Evidence to back up ESA Claim

kirstie2207

Hi everyone hope your all ok,
My mum has osteoarthritis of her knees and she has applied for ESA and PIP but she has been awarded '0' points on both so I'm in the process of waiting for appeals. I want to send off evidence to show how this is effecting her daily life and her struggles as I do feel she more than qualifies to be awarded both. Everything she does is impacted by her osteoarthritis and the constant pain and stiffness she is in. 

Apart from medical notes has anyone found submitting other forms of evidence helpful in their appeals. Things that I thought may help would be letters from families/friends, photos of her aids (mobility scooter, grab rails etc.), video of her walking, measurement of the maximum distance that she can walk (as according to them she can walk over 300m which couldn't be further than the truth) 

I'm a bit of a loss as her medical notes dont show her true extent of her condition in my view. Were awaiting results from her latest x-ray but the GP isn't being the most helpful as they say until its classed as severe osteoarthritis they wont refer her to any clinics etc (X-ray done in October 2020 showed it as moderate) 

poppy123456

Hi,

PIP and ESA are both totally different benefits with totally different criteria. Although being awarded either of them is not based on any diagnosis, rather how your disability affects you daily against the descriptors.

Most medical evidence will not state exactly how your conditions affect you and will only state the basics like diagnogis, medication etc etc.

Sending pictures of aids that's used isn't helpful in my opinion because those aids could belong to anyone, the same for a video of her walking, it could be anyone.

Letters from people that know her well maybe helpful but only if they state exactly how her conditions affect her.

The best evidence that anyone can send for both PIP and ESA is your mums anecdotal evidence, a couple of real world examples of what happened the last time she attempted that activity for each descriptor that applies. Adding information such as where it happened, did anyone see it, what exactly happened and what the consquences were.

hope this helps.

Edit to add being placed into the Support Group for ESA is not about scoring points. You need to satisfy at least one of the descriptors here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors

If the mobility one applies to her then you should be aware that they do take into consideration your ability to use a self propel wheelchair.

cd73

When i applied for pip it states to not send photos or links of anything,not sure if that includes things she may use ie:walking stick etc. I just sent medical letters, just hoping thats enough.

kirstie2207

Hi Poppy, 
Thank you for your response. 
I'm just at a total loss of what to do, this is becoming so stressful. Its causing so much emotional stress and anxiety to my mum. Which in turn is causing me so much stress, trying to deal with it all. 
Do you have any advice on how we can get the assessors to recognize her mental health and anxiety. As when i stated in my appeal about her mental health and anxiety they just said there is no medical evidence to back this up. The GP just told my mum to self refer herself to talking therapies which is what she has done. 

poppy123456

If you're at Tribunal stage then it has nothing at all to do with the assessors now. You need to forget about the assessment report because that isn't going to get your mum any award for either of these. Concentrating on the report can damage a case.

The real world examples is what's needed, as advised above.

You can also look at getting some expert advice and if you can get representation then even better. Start here. Drop the box down to welfare benefits and it will tell you what's local to your mum. https://advicelocal.uk/