Totally Devasting News!!!!!

Hi Gary.

What a terrible thing to happen

I used the benefitsandwork information earlier this year to help a friend complete the ESA forms and was absolutely horrified when I read about the hidden assessment points that ATOS use. Deciding that an applicant can self propel themselves 50m on flat ground in a manual chair so they can give 0 points for mobility when they have no information about it at all and the applicant may not even have access to a wheelchair is just one of the underhand tactics that ATOS use. The questions about sitting and standing for an hour? They give you 0 points if you can sit and stand in combination for an hour (e.g. sit for 20 minutes, then stand for 20 minutes, then sit again for 20 minutes)! Every question on that form has hidden assessments that they use.

I hope CAB can help you get this sorted out - it’s absolutely disgusting that you have been left in this position. One thing: when I did the form for my friend, I made sure that the answers would mean that he would be put straight into the support group. He wasn’t. He was put into the work group. The reason was that we didn’t include supporting letters from medical professionals. We attached them with the appeal form and he was moved into the support group without having to go to tribunal etc. So, please make sure and get letters from your GP and/or neuro (and anyone else you can think of!) that support what you say in the form.

Good luck.

Karen x

Hi Everybody,

I 'm sending this message to everybody who has replyed and helped, where one of the replies has said that their is a new points system in place and on the old points system i would of qualified for 15 points for the distance of walking but not on the new system it has made me understand how they have come up with what they have, and their is a possibilty that the same system is going to be used to access the higher mobility if that goes on top of everything else i will lose my home.

I’ve always been in work for most of my life the two occasions i haven’t was because i was made redundant even with the M.S i kept going to the end it was embarassing falling over in front of customers but it got to much in the end, i’ve never been in debt in my life the only loan i’ve ever had has been a Mortgage never been in trouble with the police and this is what i get in exchange maybe if i had *issed my money up against the wall i would be in a far far better position now my only crime has been that i have been unfortunate to of got the illness called M.S.

I’m going to C.A.B after the break but really don’t hold out hope in getting any where, i was going to go down to some friends where i use to live but have cancelled it because how i am at the moment would only drag down the people i would be stopping with being on my own i don’t have to put on a show that i’m ok , i’m normally quite an up person but this has left me numbed. Gary.

Hi Gary,

I know that you are feeling demoralised at the moment but your situation is not hopeless.

Many people win appeals and there is every chance that you will be one of them.

The wheelchair issue can be dealt with. It’s just a matter of knowing what to put.
Karen is absolutely right in that every question has a hidden agenda. It’s not a case of filling in the form with falsehoods but making sure that you address all the issues. For example I can’t self propel a wheelchair safely or repeatedly because of fatigue and the fact that I have little or no reliable use of my left arm (lesions!) I know that I need to put that on the form even though the question does not ask it.

Spend some time reading the really helpful guides at Benefits and Work and I am sure that you will feel more positive about your appeal. You need to see a copy of your medical from ATOS. You can request this from DWP on the GL24 I think. Once you have it you can start looking at their determinations and arguing it point for point. Answering their conclusions with counter info. Supporting evidence is very helpful – MS Nurse, GP etc.

I know it’s easy for me to say but all is not lost or hopeless.

Jane

I am in the support group and recently got forms to reapply (like a review). I immediately joined the Benefits and Work website as has been mentioned here and used their guides to fill out the 21 page document. It can also be done via the computer now so no scribbling down answers etc! I must admit i was overwhelmed with the paperwork but filled in a couple of pages a day so as not to be too fatigued.

I am a permanent electric wheelchair user so worried about the question ‘can you walk 50 mtrs?’ - i couldn’t push myself in a manual wheelchair that distance.

Anyway, got the dreaded brown envelope on Christmas Eve, and am still in the support group thankfully.

Hope you can get this sorted out.

Gill