Employment Support Allowance (replacing IB from Oct 2008)

[mazza111]

It does happen occasionally shen. I'm actually hoping my daughter will be put in support group after the 2nd medical for the new claim She's not in receipt of DLA though, still waiting to hear from them.

[curlysue]

"If you are 20 years old or over and you get DLA, you automatically count as having limited capability for work. If you are in advanced education, whether under or over 19, you will also automatically count as having limited capability for work if you get DLA. You will still be assessed under the limited capability for work-related activity test, which decides whether you are in the support group or the work-related activity group."

Hey Shen, this is interesting, have you got the direct link to this? I can't find it on the direct.gov website.

CSx

[Rosie]

Hi all

Shen's quote appears in a Disability Rights UK factsheet here, and is talking about students only.

Rosie

[shen]

HI CS

Rosie is right, sorry i wasn't very clear. It does mean only students and is on the link the Rosie provided. I've edited my quote to make it clearer.

[curlysue]

Ah I see, thanks for clarifying. It seemed a little bit too good to be true!!

CSx

[star gazer]

I am wondering if that means that as my son is restarting college in September (stopped this term too far behind due to ill health) will be able to claim ESA, he is on lrc and lrm DLA at the moment and will be 18 in November.
Anyone been in this situation?.
sg x

[suew]

I was called for medical for ESA and am now in reciept of highest rate , this was before my operation in March to my ankle, before the medical the reply to me was that I hadnt paid enough NI to qualify for employment support let alone ESA! that was rubbish and I could prove it and challenged it .I think they were also after not paying me at all , although they stated I wasnt fit for work which meant I couldnt get employment benefit I wasnt considered bad enough to get ESA ! Which would have meant no income at all for me in my own right.I fought the decision. so then was sent for medical
I had the ESA medical and they had to admit I was incapacitated and in too much pain to even walk ,I was awarded ESA and they back paid me .They also agreed that working from the age of 16 meant I had paid enough NI to qualify for benefit !! luckily I had years of P60'S etc !!
The rate went up twice in march 2012 in two seperate letters,at this time I had no formal diagnosis of EDS from rheumatologist.So if I get called back for review I have more towards my case. I am now waiting for another tribunal for DLA , first one was adjourned.

[shen]

Just got my confirmation letter, and after being told i was limited capability for work, im now in the work-related activity group and must go for work-focused interviews about what my employment aims are... hmm.. me thinks i'll have to remind them about the whole education+dla thing = limited capability for work...

Should I phone them up and tell them or maybe write to them since im not good with phones? Or would it be better jsut to go along to one of these interview thingies and give them all the details then? Anyone been to a work-focused interview, whats it like?

I was sure it was too good to be true to go so smoothly

[zornna]

hi guys and big
just a quick catch up after sending my form back late in jan becasue i couldn't manage to fill it in alone and had to have help getting it done, i have now had another wonderful medical which has demed me fit for work. my legs are all better and i can walk for miles and miles and miles ( i realise its hard to tell just by reading something someone has written but trust me i'm using my best sarcastic voice grrrrr).
i haven't recieved anything in writing yet but did receive a phone call asking if i had anything to add to my claim at which point i was told that i was now fit for work as the problems with my hands were not enought to class me as fit for work, when i asked about the problems with my legs i was ask why whats wrong with them the medical only mentions your hands can you prove you have a problem so not only have an ongoing dla appeal because my first medical failied to mention the problems with my hands i will soon have a esa appeal in progress due to the fact the second medical suggests my legs are all better OMG I SO WISH IT WAS TRUE ARRRRGGGGHHHHHHH

[mazza111]

Shocking Zornna. Sending you lots of positive vibes in the hope you get it sorted. Did you ask to see the medical report? We got it through with the appeal papers, some of the stuff in it was laughable. Have included a letter with the appeal papers picking holes in the report.

Thought we were getting somewhere with daughter's new claim while waiting for the appeal, but they still haven't sent out the forms Will call them again in the morning....

[RiffRaff]

Hello there,

I've just received the ESA form, so have four weeks to fill it in. I'm being transferred from IB. I have to admit that I'm feeling pretty anxious about the whole thing. I know that the system is geared up to find ill people well, and I'm dreading this. Like so many people here, I have to be so careful not to overdo things and I don't know how I'm going to manage this claim on top of my usual symptoms and the physio that I'm struggling to manage to do anyway. My partner is also being transferred from IB at the moment. He's several months ahead from me and the whole thing has had a pretty bad effect on him. He's normally a fantastic support for me, but I don't want to start venting to him now about a situation that he's already suffering from being stuck in the midst of.

