ESA Tribunal help

[empty1979]

Hi all,

 

I have been in receipt of ESA for quite some time. Well over a year ago I attended a medical where it was deemed I was fit for work, I appealed against the decision.

 

After filling in all the relevant forms, I received a letter back saying that they were not even going to look at my case further and my ESA would be stopped immediately. I was forced to apply for JSA, and after a couple months started receiving phone calls from ESA saying that they would be re-instating my ESA, if I wanted them to. I explained that I wanted time to think as it took me nearly 9 weeks to receive my first JSA and housing benefit payment through! I eventually agreed(I was forced to walk to the job centre to sign on and this caused me to get blood blisters under most of my toe nails which all had to be removed).

2 weeks ago I received my date through for the hearing and I have none of the relevant paperwork - I disposed of it when I started claiming JSA - I have requested this to be sent to me twice now and I'm getting increasingly worried as the date draws nearer as I still haven't received anything. I've been told today that they will send it in the next post which is tomorrow and I probably won't receive it until next Wednesday - 5 days before my hearing!

 

Has anyone else been in the same situation? Any help really would be appreciated!

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG.

 

No I haven't been in that position, sorry. Someone my know more than me, but I would be pestering the DWP and/or Atos for a copy of your 'medical' assessment. In the meantime, I have a sticky on the forum that shows you how to structure a tribunal appeal. Of course, it would be easier if you had the Atos paperwork, but maybe you'll get that.

 

I don't know if you're allowed to postpone the tribunal because you don't have the paperwork. Do you have anyone to represent you like the CAB or Welfare Rights [through your local council]? You need to contact them asap tomorrow.

 

My best, HB

[empty1979]

Thankyou HB,

 

I have contacted CAB but it is difficult to ask for help when you don't have any paperwork that's relevant!

[honeybee13]

Is that what they told you? I would also try Welfare Rights. HadEnough knows more about them than I do, but they just might be able to help you postpone the tribunal.

 

Do you have any medical evidence you could take with you that is at odds with what Atos said about you? Don't part with originals, take copies.

 

Don't give up at this stage, that's what they would like.

 

HB x

[empty1979]

No they didn't say that, I just couldn't answer some of the questions they asked and got a bit frustrated.

 

The only evidence I have is that since the medical I have had 2 surgeries, the last of which was 4 months ago. I am still on morphine and a host of other prescribed medication and my GP is obviously still signing my sicknotes...

[honeybee13]

If you can get anything in writing from your GP [probably a bit late for any specialist or hospital report] you could take it with you. I think you're meant to submit it with your appeal - did you? otherwise I would try to chat up the clerk to the tribunal, grovel a bit and say things got confused and ask if it could be included.

 

Myself, I would still ring Welfare Rights if you can get in touch with them tomorrow.

 

HB

[honeybee13]

PS Do you have someone to go with you?

 

HB

[HadEnough]

Hi empty,

I wouldn't worry to much about their paperwork, use HB's sticky at the top as a guide, complete it as soon and as fully as you can and send it into the tribunal, they'll forward it to the DWP.

If your appeal has gone through then all you really need do now is send in your opinion of what you think you should've scored, why and provide all the written evidence you can. Don't worry about putting to much info, you really need to spell out how your life is effected by your condition/s, i think mine ran to about 10/12 pages:madgrin:.

 

You'll be asked questions at the appeal and you will already know the answers so whats in the report is secondary really, although if you do recieve the paperwork in time then picking out missed info, contradictions ect will be helpful, and not very difficult after reading some of the stories on here, just remember that any paperwork you send in needs to arrive asap.

 

In my very limited exprience of appeals, only 2, the panel will have already read everything and will have an idea of whether they'll allow the appeal, the questions to you will be more to judge if your a reliable enough person to believe that the severity of your condition is as you claim, thats the impression I got from my appeals.

 

Welfare rights is a very good idea, if they exist in your area, i only found mine useful to put my mind at ease because i'd prep'd all my appeal myself, well with HB's excelent sticky, they'll explain what to expect, (it's not as bad as you pobably expect) and they'll help you if you don't understand whats happening.

 

If you ask your GP for a letter don't forget that the panel are only interested in how you were at the time of your "medical", so if you went to see your GP within a couple of weeks before the medical thats better than a couple of weeks after, whatever, i would ask your GP no matter when you saw them, some opinion is better than none.

Hope that helps and just shout if you need any help

[empty1979]

Thanks so much for your replies.

 

Unfortunately I don't have someone who can come with me.

 

My tribunal is being heard in a couple weeks and I think the fact that I don't have the paperwork is stressing me out more!

[empty1979]

Ok, I've just received the paperwork I've been waiting for including the ATOS medical.

