Too unwell to attend ESA assessment

[Charming]

I recently had the bad luck to bee too unwell to attend my esa assessment. My ESA has been stopped and I have to appeal. I have been told that I will not be paid ESA while waiting for appeal. Is this right?

[Hidden]

Hi hun, were you already on ESA and being re assessed? I had the help of my local politician and especially now as the elections are on; find your local health minister he/she wont want bad publicity at the moment.

[Dizzytwo Moderator]

Hi Charming sorry you was too sick to attend your meeting. Did you ring to let them know you were sick or write to tell them you were too ill to be able to attend either before or after you could not make it to your assessment ?

I think if you had not given any explanation for your non attendance yes they can stop it so I am told. If you win your Tribunal I believe you will be given your ESA payment back dated to when it was stopped.

Maybe you can call them and ask how things progress from here. I wish you luck with your tribunal.

Mo

[Charming in reply to Dizzytwo]

Hi Mo.

Thanks for reply.

I seem to be living in a nightmare. Original appointment was for 19/12/2016 and I then asked for a home visit so that appointment cancelled. There were a couple of other appointments that were also cancelled as awaiting decision about a home visit. Told on 8th March 2017 that not allowed home visit and date set of 24/3/2016 for appointment.

On morning of appointment did not feel well enough so my daughter phoned a local number where assessment was to be carried out. This message did not reach DWP who just assumed I did not let anyone know. Local assessment office emailed DWP to let them know but told I needed a Doctor's note to say I was ill. As I did not see a doctor that day they could not categorically say that I was unwell but sent a letter (at a cost of £25) to say I said I was unwell on that day. I did this as well as ask the local office to email DWP to say that my daughter did call.

DWP did not change their mind and still claim I did not have good cause so now appealing but am getting conflicting advice as to whether ESA will be paid during claims process or as some other advice given is to start a new claim.

Very confused.

[tulips123 in reply to Charming]

I have heard, since Government stated they would be 'simplifying' the Welfare System, guidelines allow them to stop payments if people are a little late or miss any appointments. No allowance made for people who are too unwell to attend either! I wish you a fair assessment. xx

[FoggyMoggy in reply to Charming]

You can certainly appeal and also they are completely wrong to say you're not allowed a home visit so I would throw the book at them. You do need GP support for a home visit but it is your right under the Equality Act (reasonable adjustments). It makes me very angry with the way people are being treated - which is why I've been a campaigner for years

Also, you should be entitled to hardship payments while waiting, if nothing else

[Janet28]

Hi Charming welcome to our wonderful forum ☺ I'm sure you will come to find the forum invaluable in chatting to others who are going through the same experience as you, talking to others at different stages of their lives with Fibro and learning from their experiences.

It does help with the whole process and I wish I had found the site years ago. I have had Fibro for nearly 30 yrs and I'm still learning about it, like we all are.

I'm afraid as our Dizzytwo says, the best thing to do is give them a call as they can and do stop benefits if you do not give prior notice of you not attending appointments. If you give them notice they can visit you at home my friend, if your still not well maybe you could do this.

Please do go look at the mother site where you will find all the information you need and lots of useful links on Fibro and I look forward to chatting to you on the forum.

fmauk.org

Peace, luv n light

Jan xx

[suzey26j in reply to Janet28]

Please tell me I've got it rong 30yrs !!! Omg ,can you tell me dose it get worse over time, do you get lots of different pains that may be you didn't have at the beginning silly question what's the best advise you have been given in all them years , did they know what it was 30yrs ago and are you on the same meds since the beginning of all this Suzey X

[BlueMermaid3 in reply to suzey26j]

Hi Suzey

I am sad to say that I can beat our Jan. I was diagnosed in 1980 with Fibro & ME and have lived with it for 36 years.

My Fibro was manageable for 34 years and I was able to work for all that time.

It's only since I suffered several severe traumas in a row that I have now had to give up my beloved job.

Lu xx

[Janet28 in reply to suzey26j]

Yes Suzy, that's right. I didn't know I had Fibro until about 6 or 7 yrs ago though, I was first diagnosed with Polymyagia but knew there was something else going on when I was about 30 I had a lot of gyne problems which resulted in me having a full hysterectomy & that when it started around this time & i was shoved from pillar to post for the next 20 yrs. Doctors told me I was depressed & Rhuematologists told me there was nothing else wrong & it was the arthritis & nothing more they could do. For yrs I had all sorts of problems which would completely disable me. Golfers & tennis elbow at same time & had to have intensive hospital treatment for 2 mths & could not move my right arm at all.

Frozen shoulder & unable to lift my arm up for nearly a yr. Bursitis on hip which made it virtually impossible for me to lift my foot off the ground for weeks & had to have injections in thigh to relieve the pain & the list goes on lol. But saying all that, like our lovely BlueMermaid3 I brought up my kids & worked up until 6 yrs ago. Although I was really struggling the last couple of yrs.& don't know how I did it. Then I sent for my hospital records & it clearly said in 1987 This lady is showing all the symptoms of Fibromyalgia alongside of inflammation from PR.

You could have knocked me down with a feather when I read this. So I have always been treated with medication but this has varied a lot over the yrs & takes a long time to get right & is normally a concoction of meds that relieve symptoms. Amitriptyline is one I've always had, I was treated for 12 mths with RA drugs cos they thought I had RA.