Anyway, I'm yet to read all of this thread. I've a couple of questions, and I'm sorry if they repeat what's earlier in this thread. I'm planning to see if I can get supporting letters from my GP, my doctor at Prof. Mathias' autonomic clinic and Prof. Grahame, so I can enclose these with my form and then take them to a medical if I get one. I wondered if anyone has any experience with getting these letters from Prof. G. or Prof. M's clinics? I have heard that there's a chance that good supporting evidence at this time might mean I could avoid a medical, though I think this is very unlikely. Also, I remember reading something here about the HMSA providing supporting evidence in benefit claims. I'm a member of the HMSA but couldn't see anything about this in the members area. I wondered if anyone knows anything about this?

Thanks very much, bye for now

[curlysue]

Hi Riff Raff,

As far as supporting evidence goes, do you have copies of the letters that your consultants (Profs M & G etc) have sent to your GP following an appointment? (Every time you see a consultant they ought to write to your GP, and you can be CC'd on it too.) These were what I photocopied and sent along with my ESA50 form. They contained all the relevant info like diagnosis, symptoms, suggestions for management etc.

If you haven't had copies sent to you, you could request them from your GP. I say this because this may be easier and quicker than requesting supporting letters from the specialist clinics themselves, as you say you only have four weeks. Afaik the DWP/Atos write to your GP as a matter of course so he/she will be needing to write their own letter of support in any case.

I ended up including about six different letters spanning 3-4 years, no idea if they will read them thoroughly but at least they can't accuse me of not having the conditions I claim to have!!

CSx

[BendyClaire]

Hi all, posted my ESA50 form back on Tuesday and it was there by Thursday as I phoned up to check, I requested a home visit as there is no way I can sit for a good 40 mins in a car/bus/taxi without ending up a crumpled mess in the footwell! I also would not be able to sit for an hour like many others have said in the waiting room waiting for the appointment so hopefully they agree to a home visit, when I applied for IB they requested a ATOS medical at the Luton branch I requested a home visit and they sent me a letter saying I'd been given IB long term sick ( EDS hyper mobile type, raynauds, POTS, TMJ, ADHD, asthma, panic attacks, chronic depression, CFS) all this and I'm 23!!, well now I've had to fill in another form, took me 27 days to fill it in got it back 1 day before deadline *phew* I am in so much pain in my hands from writing, my wrists, fingers, elbows, shoulder and even my neck hurts, why do they do it to us? I have no idea what the groups are for ESA so could someone kindly explain? I also get LRC and HRM, thanks for reading and TIA xx

[mazza111]

There are 2 groups.

WRAG (work related activity group) means that you would only get Contributions Based ESA for a year. It's a group basically trying to get you into work. I'm in this group. So far I've had 2 meetings. The first one the adviser told me what help would be available for me if/when I got back to work. If I was fit enough. There was no pressure whatsoever. Also told me that as I have an underlying entitlement to Income related ESA, then I would go onto that should nothing change at the end of the year. At my 2nd meeting with her, she arranged for me to have some Bowen Therapy. Which, I must admit, I feel has helped slightly, but I've had lower back pain since starting it that I didn't have before, so don't know if it's things moving back to where they should be. But anyhoo off topic, that was arranged by the WRAG adviser.

Support Group. Is what it says on the tin really. No time limit on it I believe, but may need to fill out the ESA50 every year or so, just confirming that nothing's changed. I believe you don't need to visit the job centre when in this group. And think it pays slightly more each week.

[RiffRaff]

Curlysue, thanks for the suggestion of sending in some letters I already have. That's a good idea, perhaps particularly the ones where they details how I was diagnosed and what the symptoms are, so the decision makers don't think I'm making it all up. I might still try to get supporting letters especially for this claim, but like you say, it's a lot of trouble when you're feeling rough anyway and there's not much time to do it before the four-week deadline. I'm still not sure if the HMSA provide evidence to support claims and their office is closed till the 11th. Best of luck with your claim, hope they treat you fairly x