claiming jobseekers during esa reassessment appeal — Scope | Disability forum
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claiming jobseekers during esa reassessment appeal

lauramcc
lauramcc Community member Posts: 1 Listener
edited November 2017 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
I have been advised by DWP to claim jsa while I appeal esa decision is this the right thing to do?


I first claimed esa when I was diagnosed with meneries disease 2015. Attended an assessment 2016 got zero points as assessor lied and clearly had no idea regarding my condition, appealed this decision while receiving appeal rate esa ,went to tribunal and won got put in support group.

called for reassessment sept 2017 exactly same scenario, assessor lied and said I attended appointment alone amongst other things. got zero points again, money stopped, appealing again but have been advised they will only pay appeal rate esa once so I have to claim jsa.

at the end of my tether with all this nearly got evicted from my house due to rent arrears during 2016 due to this and now it is happening all over again.

Is this what I need to do every year as I was on the brink of a breakdown last year due to the pressure and stress this causes.

I just feel because my illness is not well known and it doesn't tick the little boxes the dwp need to pigeon hole me.

any advice would be appreciated.
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Comments

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

    Good mourning & welcome to our online community.

    I'm very very sorry to see that you are having these problems again ????

    We have got "Benefit Advisors & many many members in the same boat (SHIP) as you !!!!!!!!

    I have postedsome info for you below !!!

    https://www.gov.uk/pip/how-to-claim

    https://community.scope.org.uk/categories/benefits-and-finances?_ga=2.194219437.106763473.1509439736-329981180.1498300069

    Please please let me know if I can help you further ??
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  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,793 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @lauramcc, sorry to hear that you're having to go through such ordeals again: it's completely understandable that you're feeling stressed/worried about your situation.

    Hopefully a benefits advisor will be able to advise further on this. In the meantime, you might like to connect with others in our rare and undiagnosed conditions category, who may be able to offer support with having a relatively unknown condition. Keep us updated!
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  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
    Hello lauramcc. I'm sorry you're going through a repeat of your previous experience. Things are a bit more complicated now because of the rollout of Universal Credit across the country.The best way to check the status of Universal Credit in your postcode is to run it through this website: www.universalcreditinfo.net. This website will tell you if you are in the 'live' service for UC, or the 'full service'. Basically, if you are now in an area which has the 'full service' version of Universal Credit, then it is likely that income based JSA will not be an option for you, and you may be directed onto Universal Credit instead. This means that even if you successfully challenge your ESA refusal, there would be no way back onto income-related ESA, and you would have to stay on Universal Credit. This is by no means the end of the world, but it's possible that your overall entitlement would be lower. 
    If you are in a 'live service' area, then you should be able to claim JSA while you are challenging your ESA decision. The process you have to go through is to ask for a Mandatory Reconsideration first. If the DWP turn you down again, then you are told that you now have the right of appeal, and you should be able to go back onto 'assessment phase' ESA (this is what it's called, not appeal rate ESA). The Benefits and Work website has a lot of excellent information about all of this: www.benefitsandwork.co.uk. I would also suggest that you try and contact a local advice agency who may be able to help you sort this out, especially if Universal Credit may also be a factor. This Scope helpline (0808 800 3333) will have details of local advice agencies, and so does the universalcreditinfo.net site that I mentioned above. There is also a benefit calculator on this site: https://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/benefits/check which will also give you very useful information. 
    As you know, having been down this path before, the success rate when you get to a tribunal is high, so please don't give up, and post again if you need further steerage from us, and the best of luck.

    Jayne
    The Benefits Training Co:

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