Luv Jan xx

[suzey26j in reply to suzey26j]

Thank you for that info Janet , it's madness that most people including myself had never here'd of it until we got it , when you said 30yrs I thought you must have really suffered all them yrs ago ,,I'm so proud of my friends for what they went through all them years ago love Suzey X ps sorry about spelling ,,I just can't spell lol

[Dizzytwo Moderator]

Sorry suzey26j you read it right I too am in the 30+ years with fibro !!

Back then it was called the yuppy flu it as had few changes of name too we seem to have finally ended up with Fibromyalgia. Mind you I had heard they were trying to change it yet again as they who ever they are lol does not feel fibro represents the true meaning of the illness. But not heard anything for years so that may be on a back burner.

One of my old doctors thought it was some kind of autoimmune illness and just said is all he can do is treat the symptoms as they show up.

There was no info back then no medications to try no on line groups in fact very few people had heard or seen a PC me included. I would live in the medical section of the library lol

I just wonder if we who have had fibro for so long would have done better if we had the information and help there is now.

I know many think things are bad treatment wise but it is so much better than it was back in the day that's for sure. xx

Mo

[suzey26j in reply to Dizzytwo]

Thanks for that dizzy I'm proud of people like you it must have been hell Suzey X

[bluebell99]

Hi

It does seem very unfair that they refuse to believe you were off sick on the day. However, looking at it from the outside, it looks like there were a lot of cancelled appointments, (not all of your own doing) so it seems you are trying to avoid the assessment.

It is a shame you were not able to get a doctor's letter, but I can understand the reasoning.

If your benefit money is all you have as income, I think there is a minimum allowed to see you through, pay Housing Benefit etc.

I am sorry not to be of any help, perhaps Citizens Advice could help you further.

X

[Rose54]

Hi

Be careful as you may be informed to apply for JSA however if they then ask what you where on before hand could say that if you where on ESA you are not fit to work so will be refused JSA.

It is true that ESA will be stopped while appeal is going through .

I would seek advice as you did inform them so it was not a case of just not turning up .

Good Luck

Rose

[rosewine]

Ive copied this from the Citizens Advice website for you:-

"You won't get any ESA payments while you're asking for a mandatory reconsideration if:

you’ve been told you won’t get ESA at all because you’re not eligible (eg you scored 0 points at your medical)

you didn’t go to your medical, or you didn’t return the ESA50 form and you’ve been turned down for ESA because of that

You can claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) instead of ESA. You’ll need to meet the usual rules for people who claim JSA, for example you’ll need to be actively looking for work. If your condition or a disability means you can only work or look for work a limited number of hours each week, you can try and agree this with the Jobcentre.

You should tell the Jobcentre that you’re able and willing to look for work, otherwise you won’t get any JSA.

Worth remembering

Claiming JSA during a mandatory reconsideration shouldn’t affect your ESA reconsideration request .

If the DWP changes its decision, you’ll automatically get ESA again and your JSA will stop.

If the DWP doesn’t change its decision, you can either:

carry on claiming JSA

appeal the decision to an independent tribunal. When you do this, your ESA payments will start again automatically, but only if it’s the first time the DWP has decided you’re fit to work. You won’t get any ESA if the reason the DWP decided you’re fit to work was because you didn’t return the ESA50 form or attend the medical assessment.

You can usually claim back the ESA that wasn't paid during a mandatory reconsideration, but only if you don’t claim another benefit during this period."

Hope this helps.x

[TheAuthor]

Hi Charming

I sincerely hope that you are feeling as well as you possibly can be today? Welcome to the forum and it is wonderful to make your acquaintance. As the others have said, sorry, but you will not be paid ESA whilst awaiting your appeal.

I want to sincerely wish you all the best of luck with your appeal, and please take care of yourself my friend.

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken

[ukgospeldiva in reply to TheAuthor]

Hi Ken.

Just wondering how you are keeping with your fibro fiend and what's your latest tome?

What lights your imagination during the long dark nights to create when all or most is sleeping?

Hx

[TheAuthor in reply to ukgospeldiva]

Hi ukgospeldiva

I am not too bad thank you my friend, and I truly hope that you are well today? Not really sure what lights my imagination, but it sure beats the boredom? lol! If I was not on here I would doing something with my plants or aquariums so I have plenty to keep me occupied really.

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken x

[ukgospeldiva in reply to TheAuthor]

This is what's called positive thinking ken. Your moving forward regardless of the health. God bless your imagination and all you turn your hands too.

Hx

[TheAuthor in reply to ukgospeldiva]

x

[CraftyTeacher]

Good morning

If you get really stuck for money, you can go to your local council and ask for a nil income form. If you fill this in you then can get your council tax paid, help with energy bills and rent, and access to the food bank.

No one will willingly tell you about this form, you have to ask for it specifically.

I really hope you don't need this information as your ESA will get sorted.

Good luck

Alison Jane

[ukgospeldiva]

Yes it is, as you have to submit evidence such as a GP report of when they either spoke to you on the phone in consultation or came and did a home visit, any letter from a partner to support what had happened ect but, when you have appealed you should have this back dated but if not, then its tribunal.