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jackherer
jackherer Community member Posts: 1 Listener
In July 2015 I had to leave work due to having serious anxiety and depression I was stated unfit for work by my GP and started therapy to help me deal with my problem. I was put on various medication while i received ESA round about November 2015 I had a medical assessment which I received 0 points and my payments stopped.I appealled against the decision and I got to go to court in the February 2016 with the help of my local CAB,welfare rights and supporting letters from my GP, I'm happy to say I won my case and was awarded WRAG and a 24 month to be reassessed so it gave a bit breathing space to help with my therapy and I was backdated the amount I was entitled to.
I carried on with the help from my GP and therapist until July 2016 and I did feel lot better in myself with my confidence etc and a local job came up in my town which I had to try and go for as I have a family to support with our own house, so I got the job and signed off ESA within 4 weeks of working I was back to square 1 even worse to be honest with terrible social anxiety and I had to make the decision and leave as I could not take the torment I was faced with so I had to reinstate my previous claim of ESA as it was within 12 week period, so I started to get the normal payments of ESA and WRAG I was getting before until December 20th 2016 and it was stopped yet again after another medical assessment I had to go for after been on ESA for X number of weeks,which I thought my 24 month awarded by the judge at court would just follow on for WRAG well this time I was awarded 6 points at my medical not enough eventhough I'm trying my upmost best to get back to work.and I had a lot of evidence from gp.
So I'm back where I started its like deja vous so I appealed against the decision again and they accepted and am getting temporary ESA without the WRAG payment eventhough I was awarded this for 24 month until I get my date for the actual hearing it is now October and still haven't received the brown letter.
Since July 2016 I have been working with talking changes with the different stages of therapy which was available to me and am now on the final stages of the more intensive sessions EMDR which has been very helpful to me eventhough I have all this nightmare to deal with ESA and am now working with a work coach to get back into work as I have learned a lot how to deal with my problems I've had in the past.
What I would like to know is if I did get offered employment before I get the date for my tribunal would I lose my backdated entitlement for the WRAG I was awarded if I sign off ESA and go back to work because all I have been is honest and this has been a journey what I have put in to get where I am now and don't want this to make me go back to where I was before, all I want is to get back to work to support my family.

              Yours faithfully


Comments

  • steve51
    steve51 Community member Posts: 7,153 Disability Gamechanger
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    Hi @jackherer

    Welcome to our website/online community.

    It's great to meet you this evening.

    I'm sorry to hear about your current problems.

    I will forward your post onto our benefit experts.

    Please please let me know if I can help you further.

    Hi @BenefitsTrainingCo

    Can you please offer me some help & advice with this one ????

    Many many thanks.



  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
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    Hi @jackherer
    Welcome to the community, I have moved your post to the ask a benefits advisor category so I hope you can get some help.
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
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    Hi @jackherer

    Short answer - no. The appeal will look at whether the decision taken by the decision maker on the day they made the decision was correct. Anything you do subsequent to that is effectively irrelevant.

    The Tribunal could however consider the fact that you have then returned to work within a relatively short period as evidence indicating how you were at the time. Although you also have the fact that the last job you took, also not very long ago, did seem to indicate that at that time you were not fit for work.

    The fact that you are pushing yourself to try and work (and it sounds like you really are pushing yourself) shouldn't count against you, provided that your actual CAPABILITY to do work was limited in accordance with the criteria at the relevant time.

    BTW, by 'in accordance with the criteria' I mean that not only may you have met the descriptors and scored sufficient points, but you may also have come under regulation 29 of the ESA regs 2008 in that from what you state, it could well have been the case that were you not to have been found to have Limited Capability for Work, it would have caused your condition to deteriorate.

    http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/794/regulation/29/made

    Hope this helps!

    Kind regards,

    Mary



    The Benefits Training Co:

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