Heading off to ESA Tribunal Tomorrow :( PLZZ Help

[Goucho]

OK, guys, I should have posted about this a good bit back but it has made me very ill! I struggle to cope with everyday life never mind something as serious as this.

 

The back story.

 

I have been on incapacity Benefit since 1998 and was moved to ESA in March 2013. I was placed into the WRAG and attended my first interview. I was puzzled as to why i had to go for regular interviews but went anyway. At the first interview, I was advised that I was in the wrong group. I asked if it made any difference to my money and was told no that i would get the same amount so i said i didn't mind doing the odd interview. On following interviews my support worker said that i should appeal and i told her that it was ok. In December 2013 i filled in a reassesment form and told her that i would appeal following that if needed because i was getting too stressed and was missing appointments due to my disability.

 

In March 2014 my ESA suddenly stopped and when i rang up about it i was told that it only lasted 12 months as i was on contribution related ESA. They assesed me for income related ESA but i was unsuccesful. Now it was panic time and i kept ringing etc etc etc. My argument with them was that I was placed in the wrong group and that at no time was i told that it only lasted 12 monmths hence why i did not appeal it. I was also told that it was too late to appeal and that i would have to wait for the December 2013 assesment to come through ....... i was in sheer panic and got nowhere!

 

IN late August 1014 i received a letter stating that my ESA would start from that date and that i had been placed into the Support Group. Later i rang and asked when my backdated benefit would be paid and was shocked to hear that because it was the DWP that initiated the reassesment they did not have to backdate and that as far as they were concerned my benefit started in August 2014 and that was that. I sent in a letter etc etc but got nowhere.

 

Earlier this year i rang yet again to find out how the long drawn out process of looking at my complaint was coming only to be told that it wasn't!! Seemingly when they got my letter of complaint they did a mandatory reconsideration and upheld their decision. When i explained everytring to the guy on the phone hge was great and told me to appeal the Mandatory Reconsideration as it was within 13 months which in special cases will be allowed by the Tribunal. Luckily for me the Tribunal accepted my appeal even though the ESA tried to have it thrown out due to time restraints.

 

I go tommorrow and need any tips you guys can think of asap.

 

 

Facts of my case

 

At the time i was moved from IB to ESA i was on the following benefits and rates etc etc.

1. I was on high rate mobility and medium care on DLA

2. I was rated at 50% disabled with IIDB

3. I was registered disabled with my council

4. My wife was receiving Carer Allowance and could not work

5. I was in a specially adapted Council home thast had a washroom and lift

 

 

In march 2013 using all the medical evidence available they put me into a fit for work group. Via a reassesment in December 2013 using exactly the same evidence they put me in the support group.

If i had been told my ESA would be stopped i would have appealed the first decision but was not given any information. I was sent this advice and nowhere does it say about any time limit https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/while-youre-getting-esa/about-the-esa-groups/

My argument is that they made a mistake (march 2013)which they corrected(August 2014 via reassesment Dec 2013) by no pressure or appeal from me. When they told me it was too late to appeal the first decision they misled me because the cut off point is 13 months (in special cases) and i would have been succesful.

 

 

I was clearly entitled to ESA and if they had done their job correctly my benefit would never have been stopped in March 2014. Also they really took their time with the reassesment, in fact even though i was ringing constantly ATOS only contacted my GP in mid August 2014!!!! So i will bring up that id they had prcessed the reassesment in a reasonable amount of time this stoppage of benefit would not have happened.

 

 

Soooooooooooooooo after all that guys i am going to the Tribunal to ask for the decision of August 2014 be backdated to the date of the reassesment in December 2013 and so have my benefit given to me that was stopped between March 2014 and Late August 2014. I will also say that this would never have happened if i was given the correct information about appeal time scales.

 

 

The law they use to cover them for not backdating is :----

 

Welfare Reform Act 2007, sections 1(3)a and (4).

