Claiming ESA for issues with mobilising here's a shocker

[tommy456]

I found this on a forum for welfare rights and CAB advisers , This is what we are up against, it's disgusting It also appears not to be an isolated case in a specific area

 

Decsiion maker accepts customer walking ability is less than 20 metres but he could propel a

 

wheelchair so no LCW.

Statement in the decsion makers reasons as follows

“The decision maker has considered that a wheelchair could be obtained through the NHS wheelchair service if required, the use of a wheelchair would enable XXXXXXXXXXXXXX to mobilise more than 200 metres so he could engage in the labour market by being able to mobilise in a fully accessible area, and if he has an inability to store a wheelchair at home, it would be a reasonable adjustment for the wheelchair to be stored at the employers premises if necessary”

I despair I really do

[Sparks_]

They will say anything to deny benefits!

[Max1968]

Well at least the decision makers reports aren't personalised then because I just checked my report and I have an identical paragraph which is word by word (bar my name being in it of course), suggesting I could use a wheelchair to get back into the labour market. Seriously, word by word it is identical.

 

 

Obviously they just cut and paste their little rulebook for anyone which pretty much proves that they don't view each case individually, it's just a copy and paste here and there regardless of the bundles of a claimants evidence that contradicts their reports in front of them.

 

 

I replied to that paragraph "I am somewhat confused as to how a wheelchair would help me with my vertigo?" I suspect that they hoped that I might spin around like being in some dodgem car. Maybe I should have accepted it and spun straight into the road and sued the ******* off them.

 

 

It really beggars belief doesn't it. It's about time someone took a legal case out against these [removed].

Edited July 16, 2016 by honeybee13
Pejorative word removed,

[citizenB]

This would only work if other adaptions were made to the work place! For example, lifts that would accommodate the wheelchair. Space for the user to manoeuvre in the office - work place ?

[Nystagmite]

This would only work if other adaptions were made to the work place! For example, lifts that would accommodate the wheelchair. Space for the user to manoeuvre in the office - work place ?

 

Surely, given the laws in place, there are very few places where this wouldn't be possible?

[reallymadwoman]

They should also take into account that, by their own rules, no one in a wheelchair can work above the ground floor! No DWP office admits anyone above the ground floor if they cannot get themselves down the stairs in an emergency.

[Max1968]

They should also take into account that, by their own rules, no one in a wheelchair can work above the ground floor! No DWP office admits anyone above the ground floor if they cannot get themselves down the stairs in an emergency.

 

 

It's interesting that you say that because at my WCA I was asked that prior to the assessment because all the rooms were upstairs. I replied that I should be ok if I didn't have an attack but I suspect everyone who was there was asked the same question. So for everyone that had a WCA at that venue I suspect we pretty much all failed straight away on the basis that we said that we could probably get downstairs in the event of a fire. Would be interesting to see what happened to those that said they couldn't considering there were no options of a downstairs room.

 

 

Interestingly my Job Centre has three flights of stairs to navigate and a lift that rarely works!

[reallymadwoman]

Would be interesting to see what happened to those that said they couldn't considering there were no options of a downstairs room.

 

 

 

There are plenty of accounts of people being turned away from assessment centres (still!) because they can't do stairs and all the rooms are upstairs. I've been refused entry to my local jobcentre because all the interview rooms etc are upstairs - the ground floor is basically an enquiry desk with a security guard stood next to it.

 

The ICE didn't uphold my complaint about ATOS taking 2 years to assess me because they said I'd refused to attend an assessment centre at all when in fact none of those in my area have ground floor rooms so I refused to go because I knew they wouldn't let me in.

[tommy456]

A reply from an on the ball case worker ,But whilst it's all very well a wheelchair being stored at this fictitious work place ,it is of no use to the claimant when they are at home, or to enable them to commute from home to the workplace ,or do our brain dead DWP not consider this?

 

That’s wrong on so many levels it is at least fun to list them and the tribunal judge is clearly desperate to be flagellated by an Upper Tribunal Judge.

So, let’s list them then…

- Any evidence of whether client eligible for an NHS wheelchair?

- Any evidence on the length of time on the waiting list?

- What is a “fully accessible area”? I’ve yet to see one if that helps.

