Am i entitled

[jordigirl]

Got my letter from the dreaded atos assessment today. Do not qualify as I only scored 12 points seemingly

 

I rang them up, to put in, what is now a mandatory reconsideration, which can take upto 2 weeks, but i will receive no money in the meantime.

 

Is there anything else I can claim to put me over this time,

 

This whole process has got me seriously stressed out

 

Thanks for any advice

[reallymadwoman]

During mandatory consideration you can claim jobseeker's allowance. Usually jobcentre advisors seem to just 'park' claimants they know are waiting for mandatory reconsideration so you shouldn't have to do much, and having scored 12 points, you must have some fairly severe restrictions on what you can do anyway which they do have to take into account.

 

Signing for jobseekers will not adversely affect mandatory reconsideration or any subsequent appeal. If the decision is not over turned in your favour, you can be paid ESA again (at the assessment rate) whilst awaiting an appeal.

[jordigirl]

not sure I could actually go into the job centre as I suffer severe phobic anxiety

[rebel11]

Hi jordigirl

 

Has your doctor provided a report on your illnesses / conditions? If not you should inform the DWP that you wish to provide further information to support your claim and send the doctors report as part of your mandatory reconsideration.

[jordigirl]

They didn't ask for anything, I rang them to see what I was to do next and they said they would put the mandatory reconsideration in,

I didn't need to send anything in and that

I couldn't claim anything in the mean time

 

My dr. is really good and will provide any information I need

[Mr.P]

They didn't ask for anything, I rang them to see what I was to do next and they said they would put the mandatory reconsideration in

 

You need to submit a mandatory reconsideration in writing. It is important to have a paper trail in place as phone calls can be forgotten about or denied.

[rebel11]

Hi jordigirl

 

Ring them up again, tell them you want to submit a written mandatory reconsideration. When you've got all the letters together send them Recorded.

 

I've used this site purely because they have the correct templates. Delete and amend anything that doesn't apply.

 

Templates to send to your Doctor - http://www.rethink.org/living-with-mental-illness/money-issues-benefits-employment/benefits-mandatory-reconsideration-and-appeals/sample-letters

 

Send the letter below to your Benefits Delivery Centre. But ring them now, take the name and extension number of the person you speak to.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

ESA MANDATORY RECONSIDERATION

Appeals Officer Jobcentre Plus

XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

Dear Sir/Madam

 

RE: Medical Evidence for xxxxxxxxxx, NH Number

 

My name is XXXXXXX and I have recently submitted a request to be put in the ESA Support Group

 

Please find enclosed a medical questionnaire completed by professionals involved in my care. Please could you reconsider the decision as the medical evidence provided disputes the decision and supports my challenge to be placed in the support group.

 

I suffer from xxxxxxxx, it effects me on a day to day basis etc xxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

(Give examples how your illness / conditions effect you on a day to day basis, this information will be on the Doctors Report, it's brief summary.)

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Yours faithfully

 

XXXXXXXXX

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

They didn't ask for anything, I rang them to see what I was to do next and they said they would put the mandatory reconsideration in,

I didn't need to send anything in and that

I couldn't claim anything in the mean time

 

My dr. is really good and will provide any information I need

[jordigirl]

I rang them, they said not to send anything else in as they had sent the file over to the decision maker again, and would not need anything else unless it goes to appeal - feels like I am being fobbed off,

 

Have an appointment with dr. on wednesday, having spoke to her today, she says anything I need is no problem.

 

Thanks again for the advice

[rebel11]

Hi jordigirl

 

Send a Formal Letter of Complaint, mark it as such. Explain that you've asked to send in further information as part of your Mandatory Reconsideration in support of your ESA claim and to be placed into the Support Group. Explain exactly what was said to you and you find that totally unacceptable and unfair. Explain it's against the DWP's own regulations and the DWP Customer Charter.

 

Explain that you will be sending in information as part of your Mandatory Reconsideration.

 

Send it to, in the subject line write the name of the Benefit Delivery Centre, mark it 'Urgent':

 

contact-us@jobcentreplus.gsi.gov.uk

[jordigirl]

Will have the letter wrote tonight ready to send recorded in the morning

 

Thanks rebel

[rebel11]

Are you following the instructions in post 9? E-mailing it to them.

 

Will have the letter wrote tonight ready to send recorded in the morning

 

Thanks rebel

[**Margaret**]

:jordigirl:

 

Sorry to hear you've been found fit for work. Whether or not you tried a written request for the ESA85 report, Jobcentreplus have now lost their excuse for not sending it, so you may want to try another call to the number on your letter. Probably be something in the report that you want to refute as part of your request for mandatory reconsideration. Which definitely needs to be in writing cos Jobcentreplus have a unique talent for 'lost' phone calls.

 

The suggested letter above assumes you want to argue for employment n support with the support component, which you need if there's no way you can cope with the Jobcentre and work related activity. But as any award will be better than no award, the booklet below explains the structure of employment n support, and includes the criteria for both groups;

 

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/esa214-a-guide-to-employment-and-support-allowance-the-work-capability-assessment

 

Exceptional/special circumstances at pages 10 - 12.

 

Descriptors of activities that are relevant to the workplace at pages 18 - 28.

 

Unfortunately two weeks is the absolute minimum for mandatory reconsideration without additional evidence. More realistic, especially if you plan to ask your doctor for supportive evidence, is six to eight weeks. One result of very harsh benefit reforms is that unless you can beg, borrow, or live off family and friends for a few weeks, your only source of income is to claim jobseekers.

 

Best wishes, Margaret.

[jordigirl]

Just noticed it rebel, will email them asap.

 

@ Margaret, I got my esa85 report, through the post, which wasn't as bad I thought, not a lot mentioned about the problems in my previous post. but still enough to get the 15 points I needed to get my claim Or so I thought. But they only gave me a measley 12points and non for my personal problems (still tmi) - which I also thought unfair

[jordigirl]

hi all - just an update

 

finally got a phone call from DWP yesterday about my mandatory reconsideration, ( which they said would only take 2 weeks turned into 8), she was a rather nice sounding woman, who went through the form with me asking questions and stating why i was not entitled to certain points etc. after about 45 mins she said she would go back through it with the further information i had provided and let me know today the outcome of the reconsideration,

 

got a phone call this morning from same person, saying she had looked again at the evidence and so forth and has decided i am entitled to the 15 points or more to retain my e.s.a

 

finally i feel like i can move on and stop stressing over all this - for a while anyway

 

thanks for all the advice guys and gals

[SabreSheep]

Now a lot of these discriptors do not allow points ot be awarded apporpriatly due to the assessor not understanding the significance of "reliably, Safely and in reasonable time"

 

If you cannot do the discriptor in a manner consistent with the above you should be treated as not being able to do the activity.

 

In cases where a condition is intermittent then a % of times that you can not fullfill the activity should attract points.

 

Best evidence you can get to support yourself is a diary where you record things such as "X had to cook my meals as I was suffering Y"

 

The diary gives you an objective breakdown on how your condition impacts on your life and can also be used to support PIP as well