Mandatory reconsideration help

Kttyn
Kttyn Online Community Member Posts: 17 Connected
in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Hi, I need serious help with benefits if anyone can. 
Basically since June last year i have been waiting fro me esa medical assessment, which I finally had a month ago.  She has deemed me unsuitable for the support group and they have placed me in the work support group.  I just cannot work I'm just not well enough. 
I have Chronic fatigue syndrome, Severe depression, Acute generalised anxiety, Formication, ptsd, Laryngopharyngeal Reflux, Bad back which i'm codeine for, sleeping tablets as I'm not sleeping and I also have hypothyroidism, all this im on some serious medication for,  basically im broken.

45 minutes in a room with this woman and she has written that im perfectly capable for work.. one of the reasons given is that I made it to the assessment!! if you don't go they stop your money and im drowning as it is :'(

I took in doctors letters, letters from the mental health team with my appointments on, letters from my early help case worker.  I even took all my medical files but she didn't want to see them. 

I've just this week lost a pip tribunal for the daily living element because they didn't receive the extra info although i sent it in in time and made the decision anyway and now this :'( .. I wouldn't mind so much but i'm not lazy... I would work if I could... This is all just getting too much.  Is the fight to have your disability recognised really worth it?  If anyone can help me with how I should word this reconsideration I would really appreciate it... I seriously don't know what im going to do if they don't change their decision,.

Comments

  • Kttyn
    Kttyn Online Community Member Posts: 17 Connected
    Hi, I need serious help with benefits if anyone can. 
    Basically since June last year i have been waiting fro me esa medical assessment, which I finally had a month ago.  She has deemed me unsuitable for the support group and they have placed me in the work support group.  I just cannot work I'm just not well enough. 
    I have Chronic fatigue syndrome, Severe depression, Acute generalised anxiety, Formication, ptsd, Laryngopharyngeal Reflux, Bad back which i'm codeine for, sleeping tablets as I'm not sleeping and I also have hypothyroidism, all this im on some serious medication for,  basically im broken.

    45 minutes in a room with this woman and she has written that im perfectly capable for work.. one of the reasons given is that I made it to the assessment!! if you don't go they stop your money and im drowning as it is :'(

    I took in doctors letters, letters from the mental health team with my appointments on, letters from my early help case worker.  I even took all my medical files but she didn't want to see them. 

    I've just this week lost a pip tribunal for the daily living element because they didn't receive the extra info although i sent it in in time and made the decision anyway and now this :'( .. I wouldn't mind so much but i'm not lazy... I would work if I could... This is all just getting too much.  Is the fight to have your disability recognised really worth it?  If anyone can help me with how I should word this reconsideration I would really appreciate it... I seriously don't know what im going to do if they don't change their decision,.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 63,174 Championing
    Hi,

    Being placed in the WRAG group doesn't meant you're fit for work. It means they think that sometime in the future you could be fit for work. You will most likely have to attend appointments at your local job centre to prepare to return to work sometime in the future but it certainly doesn't mean they're say you must look for work and you're not made to look for work. If you were being made to look for work then you would have been found fit for work and that hasn't happened.

    Have you looked at the Support Group descriptors? ESA isn't about a diagnosis, it's about how your conditions affect you and your fitness to be able to do any type of work, so it's the work you can do rather than the work you can't do.



    If you're unhappy with the decision then you have 28 days to request the MR in writing just like the MR request for PIP. For the letter you should put the reasons why you think you should be placed into the Support Group.

    I'd advise getting some advice before asking for the MR. Only 17% of MR decisions change.


  • Chloe_Alumni
    Chloe_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 10,506 Championing
    Hi @Kttyn, I am so sorry to hear this! It must seem like one thing after another. Here is a link to information on how to appeal the ESA decision. Many of our members have gone through this process so please do not hesitate to be in touch if you need anything else! We all wish you the very best of luck :)
  • Kttyn
    Kttyn Online Community Member Posts: 17 Connected
    Thank you hunni . I'll read that today.  Just been having a look through her report and apparently there's a bit for side effects of the medication you're on? She's put none documented... I know why, she never asked me!! I have tons :'( 
  • Chloe_Alumni
    Chloe_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 10,506 Championing
    Hi @Kttyn, you're more than welcome! This is definitely something that you can bring up in the appeal, side effects of medication can be huge and definitely affect your ability to work. I wish you the very best of luck! 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 63,174 Championing
    It asks about side effects of medication when filling out the ESA50 form, which you would have done before having the face 2 face assessment. Did you not mention the side effects on the form? Did you send evidence to support your claim?

    I really do advise you to get some expert help before requesting the MR because if you don't fit the Support Group descriptors or reg 35 then there's little point in asking for the MR. It's very difficult to advise further on a forum because no one knows how your conditions affect you.

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