Welfare Reform Act 2007, section 8

Social Security (Employment & Support Allowance) Regulations 2008, reg 19

 

 

I know it is all last minute but if any of you know of anything at all that i can do to counter them etc please lmk asap. I don't have to go until tommorrow afternoon so will be watching this thread.

 

Thank you so much!

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I suggest you have a read of the forum stikky on how to make your submission. If you haven't already submitted one, I think it should have been before the tribunal tomorrow, but they may accept something on the day.

 

You need to go through what Atos said about you to show where they got it wrong and then slot the information into the stikky template.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?251737-Mandatory-Reconsideration-Appealing-or-going-to-a-Tribunal-Some-useful-information(1-Viewing)-nbsp

 

HB

[Goucho]

Just to let you know i am not appealing the original decision.

 

My problem is that they will not backdate my benefit to the reassessment date in December 2014.

 

I am not appealing against what ATOS have said i am only appealing to get them to backdate my benefit to December 2014.

[Goucho]

Hi guys i managed to get a last minute postponement so need your help on this still.

 

Anything you can think of plzzzzz

[Bazooka Boo]

Have you contacted your local MP regarding this?

[Goucho]

Have you contacted your local MP regarding this?

 

Hi there i did a while back and was told to get back to them if unsuccessful as i was still within the appeal timescale. So if it goes badly i will camp out at the MP's office lol

[speedfreek]

Okay filtering out all the rest of it what exactly are your grounds for appeal?

 

You also really need to be a bit/well a lot more specific in the dates and what actually happened as its a little confusing.

 

So far I've got;

 

1, you were transferred from IB to ESA in March 2013 you were placed in the WRAG

 

If you were on Contribution ESA that would end March 2104?

 

2, You were reassessed in December 2013

 

3, ESA stopped March 2014

 

4, You were informed of the decision of the December 2013 assessment in August 2014?

 

Taking that as it is.........

 

a, if took 8-9 months between 2 & 4 above then you may have grounds for a complaint against the DWP for an undue delay in making a decision causing you financial loss.

 

b, on conversion from IB to ESA they may have failed to assess you for Income related ESA.? There's a massive thread about his on here http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewforum/3/ If this is the case and you fit the criteria for both Contribution and Income Based ESA then a tribunal can make a new decision as if it is March 2013. ESA doesn't stop if you have even 1p worth of income entitlement even if that 1p is not being paid due to other factors like transitional payments etc!

 

c, you were not told things which would have caused you to do things? Will only work if the DWP failed to or incorrectly notified you of something or you have some specific (I apologise as I'm quoting DWP here) disability that would have prevented comprehension of what was sent.

 

Only options b & c can be used at a Social Security Tribunal

 

Id suggest;

1, find out if you fit the case for b

2, take all this plus your papper work to somebody either CAB or specific to your health condition who can help

3, fill in the blanks Ive asked

4, keep us updated on progress

[Goucho]

Thanx very much Speedfreak. You have got the timescale 1 - 4 correct.

 

B) I am sure that i was not assessed for income related ESA because i would have questioned it as i was expecting a simple transition and if they had started asking for income and proof of it then i would have been onm the phone asking what was going on. It would have sounded alarm bells for sure. How can i prove this?

 

C) Apart from my physical disability (caused by an assault) I suffer badly from mental health issues. This has been the case from 1998. I have been told by one GP that i was suffering from PTS and depression. In total honesty i can't even go shopping and suffer regular panic attacks and can't deal with things ( normal household paperwork and stuff like this ) without getting highly stressed. I even had a representative from DWP come to my home to fill out my paperwork for appealing to the tribunal plus i usually go to a charity organisation for things like this. My December 2013 was filled out by them. ( I have been to CAB and they can't help with coming to the tribunal plus they contacted other places and due to funds nobody can come to the court to assist me ) Have you any advice on who to ask? My wife will be with me otherwise but will the court allow her to be a witness?

 

Each of my other benefit assessments above have all taken my mental health into account. Even the ESA/ATOS mentioned it in both the original and December assessments. Would highlighting this and saying that they should have a duty of care to make sure i was fully aware of the situation because clearly i wasn't??

