Should I apply for UC or appeal my ESA decision?

Lee78

I am in receipt of pip as I was formerly on dla I was asked to claim pip which resulted after assessment that my condition worsened and my payments increased significantly. However I have recently had my esa claim refused (after 4years of claiming assessments appeals reconsideration) the last time I had to claim jsa but advised at jc to continue with fitnotes after 13 weeks I was then advised to reclaim esa but after assessment I was refused  and told to claim universal credit I have crippling arthritis and was born with extra thumbs which have been removed which is why I was in receipt of dla  my arthritis worsened over many years working as a tarmacadam. Is it correct that if I claim uc I cannot ever claim esa again if so should I claim universal credit or go through the mandatory reconsideration appeal process again. I received no points in assessment which I find bizarre as my pip claim for same condition which dwp made me claim awarded me almost maximum points. Please any advice will help

Garfield412

Hi Lee78, at some point you will have to go over to UC, everyone will move over at some point. my personal opinion (you may want to legal advice or advice from Citizens Advice on this as well...) is to go a new claim on UC.  ESA is transitioning out.  there are pro's and con's to do doing either.

Yes UC is replacing ESA and most other benefit claim.

and yes the different results from ESA panel and PiP panel vary greatly, its very common due to the nature of the differing companies that carry out the "examinations".  good luck whatever you decide to do, I hope it works out for.

CockneyRebel

were you receiving SDP ?

if so then you should appeal ESA as this does not exist under UC

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi Lee78

If you apply for universal credit (UC) then you will no longer be able to receive income-related ESA even if you were later successful in getting it reinstated. If you are receiving housing benefit or tax credits they would also end when you claim UC and you may not receive the same amounts replacing what you get now depending on your circumstances.

If you receive a severe disability and/or an enhanced disability premium as part of your income-related ESA then you would lose these when you apply for UC because there are no equivalents in the new UC system.

My questions are do you receive income-related ESA? Or is it contributory ESA? Do you get housing benefit? Are you single? Do you have any dependent children living with you who you receive child benefit for? What rates of PIP do you receive?

In the meantime, I would advise requesting a mandatory reconsideration of the ESA decision but would seek a full benefit check to show what the impact of claiming UC would be in terms of how much worse off you might be before making a claim to UC.

I hope that helps

Best wishes

Paul

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi Lee78

Some further questions are when did your most recent claim to ESA start? You mention the last time your ESA was refused but when was this? Did you request a mandatory reconsideration of the previous decision? If so, what was the outcome?

Best wishes

Paul