- Does one merely have to access one “fully accessible area” to be able to work? Would it be okay to be able to wheel along a carpeted floor if there was no lift and no accessible toilet (you’ll gather I AM enjoying this!)?

- Oh yeah, does the appellant drive? If not, will their imaginary wheelchair go on a bus, train or tram at peak hours thus enabling them to, er, get to work? Oh, and from work obviously!

- Does anyone know of an employer happy to provide a space to store your wheelchair overnight? Will that include weekends when the employer is possibly shut or am I just being awkward?

- A ‘reasonable adjustment’ enables employment or retention of same. Storage of wheelchairs doesn’t enable either of those things unless the wheelchair would have to go back in the absence of any storage area.

they apparently used this case law http://www.osscsc.gov.uk/Aspx/view.aspx?id=4245

 

 

[tommy456]

Yes it's a health and Safety rule that if you are unable to negotiate stairs then you can't be expected to attend on an upper floor, as the lifts will be switched off in the event of a fire, But the likes of atos and maximus will still give appointments at places were their located on above ground level be that 1st or 2nd floors, or below ground level, (these will usually have ramps)

 

It's then up to the their intended victim to re arrange the appointment to a different location that is ground floor or is disabled friendly adapted

[Nystagmite]

There is access to work which would pay for taxis (you'd pay the public transport cost) for you to get to work, if you couldn't drive due to medical problems or use public transport.

[tommy456]

A lot of smaller companies would simply not employ someone who has such limitations , because their building maybe too small, and who is going to pay the employer to make said adaptations , ? then there is what if they don't own the property a landlord may prevent them making structural changes , being in a wheelchair is going to seriously limit a persons ability to find work as well as the type of work they are able or more importantly are happy to do

[tommy456]

There is access to work which would pay for taxis (you'd pay the public transport cost) for you to get to work, if you couldn't drive due to medical problems or use public transport.

 

https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work/eligibility

You might still qualify for Access to Work if you earn less than £105 a week and either work:

Who is going to work for even less than what pittance is paid in benefits? If worked full time 5-6 days a week the cost of taxi's would be probative , and depending on where the workplace was could mean someone is out of pocket costing them to go to work, IBS would love that

[tommy456]

I think it's always been a tick box copy & paste exercise , put in place to deter, delay and cause hardship

[citizenB]

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2013/aug/29/paralympics-legacy-disabled-people

 

 

http://www.evenbreak.co.uk/blog/paralympics-good-or-bad-for-disabled-people/

 

For those who believe the lies about most disabled people being benefit scroungers (in reality it’s less than 1%), I have heard people suggest, almost seriously, that if disabled people just put a bit of effort in they could also be world class athletes, let alone get a job. This is as ridiculous as suggesting that with a bit of effort, every man in the street could beat Usain Bolt!

 

 

challenged the stereotype that disabled people can’t achieve. It helped us focus on what these athletes could do rather than what they couldn’t – a message I’m constantly trying to get across to employers.

 

For a few days, the general public weren’t purely thinking of disabled people as benefit scroungers, and therefore legitimate targets for hate crime.

 

It forced our capital city to think about accessibility issues across the infrastructure, particularly including transport. For a couple of weeks it was less difficult for disabled people to travel around London, with lots of volunteers and portable ramps.

 

 

[king12345]

I wonder why they don't give wheelchair users a phone and a pc at home and employ them directly to answer their helpline considering that their response time goes over 30 minutes on a good day.

[Nystagmite]

I wonder why they don't give wheelchair users a phone and a pc at home and employ them directly to answer their helpline considering that their response time goes over 30 minutes on a good day.

 

It's called money

[king12345]

It's called money

 

What's that???

[brassnecked]

What's that???

What they don't want to pay genuinely disabled people.

[DreamEater]

Here's an observation from my father.

 

When he attended his assessment, he noticed all the rooms where a long way from the waiting rooms, they assessors would then walk you to their office where you would proceed to tell them how you struggle. Which obviously, they would then tell you how you walked all the way to the office.

 

But we all know, push comes to shove, most, if not the majority can walk much further, BUT BUT BUT, this isn't something that can be done all the time, more like a once a day thing, reserve energy.