 

 

It is now too late to send in any further evidence to the tribunal Any advice for putting in my statement to the court would be awesome.

[Goucho]

Well guys after much stalling etc etc i finally got my decision.

 

It was allowed!!!

 

Now i have to wait for the DWP to pay me what they owe me.

 

 

Any ideas on how long this takes?

Knowing them they will probably appeal to the higher tribunal but the judge stated that if they did he would "Defend his decision vigorously".

I think that speaks volumes on what he thinks of the way the DWP treated me.

 

Right now for the juicy bit

- i intend to seek interest and compensation as this has caused so much ill health, debt, anxiety etc etc etc.

I have been treated very badly concerning this and i was always entitled to the money!

 

 

Have any of you guys got advice on how to go about this and any idea on what i should ask for or is this decided by a judge if they award me compensation??

[Bazooka Boo]

Firstly well done!

They usually pay within four to six weeks, if not sooner.

 

As for compensation, you won't get it from them direct you will need to complain to them (DWP) then exhaust their complaints procedure, then escalate it to the Independent Case Examiner (ICE) who will look at your individual case then decide the best course of action.

 

Mine took three years two tribunals, and finally two years for the ICE to look into it, and award me £100 for the joke that is DWP.

[Goucho]

Geez that is a p155 take man!

[reallymadwoman]

It's currently more than a year since the ICE accepted my complaint about ATOS and DWP, they expect to start investigating in the next 3 months. I can only assume there are a lot of outstanding complaints!

[Goucho]

After a few phone calls etc finally got some sort of an answer yesterday ..... it will take 6-8 weeks as it had just been entered onto my account yesterday lol.

 

So will wait for the funds and then onto claiming interest and compensation

 

Watch this space!

[reallymadwoman]

Good luck, feel free to ask for help if you need it. I may be becoming an expert at complaining to DWP/ICE!

[Goucho]

Well latest call to them today told me that they tried to contact me (ye really hard) then left it. Looking on my file i was today informed that there are no outstanding benefit to be paid!!!!!!!

 

 

I asked for all this in writing but first i had to agree to them calling me then when i get the call the guy repeats what i was told earlier and it now seems that i am back at square one. I have asked for them to put it all in writing to me so that i can look at what i need to do next.

 

What a farce from beginning to end! No matter what happens I am going to seek damages as this has take n a huge toll on my health.

 

 

 

Will update ................

[Goucho]

Well guys got a call today from DWP telling me that there are no outstanding benefits owed to me.

 

 

When i asked them where they got the power from to set aside a judgement by a judge in Tribunal the answer i got was "what Tribunal" .......................... I am struggling !

 

just answered another call and all funds will be paid into my account on Wednesday.

 

Off to research seeking interest and damages once I get me dosh.

 

For those who may feel that I shouldn't do this as they are public funds I will say this.

 

I was entitled to this money

- It was withheld unlawfully

- I was treated awfully

- I am disabled and in this position whilst wearing the Queen's crown on my shoulder.

 

For these reasons and all the information in this thread I feel that I am entitled to some sort of compensation and that the DWP and similar Government departments should not get away with treating people so badly.

[tomtom256]

So you are already getting a war disability pension then in compensation for the disability caused by wearing the queens crown on you're shoulder?

 

Personally I wore it on my cap badge.

[Goucho]

Your wording may be misunderstood by some as saying that I am already being compensated and should not pursue this further.

 

I will give the benefit of the written word not being read as intended in this case.

 

Just to clear the matter up ..

. I am not seeking compensation for injuries and hardship regarding the cause or effect of my initial injury or disablement.

 

I am seeking seeking compensation for withheld monies that I was entitled to plus how I have been treated in this case leading to monetary and health hardship

- nothing else is relevant in this case.

 

Please read the initial post peeps before making irrelevant comments.

[Bazooka Boo]

You don't need to explain Goucho,

[Goucho]

Thanx Bazooka Boo ... I am not in a good place at the moment and am very stressed.