Afternoon
I recieved my Esa award letter and they have placed me in the work related activity group.
There is no way I could manage to work and spent all weekend going from being angry to upset about the whole thing,
So i have decided to appeal , I have rung dwp and have been told the first stage is for a dwper to ring you .
Any one had this and what do I expect
Thankyou in advance for your help
Hi, sorry to hear you have got this extra anxiety to deal with.
Cant offer any advice, as I havent been through this myself.
I will be interested to see what other replies you get.
Just wanted to send you a
(((((((((((((((((hug))))))))))))))
luv Polly x
Hi
I know how you feel after spending the last 18 months going through this.
When I phoned them they did call me back but all they do is send you the appeal form.
The first time I did this in june 2010 I did not send any evidence so it went to tribunal in june 2011 and was placed in the support group.
I thought great until I found that I had been reassesed in Feb 2011 from another ESA50 while waiting to go to tribunal so was back in the WRAG again.
I phoned them and I did get rather angry as what part of cannot walk more than 10 metres did they not understand?
I put in a late appeal this time sending in copies of MS nurse letter diagnosis from neuro and the tribunal outcome letter.
Two months later (last week) I was this time placed in the support group
Good luck
jax
Hi
Thank you for your kind replies.
I did think about leaving it as it is but who would employ me ,there would have to be so many things I needed ( like a bed , dim lighting , en suite loo . lol and thats just the start ) and that would be only if I actually got there in the first place .
But then I would have to attend esa interviews , which would be a nightmare in it self , so I have decided to appeal and open my self up to more stress .
Lets hope honesty prevails
x
I’m not sure about a phone call - I hate that you have someone else in the driving seat. The usual appeals procedure is to fill in a GL24. This form should have been sent to you with your decision letter. It’s an A5 sized leaflet explaining the appeals procedure and the form is a tear off back page. You have 28 days from the date on the decision letter to lodge an appeal which is why I don’t like that you are hanging around waiting for a phone call. If they didn’t send you an appeals leaflet you can download it from direct.gov.
Benefits and Work website (under £20.00 membership) have lots of advice about appeals which will be of help to you.
Good Luck
Jane
Hello
You must first complete the GL24 or send in a letter specificially saying you wish to appeal.
You will need to give extra evidence that you may have including doctors / neuros / nurses information to support the appeal. The DWP will not have consulted with any specialist before making the original decision. It is not part of the process. They would have used your comments on the application plus results of the ATOS medical.
Ask for a copy of the medical report. A decision Maker will then re-assess your claim and may call you to discuss the appeal.
If their decision remains the same then the case will go to tribunal.
I have not gone through this yet but to some extent can understand the difficulties the DWP have as many MSers are still able to work so the illness is not a one size fits all decision when looking at work capability.
Just because some msers can’t walk does not mean they can’t work. Everyone is different. I have worked from a wheelchair in the past.
Good luck with the appeal.
[quote=Secret4areason]
Hello
You must first complete the GL24 or send in a letter specificially saying you wish to appeal.
You will need to give extra evidence that you may have including doctors / neuros / nurses information to support the appeal. The DWP will not have consulted with any specialist before making the original decision. It is not part of the process. They would have used your comments on the application plus results of the ATOS medical.
Ask for a copy of the medical report. A decision Maker will then re-assess your claim and may call you to discuss the appeal.
If their decision remains the same then the case will go to tribunal.
I have not gone through this yet but to some extent can understand the difficulties the DWP have as many MSers are still able to work so the illness is not a one size fits all decision when looking at work capability.
Just because some msers can’t walk does not mean they can’t work. Everyone is different. I have worked from a wheelchair in the past.
Good luck with the appeal.
Maybe my post looied like I only had walking problems?
No I have others like cannot cook a meal cannot dress myself, cannot self propel a wheelchair.
I only mentioned the walking part because you only need the 15 points from that I believe to be placed in the support group?
As also mentioned one size does not fit all and it would be nice if these doctors who assess you had some idea about the condition and not put things on the report like “In six months should be able to return to work” when I am actually primary progressive
jax
It is well worth joining the benefitsandwork website.
One thing it says in there is do NOT talk to anyone on the phone. When someone calls you they will basically try and persuade you not to appeal (and tell you things like you could lose the current award if you appeal). When you answer, tell them that you are not able to talk about it on the phone - it is too complicated and that you want them to write to you instead. If they keep talking or asking you questions, just keep repeating yourself - please send this in writing; I cannot talk about it on the phone.
Don’t wait for an explanation for their decision - there never is one (all they do is repeat themselves) and all waiting does is eat into the time you have to appeal 
Fill in the GL24 form and attach as much supporting evidence as you can. I helped a friend with his application recently, and foolishly thought that the DWP would check with his doctors. As secret4areason says, they don’t do this! So you have to supply the medical support yourself - letters from your GP, neuro, MS nurse, physio, etc stating that you are not fit for work (and, ideally, why not).
Don’t give up!
Good luck!
Karen x
Hi
Again , Thankyou for your replies .
I will ask them to put their expalnation in writing rather than talk to them on the phone .
I do get easily confused so this is an excellent idea .
There was no appeal from in with my letter but I will either download one or get my other half to get from the job centre for me .
As for evidence my Neuro is notoriously hard to get hold of , but my Ms nurse is local and I know will happily support me .
Thanks again
hi im assuming this is decision from a medical assesment at center near you, they are also bound by contract that full assessment for ms can only be done with medical input (knowledge ms) not without. im not sure if that means input from nurse and neuro involved with you but it should be. Also if anyone is going for medical assessment during it you can stop for what you need pain killers etc as they are bound to do this. The thing i worry about is how long it takes my concentation goes ans pain fatigue kicks in, all the best.
Hi
Just an up date
Have just recieved my phone call , lady was polite but said the first thing to do was to put in writing my reasons why I disagree with
their decision . I do not as yet have to fill in appeal form ( which I have got ).
So that is what I shall do and we shall see what happens after that.
Take Care
Hey Smurf
Firstly it would probably be better for you to get a GL24 form, fill it in and send it off, doing it this only makes the process longer as they will automatically review before it goes to Tribunal.
Secondly what you need to do is call the DWP and ask them o send you out a copy of the ESA65or ESA65a or sumat like that I think. This form will tell you why you have been placed in the WRAG and will give you a clear indication of what “medical evidence” you need need to challenge.
It may also be wise once you have a copy of the ESA65 report that you speak to your MS nnurse and ask if she can write you a report based on the descriptors that apply to you and it may also be worth finding out which descriptors that apply to you so you can get into the Support group.
I am currently in the Support group but I have a review due imminently and have no idea whether I will be put in the Support, WRA groups or if I will be found fit for work and my DLA is being reviewed right now. BEST of luck for the review or it goes that far, the tribunal. It ain’t easy as I have had to go to tribunal too!
Andy
Andy
When I first appealed 18 months ago I asked for a copy of the report but never recieved it until they decided to put me through to tribunal. Which was then a bit late to argue about the rubbish that was on this report
jax