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ESA nightmare my appeal never ends
10 years 9 months ago #123571 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA nightmare my appeal never ends
JG
There seem to be several separate issues I'll try to deal with each one
Tribunals re-make the Decision that was appealed and their Decision applies from the from the original date.
According to your posts the Decision that you appealed was made on 27 March 2013 and the Tribunal Decision of 6 April 2014 replaced the original Decision, which I think placed you in the WRAG, with one that placed you in the Support Group.
In December 2013 you received, completed and returned a new ESA50. I think that a new Decision on your claim has been made following the re-assessment and you have been placed in the WRAG again.
If a new Decision has been made, then it replaces any previous Decision, including the one made by the Tribunal.
You need to contact the DWP to see whether a new Decision has been made and when, if one has been made then I am afraid that you will need to make a new appeal to be placed in the Support Group. The first stage to this is to request a Mandatory Reconsideration.
On the assumption that your are in fact in the WRAG, then any failure to attend meetings request by the JC+ or to participate in Work Related Activity can and probably will result in your ESA being sanctioned.
Your advisor is required to take into account any limitations that result from your conditions, they are unlikely to be aware of these if you have never previously attended a Work Focussed Interview (WFI), so I would start by phoning them and explaining that your condition prevent you from attending, that you were previously moved to the Support Group because of these conditions and that you will be appealing the Decision to place you back in the WRAG.
As you cannot attend offer to hold the WFI over the phone, hopefully they will see reason and agree to do this, however this is entirely at their discretion. If they insist on you attending your only option is to escalate the issue to their supervisor.
Whilst claimants are not required to remain at home 24x7 if they are going to be away from their normal place of residence for any period of time then they are required to notify the DWP of this.
If you have not already done so, you must tell the DWP of your current address, you are only making things more difficult for yourself by not doing so as you are making it impossible for you to respond to DWP requests within a reasonable period of time.
If you are receiving Income Related ESA, then being in the Support Group does not protect you from the associated means test, so if your savings and assets have exceeded the £6000 limit you are required to notify the DWP of this so that they can make adjustments to your payments.
As you have been invited to attend a Compliance interview, you must attend, they will expect you to bring bank statements etc. to show your current savings. You can have someone with you at the interview and I strongly recommend that you do, they can take notes of what is said and provide moral support.
You have not mentioned it, so I assume this is not the case, but if this is an Interview Under Caution then you need to get legal advice and should not attend without having a solicitor present, if at all possible.
Given the number of issues with your current claim, I think it well worth you getting face to face advice, however, you cannot defer any of the DWP's requirements while you seek this advice unless they give you permission to do so, preferably in writing.
I would certainly try and get advice before making an appeal in regard to your current WRAG placement
As to your back payments, there are two possibilities.
The payments have been split into two, benefits are uprated at the beginning of April, so the payment up to March could be at the old rate and you should receive a payment from April onwards at the current rate.
The other alternative is that the Decision to place you back in the WRAG was made at the end of March and therefore limited the SG back payments.
I hope I have covered everything, but if not or you have any questions then reply to this post.
Gordon
There seem to be several separate issues I'll try to deal with each one
Tribunals re-make the Decision that was appealed and their Decision applies from the from the original date.
According to your posts the Decision that you appealed was made on 27 March 2013 and the Tribunal Decision of 6 April 2014 replaced the original Decision, which I think placed you in the WRAG, with one that placed you in the Support Group.
In December 2013 you received, completed and returned a new ESA50. I think that a new Decision on your claim has been made following the re-assessment and you have been placed in the WRAG again.
If a new Decision has been made, then it replaces any previous Decision, including the one made by the Tribunal.
You need to contact the DWP to see whether a new Decision has been made and when, if one has been made then I am afraid that you will need to make a new appeal to be placed in the Support Group. The first stage to this is to request a Mandatory Reconsideration.
On the assumption that your are in fact in the WRAG, then any failure to attend meetings request by the JC+ or to participate in Work Related Activity can and probably will result in your ESA being sanctioned.
Your advisor is required to take into account any limitations that result from your conditions, they are unlikely to be aware of these if you have never previously attended a Work Focussed Interview (WFI), so I would start by phoning them and explaining that your condition prevent you from attending, that you were previously moved to the Support Group because of these conditions and that you will be appealing the Decision to place you back in the WRAG.
As you cannot attend offer to hold the WFI over the phone, hopefully they will see reason and agree to do this, however this is entirely at their discretion. If they insist on you attending your only option is to escalate the issue to their supervisor.
Whilst claimants are not required to remain at home 24x7 if they are going to be away from their normal place of residence for any period of time then they are required to notify the DWP of this.
If you have not already done so, you must tell the DWP of your current address, you are only making things more difficult for yourself by not doing so as you are making it impossible for you to respond to DWP requests within a reasonable period of time.
If you are receiving Income Related ESA, then being in the Support Group does not protect you from the associated means test, so if your savings and assets have exceeded the £6000 limit you are required to notify the DWP of this so that they can make adjustments to your payments.
As you have been invited to attend a Compliance interview, you must attend, they will expect you to bring bank statements etc. to show your current savings. You can have someone with you at the interview and I strongly recommend that you do, they can take notes of what is said and provide moral support.
You have not mentioned it, so I assume this is not the case, but if this is an Interview Under Caution then you need to get legal advice and should not attend without having a solicitor present, if at all possible.
Given the number of issues with your current claim, I think it well worth you getting face to face advice, however, you cannot defer any of the DWP's requirements while you seek this advice unless they give you permission to do so, preferably in writing.
I would certainly try and get advice before making an appeal in regard to your current WRAG placement
As to your back payments, there are two possibilities.
The payments have been split into two, benefits are uprated at the beginning of April, so the payment up to March could be at the old rate and you should receive a payment from April onwards at the current rate.
The other alternative is that the Decision to place you back in the WRAG was made at the end of March and therefore limited the SG back payments.
I hope I have covered everything, but if not or you have any questions then reply to this post.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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