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Taken off ESA
nicky1975hindmarsh
Member Posts: 1 Listener
hi i have been claiming ESA for over 6 months and this is the second time i have claimed because was taken off it and had to claim jsa just to get a payment as quick as possible,i have a sick note wich doesnt run out untill the 12th of december 2017,and i am claiming esa for several things wich are as follows;severe eczema wich covers my entire body and i am constantly having to see my gp because so far any medication and creams ect have not been sucessfullmcauses me chronic pain and cannot get much sleep due to constant scratching untill covered in blood,i have been suffering with this for some years now and has its bad days and extremely bad days and am still waiting for any good days just for a little respite,i als have suffered with chronic asthma since a small child and spent half of my childhood being rushed into hospital for medicall attention to asthma attacks ,wich i use 3 different inhalers several times daily just to avoid having an asthma attack.,also in 2014 i was reffered by my gp for an immediate consultation with a specialist who requested a cholonoscopy where ,throughout the procedure,several polyps where found and removed throughout the operation,i was showing same symptoms againe several months ago and another refferal was made and during another consultation,another cholonoscopy was requested,however,due to other signs and symptoms being present this time mexample,i have being menstruating extremely and wurryingly heavy and has been continuous with only 1 or 3 days respite and because the bleeding has been so heavy ,they where unable to carry out this procedure and was requested that my gp provides me with a tablet form medication to stop the bleeding so they can carry out this procedure ,however ,in the meantime,i have hadmby my gps request,several blood test wich where clear for whatever they where looking for,as well as a triple swab smear wich did not show anything,when making the initial claim for esa,i provided them with all letters from my gp and the specialist who will be carrying out the second cholonoscopy ,however,i failed to attend a medical assessment for the esa and they asked me to provide reasons for this so i explained that i had been having issues with my bowels wich resulted in me being on the toilet continnously and could not leave the house,and although i explained that this is just 1 of the symptoms wich i have been suffering with that has resulted in thr the cholonoscopy being required,they have said that this wasnt a good enouf reason,i requested a mandatory reconsideration and they still refused to accept this to be of good enough causemhowever they waited right until the day i was due a payment for esa before they informed me that they had closed my esa claim and i would have to appeal and/or claim another benefit,i explained that this benefit was paid 2 weeks in arears so was due a payment but they went on to say that because they where stopping my esa from the date that i did not go to the appointment so was not due a payment,and even though my sicknote hasnt even ran out yet,i had no other choice but to claim jsa,and myself and my husband who was/is on a joint claim with me had to go for over 3 weeks with no money mas well as this,they have put me straight back onto a work programme where i still have to sign every 2 weeks but are requesting that i travel from where i live in grangetown(middlesbrough),all the way to stockton just for an appointment with a work programme agency,it has resulted in me seriously depressed and fel i want to take my own life,wich i wont because i care about my adult sons and daughter,grandchildren and husband,but all this stress is becoming too much for me,i am also currently grieving for a close family relative who passed away at a young age wich happened on the same day that my esa payment was stopped so i have been trying to deal with it all as well as grieve for my family member,appoligies for the length of my explanation,please can you help and advise me?
Replies
So sorry you are having such a hard time
You now need to appeal to the tribunal which is a lot more understanding than the DWP
Do either you or your husband claim PIP ?
If you can please get advice from CAB or similar, but in the mean time have a look around this site as there is lots of info on the appeals process
Please come back with any questions
CR
I have moved your post to the ask a benefits advisor section where I hope they will be able to help.
Best wishes
Senior online community officer
Hi @nicky1975hindmarsh
Yes CR is right in saying you now need to appeal.
If you can find yourself a local representative then great, but if not then just submit the forms yourself - the process is fairly straightforward.
All you will need at this stage is a form SSCS1 https://formfinder.hmctsformfinder.justice.gov.uk/sscs1-eng.pdf and a copy of the Mandatory Reconsideration letter ESA have sent you.
Explain clearly on your form all the reasons you could not attend the appointment - remember they are not assessing your entitlement to ESA here, just whether or not you had good cause for failing to attend the appointment, so concentrate on the day in question and days leading up to it if applicable. You need to be able to show that it was reasonable that you decided to stay at home rather that going to be assessed, knowing that that would stop your benefit.
Make sure you request an oral hearing and attend it, as this greatly increases the chances of success.
After that it's just waiting for the Tribunal to list your case.
In the meantime, you need to get a claim in for Jobseekers Allowance if you haven't already, as ESA cannot be paid on appeal for 'failure to attend' decisions.
Also do consider PIP. Benefits and Work website have a PIP 'self-test' where you can answer questions to see if it is worth you claiming and I'd recommend having a look at that. https://benefitsandwork.co.uk/personal-independence-payment-pip/pip-self-test
Kind regards,
Mary