ESA TRIBUNAL

[chas2008]

my wife has applied for and been assessed for ESA twice, the 1st time she scored 9 points for serious hand/fingers/ wrist problems which is degenerative & incurable she also has mobility problems as well for which she scored zero.
She applied a second time. This time she scored 6 points for mobility but zero for her hands/fingers/wrists talk about Inconsistencies.
She appealed this decision which went to a tribunal they upheld the second 6 points but seem to have completely ignored the 1st 9 points. Where does she go from here ?

[tonywiltshire]

Did your wife attend the appeal?
Was the 6 points for manual dexterity (activity 6)?
Has she claimed DLA?

[chas2008]

unfortunately not, although her case was stated quite clearly in letter form which seemed a good idea at the time.
The first 9 points was for acitivity 6 the second assessment where she scored 6 was for activity 1 or 2 (dont have the info in front of me) it makes a complete mockery of the system when two so called health profesionals arrive at 2 totaly different conclusions.
Not looked at DLA yet.

[tonywiltshire]

Chas,
Always better to attend.
Activity 1 is walking with a stick. 2 is standing and sitting
if she can score 6points for activity 6 and 9 points for activity 1 or 2 she will have the magic 15 points.
Suggest you appeal again and your Wife should attend, look at DLA as well she can claim both.

[chas2008]

thats why we cant understand why the tribunal ruled against her, she has it in black & white 9+6 points all be it at two different assessments 6 months apart.

[tonywiltshire]

I think you will find one appeal wipes out the other, but if you think they have made a mistake in law make an appeal on that basis.
There are 11 physical descriptors which may apply to your Wife and 10 mental descriptors and you need to score 15 points in physical descriptors, ignoring the mental descriptors which may not apply.
If you have not got a list of these ask the DWP for a list
I have attended many appeals but my experience is that if the applicant does not attend your chance of success is very, very low.
Do not overlook the appeal time scale for appeal of one calender month.

[THECORBYLOON]

Tony you may have been to many appeals but you are not correct about the number of functions looked at for the WCA. There are only seventeen functions in total, ten physical and seven relating to mental health. The first function is about mobilising rather than just walking with or without a stick. A person may not be able to walk more than a few yards but if they can propel a manual wheelchair for at least 220 yds, they'll score no points

[THECORBYLOON]

By the way, the Health Care Professional (HCP) writes the assessment report and says which descriptor (this determines the points) they think applies but the decision is made by a DWP Decision Maker (DM). The DM looks at the evidence in the claimant's questionnaire AND the HCP's report before deciding the score for each function.

[tonywiltshire]

Sorry Corby but you are wrong.
Physical descriptors 1 Walking, to 11 Remaining conscious
Mental descriptors 12 Learning, to 21 Dealing with other people.
The full title of 1 is Walking with a stick or other aid if such an aid is normally used
(a) If you cannot walk at all 15 points.
(e) Cannot walk more than 200m 6 points.
There is no mention of yards, they went metric many years ago.
It is true that if you can walk, with or without an aid, for 200m (219 Yards)
You would score no points.
It is very important to attend the appeal.

[THECORBYLOON]

Tony you may be referring to the previous WCA but it changed in March this year. If you look at page 17 onward you'll see the seventeen functional areas and the descriptors. http://www.direct.gov...alasset/dg_177366.pdf With regard to my using 220 yards, whilst the legislation uses only metric, the questionnaire ESA50 also uses imperial measures in the mobilising function so I see no problems.

[THECORBYLOON]

This is the online ESA50 http://www.direct.gov...alasset/dg_195544.pdf

[tonywiltshire]

Corby: Thanks for comments.

[emmie]

good luck i say, the most difficult thing to navigate without the help of a professional, say welfare officer, CAB. Inconsistent, long winded, and very scary, and sorry to say i only know from personal experience.

[Postdog]

Good luck. I scored zero on all counts because I was able to do most things. Well fine, I could in a test situation, but expect me to continue for more than ten minutes and then you'll see why I felt I couldn't work.

I was lucky because I was able to find another means to support myself but i have been made aware of various help or advice agencies on the net which seem to offer good advice. Sorry, can't say here, but if I get on my other PC later I'll post a link.

[tonywiltshire]

Corby, Thanks but in the area I operate in Appeals are taking a long time to be heard, in some cases over a year, and the old descriptors are being used.

[THECORBYLOON]

I know that generally the appeals for a lot of benefits are taking a long time to be heard. Benefit rules change all the time and folk may have been confused by your referring to the old descriptors since most folk asking about the WCA will be or have been assessed using the new ones.