-Focused Health Related Assessment). If you don't know, it would certainly be worth finding out.

 

Also, did the Tribunal decision specify a date when you were next to be referred for a WCA? It sometimes does and sometimes doesn't.

 

Basically, the WCA is what most people refer to as the "medical". The WFHRA is a different animal, and while it's annoying, as long as you attend it won't be used to deny benefits.

[honeybee13]

Thank you Antone, that's what I was trying to say, but I couldn't remember all the acronyms .

 

HB

[Zorro01]

Thanks again. I am not sure which of the two it is. The appeal panel have not specified a date for a medical however the new medical I have been booked for have asked me to bring details of the tribunals decision. I will have to look into it a bit more and should be ok from here on.

Thanks once again for the info.

[Zorro01]

Hello all.

 

It was a normal medical (nothing relating to work capability) which they have come back and given me 0 points which is honestly ridiculous. They have said that I not entitled to ESA any more from 30/07/2010 (the day they made there decision.

I got the letter this morning and I contacted the ESA people immediatley and give them an ear full. Considering I had only just won my previous appeal and that my condition as worsened by about 80% than last year and I am under 2 specialist consultants and on more medication a day than there are sweets in a tube of smarties I find it extremley difficult to see how they have come to this decison.

I am almost completley deaf for starters and on the form they wrote

HEARING:- Can hear a person stood close shouting in a quite enviroment.

LOL what a joke.

I am going to be appealing but is there anything else I can and should do.

[stalin's dead]

I have severe epilepsy but on meds. I learned this morning that I also failed my ESA medical. I made an appeal request while on the dog & bone to the DWP.

 

I am on 2 types of anti-conv meds and have had epilepsy for nearly 25 years

 

ATOS/DWP are quite simply taking everyone and anyone off ESA as a matter of policy imo

 

the evidence i presented was totally unambiguous and yet they failed me but passed me on the first occasion 9 moths ago based on the same evidence. that isn't logical in the slightest

 

confronted with the same evidence they made two completely different and conflicting decisions. explain that one

 

SD

[antone]

Hello all.

 

It was a normal medical (nothing relating to work capability) which they have come back and given me 0 points which is honestly ridiculous. They have said that I not entitled to ESA any more from 30/07/2010 (the day they made there decision.

I got the letter this morning and I contacted the ESA people immediatley and give them an ear full. Considering I had only just won my previous appeal and that my condition as worsened by about 80% than last year and I am under 2 specialist consultants and on more medication a day than there are sweets in a tube of smarties I find it extremley difficult to see how they have come to this decison.

I am almost completley deaf for starters and on the form they wrote

HEARING:- Can hear a person stood close shouting in a quite enviroment.

LOL what a joke.

I am going to be appealing but is there anything else I can and should do.

 

First off, submit your appeal. When writing your initial GL24, focus less on how bad your condition is, but on how it affects your ability to work. An example might be "My hearing problems would make it difficult to communicate with colleagues, understand instructions from managers, and may well pose health and safety risk to myself and colleagues". Obviously you know your condition best, so you can do better than that example, but you get the idea.

 

Call the BDC that paid your claim and ask for a copy of the ESA85 medical report, if you don't already have it. They'll have to request this from ATOS, so it might take a week or two to arrive, but it should help you see how they arrived at their decision and hopefully will give an indication of the places where they went wrong. Those are the places you would want to focus on when you submit further evidence to the Tribunal.

 

If you're able, you could also request an AJCS (pronounced "ayjacks") appointment to hand in your appeal at your Jobcentre. It can then be faxed to the BDC, and that should mean your payments can be reinstated faster. If you aren't able to do this, then mark the outside of the envelope you post your GL24 in "FAO: ESA Appeals Section".

 

You still need to keep your medical certificates up to date in order to be paid while the appeal is pending.

[Zorro01]

Your case is very similer to mine in as far as the conflicting decisons go.

Have you appealed also I take it.

I was wondering if it would be worthwhile writing to a MP or someone to get some outside help.

Any ideas??

Alos thanks Antone for that info. I will do all that is suggested in your post.

Thankyou

Edited August 4, 2010 by Zorro01
Acknowledging Antone's info.

[stalin's dead]

antone

 

when appealing an ESA decision do you have to, once again, submit a 'sick note' from your GP in similar fashion to the assessment phase until the appeal decision comes through?

 

zorro01

 

i'm simply gonna appeal, focus on my condition and how it affects my ability to work, submit a GP and Neurology report (again) and see what happens. I dont see what a MP can do but maybe they can assist in some manner but not sure how?

[antone]

antone

 

when appealing an ESA decision do you have to, once again, submit a 'sick note' from your GP in similar fashion to the assessment phase until the appeal decision comes through?

 

 

Unfortunately yes, you do need medical certificates while you're waiting for the appeal to be heard. Effectively, you're back in the assessment phase again.

[stalin's dead]

antone

 

when appealing an ESA decision do you have to, once again, submit a 'sick note' from your GP in similar fashion to the assessment phase until the appeal decision comes through?

 

zorro01

 

i'm simply gonna appeal, focus on my condition and how it affects my ability to work, submit a GP and Neurology report (again) and see what happens. I dont see what a MP can do but maybe they can assist in some manner but not sure how?

[speedfreek]

Unfortunately yes, you do need medical certificates while you're waiting for the appeal to be heard. Effectively, you're back in the assessment phase again.

 

Just to add you will only need a new certificate when your current one runs out.

 

So say you get a DRs cert in June covering you until Sept but failed ESA today. The next cert you would have to submit would be when the current one lapses in Sept.

 

Confused me a bit this did

[stalin's dead]

antone

 

In message 12 you refer to a BDC. What is a BDC?

 

thankyou

 

sd

[antone]

antone

 

In message 12 you refer to a BDC. What is a BDC?

 

thankyou

 

sd

 

BDC = Benefit Delivery Centre. It's the office that actually processes payments, and where the Decision Makers are usually based. Usually a big office with 400-1000 staff.

[GandM]

Well folks another lamb to the slaughter, my GF has just been for the medical and got 6 points, so she is appealing....Checked the questionnaire on another online sight and potentially got between 21 - 27 points. They didn't take into consideration she can't go out alone for fear of having a siezure and one of the other questons.

 

Anyone going for the medical it may be worth running through the test and getting your answers right

 

Can;t post the link yes need 10 post or more so google [EDIT].

 

So its on the long hard road to appeal next

Edited January 21, 2012 by honeybee13
Reference to a commercial website removed.

[citizenB]

You wont be permitted to post the link anyway as it is a commercial site. Please read the forum rules.

[spots1]

Ask for a reconsideration first ...write to your DM and high light your points of whats been missed or not taken into consideration on your med form and highlight the points one by one ....state you are asking for recon. so you don`t have to go to full tribunal I did and got mine sorted within 1 month of submitting the recon.

 

Try and work out your points the lowest and the highest from the discriptors you can find on the DWP website .

 

Its worth it

[GandM]

Well folks another lamb to the slaughter, my GF has just been for the medical and got 6 points, so she is appealing....Checked the questionnaire on another online sight and potentially got between 21 - 27 points. They didn't take into consideration she can't go out alone for fear of having a siezure and one of the other questons.

 

Anyone going for the medical it may be worth running through the test and getting your answers right

 

Can;t post the link yes need 10 post or more so google [EDIT].

 

So its on the long hard road to appeal next

Well been a while, appeal was successful and no need to sit in front of the tribunal the CAB was the best place to go and all worked out well. The only issue was waiting 4 months for the back pay to come through