hummm_mabbe Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Hi there Found this website which gives some great advice about ESA questionnaires and medicals / appeals. Its a bit annoying because some of it you have to pay for, but theres still a lot of good stuff on there. http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/ Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogwai Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I don't know if this is any help to anyone, but i used to work for the DWP and have a bit of experience with regards to certain claim forms and DLA, incap and ESA etc. If anyone wants to ask anything then feel free and I'll try to help, you can pm me if you like. Hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes. Stacey:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snowman Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 Abc of ESA also v good but charges too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanctuary Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 I don't know if this is any help to anyone, but i used to work for the DWP and have a bit of experience with regards to certain claim forms and DLA, incap and ESA etc. If anyone wants to ask anything then feel free and I'll try to help, you can pm me if you like. Hope I'm not stepping on anyones toes. Stacey:) could i call you and can you spend an hour helping me answer their difficult questions please?!?!!!!?!?!?! I dont even know if I'm joking but I have been trying to fill in the form for over a year and I cannot get past my mental agitation and anxiety about the whole thing. I was even scared to open this post up. I know I should be getting it but something - and I don't know what - is stopping me.... shame?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villan Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 when i used to go to MIND they had a lady from CAB come in and hold a "workshop" of form filling in dunno if still happens as a while ago... but may be worth a go... :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_c Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 sanctuaryt. there are proefessionals whoc an help speak to your CPN. i ahve a comunity worker now who has been helping me sort thing out and arranging things. only good thing to come out of the last 18 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sanctuary Posted March 18, 2011 Report Share Posted March 18, 2011 my CPN is fucking useless, she works part time 3 days a week and manages to avoid coming in atall by using annual leave days and sickness..... i think she's losing the plot..... all talk about fighting to keep her job in these spending cuts when she should quit and let me get a decent fucking person for the job!! ARGHHHHHHHHHH :mad0233: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mogwai Posted March 19, 2011 Report Share Posted March 19, 2011 Hi, this link might help some people filling in the forms http://www.nawra.org.uk/Documents/Cardiff_Mar_10/Fit%20for%20Purpose%20%20A%20Guide%20to%20Completing%20the%20ESA50.pdf Bear in mind that if you are asked to go for a medical, you are assessed from the moment you leave your vehicle or approach the building, if you state anxiety or that you are unable to be unaccompanied but attend alone or without obvious anxiety in the waiting room this will count against you. You should also complete the forms as if it were your worst day. When I worked there it was standard procedure to turn down most DLA claims, around 40% of those who appealed were successful in their appeal. This link http://www.disabilityalliance.org/f33.pdf should (if it works) show how points are allocated, obviously if you get points through a mixture of physical and mental health conditions then its easier to reach the point quota, but you MUST indicate on the form clearly what you cannot do, and then follow this through at the medical. If i think of anything else i'll let you know S:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hummm_mabbe Posted March 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Bumping this as know it may be relevant for folks right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hummm_mabbe Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 **bump** Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 perhaps it should be pinned Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hummm_mabbe Posted April 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 Oo i never had a thread pinned before **nervous** lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walker Posted April 6, 2011 Report Share Posted April 6, 2011 dont think it hurts too bad xxxx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hummm_mabbe Posted April 11, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 Bumping thread again Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic roll Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 Definitely have the thread pinned. If people need help filling in forms, they should go to the local CAB or to a local welfare rights session. Newcastle City Council have regular drop-in sessions for benefits advice, I assume most other councils have them too. If you have any sort of mental health difficulty, get someone else to fill the form in, giving the reason as your mental ill health. If you say you can't work but fill the form in yourself, you'll be marked down. As mogwai also says, you're assessed at a medical from the second you pull into the car park. Don't try and force yourself to go if you have problems, get them to come to you or get a friend to take you. Forcing yourself, and putting on a brave face, only counts against you. Most of us want to tell the world that we're OK, we're coping, but that's absolutely the worst thing you can do at the medical or on the forms. Don't try and be brave, you don't get any credit for it, it actually makes things worse. It sounds awful to say it, but ideally you want to be attending the medical in an absolute state, so for heaven's sake don't force yourself to do your hair and makeup well and wear your best clothes. You'll just be marked down as coping when you're not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_c Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 i have bene told the only way that they will come to you is if your GP writes to them to request it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic roll Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 You need to have evidence to show that you're not well enough to have the medical at the test centre, but that can often be easily obtained from GPs, CPNs and the like. You can just request it but they will turn down the request if it is made without evidence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul_c Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 my local support places both said the same thing it MUST be a GP not a CPN etc. then again it doesnt suprise me that they do different things in different places. its all just an attack on the week as normal by the rich and pwoerful Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arctic roll Posted April 11, 2011 Report Share Posted April 11, 2011 GPs' letters are normally best, definitely. I wouldn't go against what your local support groups say, it does seem to depend on who you speak to at the DWP half the time. My point was more- don't be pressurised into attending a medical when you're really not well enough to cope with the hassle of getting to the centre. There are options, much as the DWP try and pretend that there isn't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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