Had my ESA stopped - please help — Scope | Disability forum
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Had my ESA stopped - please help

mary4ian
mary4ian Community member Posts: 5 Listener
i had my esa stopped last week ,as after a medical there doc said i can do some  sort of work ,i cant use my hands very good , and i am in pain all the timer i take 6 extreamly  pain killers a day , i had a sick note from my doctor but they gave it me back and said i had to register with JSA  and on doing this i am saying i am fit for work but if i dont do this my money stops till i have another mandatory thing and if i get no points again then i can appeal but dont get no money till appeal is heard , which means my rent dont get paid iether i am in private rented ,,so had to  sign on , i have osteo arthiritas  , diebetic ,carpol tunnle virtigo. ,does anyone know ny other way of getting round this ,

Comments

  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,671 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi @mary4ian welcome to the community and I am sorry you are having such a tough time! You aren't alone in this system and I can understand just how stressful it must be.

    Ive moved your post to the Ask a benefits advisor section so I hope you can get some support soon.  We also have a Scope Helpline where you can speak to someone, please be aware that they are very busy and it may take a little while to get through.  You can contact them on 0808 800 3333.

    There's some info here about Mandatory Reconsiderations and Appeals that might be helpful.
    Scope
    Senior online community officer
  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
    Hello. I agree with Sam that the link above to information about mandatory reconsiderations and appeals would be very useful to read, along with calling the Scope Helpline and getting some information about any local advice agencies that might be able to help you with this process. I gather from your post that you have signed on for JSA and that your housing benefit will carry on being paid. You should make sure that your mandatory reconsideration request goes in before the deadline, which is normally a month from the time you got your fit for work decision. If the mandatory reconsideration request is still 'no', then you are given the right of appeal. Once you have been given the right of appeal, then you are allowed to go back onto the basic rate of ESA until your appeal is heard. You need to be familiar with the scoring system for ESA, so that you can identify which areas of everyday activity are likely to score you points, and it is also helpful if you can organise some medical evidence to support your claim. The Scope Helpline can signpost you further. Whatever you do, don't give up! The success rate at the appeal stage is high, so keep going. There is another very informative website called Benefits and Work (www.benefitsandwork.co,uk) which also offers a lot of useful info on ESA.
    Hope this helps.

    Jayne
    The Benefits Training Co:

  • mary4ian
    mary4ian Community member Posts: 5 Listener
    Hi jayne , i have got the right to appeal and had to down load the forms , but theres been no mention of them letting me go back to esa till the appeal is heard ,they just said i am suitable for some sort of work . therefore i have to stay on JS till i find work . which i cannot do , ( my grandson does all my typing ) attending every day at job clubs is killing me as i darnt take my medication as it sends me high , so i wont be fully aware of whats going off , but if i dont go i get sanctioned , therefor no money ,  i cannot use puplic transport , so if i get taxi it is £11.00 each way , but they told me to use my mobility money for it , so that is 352.00 for the month . i cant go on like this very depressing , do you have any advice ? please 
  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
    Hello Jayne

    If this is the first time that you have been refused ESA, then you should be able to claim ESA pending the tribunal decision, IF you have appealed the decision.

    You mentioned downloading the appeal forms. Is this because your mandatory reconsideration has been refused? If you have sent  an appeal, once the Tribunal have acknowledged receipt via a letter you can contact ESA and ask them if they have the appeal request lodged on their systems.  If so, ask them to then pay ESA pending your appeal decision.  They may ask you to provide a sick note. If they refuse, find out why you cannot get ESA, and please post again.

    If your case is still at the Mandatory Reconsideration stage, you can claim JSA and be viewed as temporarily ill, thus you do have to be actively seeking and available for work.  This temporary illness period can last up to 13 weeks.  If this is the case please post again so that we can advise you further.

    Maria
    The Benefits Training Co:

  • mary4ian
    mary4ian Community member Posts: 5 Listener
    Thankyou .yes i can appeal . but cant find any where that tells me the points factors . i will carry on looking im not right good with computors but thankyou i will get back to you as soon as i learn any thing 
  • Chenobi1
    Chenobi1 Community member Posts: 1 Listener
    Hi up until March 2017 I was in the ESA support group, due to various symptoms from M.S & Lupus.  Its all a long tiring story, but the main part is to gather as much medical evidence that you can, if you've previously been in employment & had any absence/sickness meeting or fitness reports from attending Occupational Therapists.  Return to work meetings evidence, all of these keep, you will almost certainly have to use copies as proof of your circumstances.
    The mandatory reconsideration..if your fortunate to get an honest person.  If not they'll go around the universe confusing you with laws/ legislation's on why you've been deemed fit for work....If you know your condition, have medical staff-aware of your circumstances including your symptoms & how it impacts on your everyday, you can usually look beyond the DWP 'use of jargon', to justify their broken system-of finding vulnerable people 'fit for work', for the purpose of 'saving taxpayers money', whilst draining it away from using private contracts(who makes a lucrative profit)...think of boroughs higher usage of issuing parking fines(behind the scenes they have weekly/monthly 'targets' to hit.
    When attending a face to face medical assessment...they assessor may well be medically qualified, but if their area of expertise has nothing to do with YOUR reason for attending...then that makes them UNQUALIFIED!
    Also bear in mind that the the assessor may well be a G.P, but in developed countries G.P these days signpost their patients to qualified practitioners-put in place to assess the patients symptoms.
    Long story short-you have to be prepared with as much factual evidence that you can collect-make copies, even then a decision may rule against you, the last resort to send EVERYTHING in an official appeal. 
  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
    Hello mary4ian - you can call the Scope helpline on 0808 800 3333 and they can talk you through the points system. You can also go onto the benefits calculator page of this Scope website; this is run by Turn2us, and has loads of information about ESA too, as does the www.benefitsandwork.co.uk website I mentioned previously. All of these sites will explain the points system for ESA - once you know where you are likely to score points, you may feel more confident about it all. Maybe start by calling the helpline? 
    Good luck!
    Jayne
    The Benefits Training Co:

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