on income support for illness .failed esa and have a sick note

[frankieg]

my son needs some advice. he knows I'm on this site so asked me to see if anyone on the forum can help him!

he was on income support for illness - he went for his first ESA assessment just after he went on it and ' passed' . he went again some time back . Well time went by and he didn't hear anything but thought it was like last time when it took several months for a decision to be made.

12th December he received a letter from the council benefits department saying his IS had stopped and he hadn't informed them his income had changed.

So he called benefits and they said he should contact job center which he did. job center confirmed it stopped 7th December and there wouldn't be any more payments after the one he had back on the 6th . They said they tried phoning him to tell him but couldn't get through!

 

Well that sounds very wrong to me , don't they send letters to people informing them of the decision any more? They did when he passed his other ESA t! And shouldnt they tell people what to do next or how to appeal?

 

something like this happened before he went to this ESA. he got a letter from job center saying as he hadn't turned up for his assessment his IS was being stopped. When he contacted them they found out an appointment had been made but he wasn't informed about it!!

 

I thought if you 'failed this assessment you were automatically moved to the 'job group' , But he's been told he has to 'sign up for jobseakers allowance and it will take possibly a month to come through . He only has a few pounds left from his last payment and now it may be a month till he receives any more!. So how does he pay his gas and electric and buy food?

 

He would appeal but this decision was made in November . he has read online he only has a month to appeal so its probably to late . And he doesn't know how to appeal anyway!

 

Also ihe has a doctors note right through till 3rd march 2012 stating he is totally incapable of working! On the back it says if your working send it on place , if you get benefits send it another ! . he doesn't have either ! And from another posting i gather he cant apply for ESA for 6 months - I was going to say re-apply but hes' never had incapacity benefit so ESA before . So having failed his ESA this drs certificate isn't valid anymore is it? he called job center and told them he has this Dr's note they just repeated he needs to sign up for jobseakers

 

anyone have any advice?

[antone]

I'm a little confused - could you clarify? He's most recently been receiving ESA, correct? Not IS - you can't receive both at the same time. But you're saying the council sent him a letter saying his IS had stopped?

 

When was he transferred from IS to ESA? This has been an ongoing process.

 

Anyhow: assuming he's currently on ESA, and has failed a medical, he can appeal this decision. You are correct that letters should be sent informing him of both the decision and the right to appeal. He's also correct that he only has one month to appeal, except for that fact that late appeals can be accepted if good reason can be shown as to why the appeal is late. "Good reason" is a somewhat ill-defined idea, but if he wasn't informed in writing about the decision (and he's entitled to that) then I'd say there's a case to be made. If the decision was made in November but he only found out through a third party (the council) a week ago...yeah, that's a case.

 

So he should appeal the decision. First off, he needs to contact the DWP Benefit Delivery Centre that pays his claim - their number should be on any letter they've sent him about this - and ask when the decision was made - the precise date, and he's entitled to hear it from them, not the council. He can ask for a copy of leaflet GL24 "If you think our decision is wrong". This leaflet contains an appeal form. He can also pick one up from a local Jobcentre.

 

Or he could appeal by writing a letter. The letter must use the word "appeal", as in "I wish to appeal your decision dated XX/11/2011 to stop my ESA", and it must be signed. If the appeal has been sent outside the one month limit, it would also need to explain why it is late.

[frankieg]

No he was on IS for his illness which stoped on 6th December . this year people on IS started being merged onto the ESA benefit. Apparently people on IS or incapacity benefit ,or any of the other benefits that are now being stopped, are not transfered to ESA. They are just called to attend an ESA medical . If they pass it they get ESA 'sick' part . If they fail they don't get put on the works part , their benefit stops and they are told to sign on for jobseakers. He called job center as he has a sick note saying he to ill to work job center say he cant claim jobseakers

 

thanks for the advice-he is going to call the DWP today . A question. Is it one month to say you want to appeal or a month to turn in everything including the form and support for the appeal as well? .

[Nystagmite]

It's one month to say that you want to appeal. Appeals can take several months to come through. People use the several months to write more detailed letters and get evidence.

[frankieg]

thank you nystagmite thats the very information he wanted. the DWP is sending him a form for an appeal and are sticking to the month-6th january. So I was concerned he needed to supply paperwork to support an appeal and return it with the form. with Christmas and the new year he couldn't possible get it together by then. I'll tell him- he will be very relived