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Refused ESA 4 times - on job seekers but can't work - help!
paul1961
Community member Posts: 1 Listener
Hi just a few words about myself i am a 56 year old male i have had rheumatoid and ostio arthritis plus a few other medical problems first of all i have worked hard since i was 16 however the last few years i have not due to my severe arthritis i need a double knee replacement and currently awaiting surgery i have been on ESA employment support however i have now been told for the 4th time that i do not qualify for ESA and now been put on job seekers allowance my mobility is very poor and the pain is constant even tho i am on medication to try to alleviate the pain but as anyone knows who as this condition this is on going pain and frustration i totally feel let down by the very system put in place to help anyone who are unfortunate to have health problems i also feel the point system used by health care professionals are really unfair stereotyping people who have disability and mobility problems noting that i turned up to the assessment as normal clean and tidy but this is a part that points are awarded so basically if i had turned up unwashed and unkempt they would award you points i am totally frustrated and dont know what to do next please any advice would be gratefully appreciated kind regards Paul.
Comments
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Hello @paul1961 and welcome to the community.
As you haven't mentioned it did you ask for a mandatory review and then went to appeal?
You can find out more about the point system at https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/work-capability-assessment
For the mandatory review you should ask for a copy of the report, which will set out the points awarded for each criteria, and you should focus on why you meet the higher criteria, rather than concentrating on what is wrong with you - that should be available through the evidence you provided.
In many cases the mandatory review will simply rubberstamp what the assessor has put, but success at appeal is around 65%. This is a lot higher if you can attend the hearing rather than having a paper appeal.
edited as part of the post was not relevent.As an individual I stood alone.
As a member of a group I did things.
As part of a community I helped to create change! -
The problem with ANY form of arthritis is that the large majority of people who suffer it DO manage to work and have relatively normal lives. Therefore you are faced with the task of proving that your is SO serious that it has become debilitating. If you do manage that then you become compared to others who have a debilitating condition in ALL cases. All this makes it more difficult for them to treat you as you wish to be treated. Mobility plays a large part in this and, whilst many manage to keep relatively mobile, they find it 100% impossible to use normal methods of transport at all. It isn't that they prefer not to, they simply cannot. It was a discussion I had regularly with an older lady I used to know who could not appreciate the difference between her preferring not to use public transport even though she could whereas I simply could not use it at all.
Pain is pain and is evaluated based on levels of medication, what you feel is strong medication others might not. All you can do is to keep trying to prove your point and hope that the medical opinions bolster that belief.
TK
"I'm on the wrong side of heaven and the righteous side of hell" - from Wrong side of heaven by Five Finger Death Punch.
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