 

I'm actually quite shocked, it's like they're writing about someone else! I've only scan read it - but I'm really not happy about it. First off the nurse that has written the report says that I hadn't worked for 5 years prior to my injuries - I actually worked for a further 6 weeks after my injuries and it was the injuries that caused me to give up my job. She goes into great detail about the tests she carried out on me but I refused to do any after the first one she tried to carry out which almost dislocated my shoulder and left me in pain long after I left the medical! (I did actually call ESA and ATOS immediately after the medical but they wanted me to put my complaint in writing).

She also states that I can do all these daily activities, but I never once got asked any questions relevant to those. In fact I was in the room for all of 5 minutes and remember quite clearly that the main points of questioning were over why I didn't bring the medication I was on with me!

Is this the sort of thing I should be bringing up? I've got 5 days to get further evidence to the tribunal, so don't really want to waste my time on stuff that won't matter. I've also asked my GP for a letter but they're asking for £22.50 admin costs, which I simply can't afford(it'd be medication or the letter).

 

Any further help will be appreciated.

[HadEnough]

Hi, firstly don't get to hung up on how unfair the report is, it seems to me that they just fail almost everyone then hope we don't appeal, so it's nothing personal, we are all treated this way. This is a long process so try to do what you need to do then forget about it if poss

 

Your appeal letter only really needs to say that you disagree with the decision for XYZ reasons, ie, the report is incomplete, does not accurately refelct what was said and contradicts medical evidence. Maybe be give a couple of examples if poss but saying that this is not all you can see thats wrong but given the time constraints ect.

 

You can then take your time and go through the report with a fine tooth comb at leisure. HoneyBees sticky will give you an idea of how to do this and if you need any help just shout.

 

Don't forget that if you get any other benefits the DWP will tell them that your claims been stopped so ring the depts concerned to tell them that your appealling. The DWP are quick to tell them that they've stopped your claim but slow to tell them that you've appealled.

[empty1979]

Thanks for your help HadEnough.

 

I'm really quite shocked at how inaccurate the report is! It seems like she has just made the whole thing up!

[HadEnough]

I know what you mean, i was in a rage fors days after reading mine and was angry for months, it did me no good though, in fact it made me worse.

 

It's only with the benefit of hindsight that i now realise that i shouldn't have let it get to me, it's not personal, it's them trying to hit the governments targets so they can keep the contract.

 

The thing to do now is be objective, try to forget the insult and injustice of it, just concentrate on getting your appeal right, which thanks to their '~?&£! report should be quite easy.

[empty1979]

Hi,

 

So my letter hasn't arrived at the Tribunals Service. I sent it first class last Wednesday. After speaking to them today, they've said even if I sent it recorded delivery it is now too late for it to be used at my tribunal. I'm getting pretty worried about this, as you can see from my previous posts the 'medical report' was completely inaccurate and I don't know how I can get this across at the tribunal(I do have a copy of my letter).

 

Has anyone else experienced similar?

[paulb1310]

Provided the letter does not run to lots of pages take three copies with you to the Tribunal and ask that they read it. They can refuse but then this could be considered a breach of the Tribunals "over-riding objective".

[empty1979]

Thanks a lot. I'll be sure to let you all know how I get on.

[HadEnough]

i don't really understand why they've said that, i'd take 3 copies of your letter and add a cover letter, a very short one, saying that the DWP said your appeal wasn't continueing and only recently were you told that it is. Take all letters with you to prove this including any from JSA.

 

Hand it in as soon as you arrive.

 

Good luck and when is the appeal?

[empty1979]

Thanks, I'll be sure to do that.

 

It's on Tuesday - I'll let you know how it goes.

[rightsforme]

Good luck for Tuesday Empty

[emmaf01]

Just wishing you good luck with tomorrow. Take your information with you and I hope everything goes smoothly for you.

[empty1979]

Hi, just thought I'd let you know how I got on. It didn't go my way unfortunately, however, my points were increased from 0 to 12 and I probably could have gotten more if I had a bit longer to prepare.

 

I'm not sure where to go from here, should I appeal further? It's been just over a year since I initially appealed, so can I just start a new claim? I don't really want to be going around in circles, I just want to be given the chance to get better without this extra stress.

 

It's been a long day for me, so I'll be glad to get to bed tonight! Thankyou all for your help and advise so far.

[honeybee13]

Hello. Well done you for going along and I'm sorry it didn't go your way. I really hope you sleep tonight.

 

I'm sure others will comment, but I think maybe your way forward is to file another claim if your health is worse than it was when you originally claimed. I don't think you can appeal again unless it's on a point of law.

 

Big hugs, HB

[frank_begbie]

Maybe they're still in the pub celebrating........lets hope so:-D

[ErikaPNP]

HB is correct. You can only appeal to the upper tier if the first tier have erred on a point of law or tribunal procedure. If they have not, you would need to reclaim.

[empty1979]

Thanks, yes I can see that now I've looked at the paperwork they gave me.

 

I'd like to thank everyone who gave me advise and encouragement on here, you were a great help