I am gutted..... Just received a phone call from DWP saying they have refused my claim for ESA as I scored zero points at my assessment. I was made medically retired from my job after nearly 20 years end receive PIP. Will I now lose my PIP? I will certainly lose my pension if I go to work..... What can I do? Who would employ me? I wish I could get inside me and see what it's like..... They have made me feel like a scrounger I have worked all my life sometimes doing two jobs and now I have this horrible degenerative disease I am refused help I am so upset
you can appeal against decision ,go to court be more prepeaired with medical notes ,pictures ,doctors,nero,pd nurse .alot of people win .
Hi moonandstars,
So sorry to hear this, it must be really upsetting and certainly doesn't seem very fair. Have you spoken to anyone else about this? I know it's only just happened but please contact us on 0808 800 0303 and we'll see if we can help work this out with you.
Kat
Hi moonandstars
Exactly the same thing has happened to me and our predicament is not uncommon. Because of our symptoms, particularly the non motor ones, it's difficult sometimes to define how they fit in with the ESA descriptors. Add to that the fact that the ESA medical assessor is likely not to have an in depth knowledge of the condition and you begin to see that the odds are against us.
I have began the process of a Mandatory Reconsideration, which is the first step in the appeal, and have the support and help of my Parkinsons UK local advisor. Regrettably, at this stage I don't think I have enough medical evidence to overturn the decision, but we shall see. If it should then go to appeal I think I will need an in depth report from my Consultant outlining how my symptoms could affect some specific ESA cognitive descriptors. Hopefully this would have more weight than the ESA medical assessors report.
As you said, having eventually got to the difficult point where you feel that you can no longer perform reliably and safely in a working environment the chances of being employed again are very limited. My advice is to try and get a thorough and in depth medical report from your Consultant with some specific references to how your symptoms affects the ESA descriptors, get a letter from your GP objecting to the decision and outlining your symptoms and speak to Parkinsons UK, they can support you through the appeal processes. Good luck in getting your decision overturned.
Flyem
I have just seen the statement of reasons why I have been refused e s a scoring zero point s......
The HCP noted I have reading glasses.... I don't
HCP noted I have no side-effects from medication.... I do
The HCP noted my medication ..... She missed some out
HCP noted I had no difficulty using the step to sit on the examining couch...... I didn't use the step
HCP noted I was able to sit for half an hour........ I did but not without pain ......
And on and on it goes with errors and omissions and half truths , ....was she seeing somebody else because person she describes wasn't me
the stress of all this is awful, I feel like I am being called a liar
Hi
i have heard of several people with Parkinsons failing to be awarded any points with ESA recently you are not alone, i recently went through Pip successfully but I am awaiting ESA again I am already in esa support group, with PiP i was assessed at home even though i was told it would be a paper based assessment, with ESA i have been told it will be a paper based assessment also but I'm still waiting a month later.
my assessor wrote i have a limited knowledge of Parkinsons, After she told me she knew all about Parkinsons that was her background in healthcare she told me(she was it turned out to be nothing more than a nurse), i didn't feel the need to tell her all about Parkinsons, only how it effected my personally, she also wrote i drove a automatic car, I never mentioned what car i drove and she never asked,and i drive a manual car, she also wrote I had a blue badge, I said i wanted too apply for one, Hence i applied for Pip to get one.
I am going to ask for a Mandatory reconsideration but how do I ask my busy consultant for a letter saying that my symptoms are x y z and it affects me by a b and c, when she hasn't seen me for seven months and can ill afford time to do this stuff.
hi
my PD nurse & local advisor(support worker) both wrote a letters for me on how Parkinsons effects me both from a personal and technical view on symptoms backed up by medical letters from past appointments,I'm sure your consultant has been called apon in the past as this is something we all have to deal with the undeniable facts of Parkinson's and symptoms that effects us all.
I have been hearing a lot of horror stories when people are applying or changing over their benefits.
My husband has ESA which was a straight switch over from Incapacity benefit. He also has DLA which he is on high mobility and low care. He was awarded this 14 years ago three years after he was diagnosed.
His symptoms are a lot worse, but we are scared to apply for PIP incase we lose what we have. We are just waiting on our area switch over to catch up and take it from there.
I have came across a site called Benefits and Work which has a lot of information on benefits and how to appeal.
I am slowly looking through the site, so when we get our dreaded letter we will be prepared.
Hi katy .im on dla same rates my pdsw said i will have enough points to be on enhanced rate before she's half way through filling in new claim forms .i always say they are pdsw to fill forms in.i think were be fine just wait till i get change over even tho it's £120 a month missing out of.
Hi Gus, everyone,
I'm really sorry to hear about the difficulties you're having, we're hearing lots of examples like this and we're doing all we can to get this sorted out.
To that end, we're gathering evidence to make a response to the Independent Review of PIP, which is seeking views from individuals and organisations, to better understand how PIP is working.
To help us make our response, it would be really helpful if you were able to fill in our short, anonymous survey, it should only take you 5-10 minutes at most.
If you'd like to take part, the link is here: http://surveys.parkinsons.org.uk/s/PIPsurvey
Please also share it with anyone you know who has applied for PIP!
Thanks,
Phil
I think you should read watch bb Off state blog this is what pip assessor's need to see people in Off and On state.
Well it seems that despite a letter from my consultant who specialises in this field and a letter from my my GP , the ESA are still going to disallow me esa. I have yet to have this confirmed in writing , but has taken almost a year to get to this stage. I applied at the beginning of December last year and by end of September I should receive the letter confirming their refusal . What the hell am I supposed to do. Who is going to employ me????
Someone has produced an inaccurate report after seeing me for 24 minutes now I face the fact of returning to work full time because obviously I would have to work full time , because my pension would stop because I was made medically retired … Not redundant as in assessors report .
If a consultants letter who specialises in this field is not enough then I don't know what is.
Hi moonandstars,first thing is dont panic,not an easy thing to do i know,i am the same as you,exactly the same position,had to medically retire,had a PIP face to face a fortnight ago,awaiting a decision,already preparing next steps and the main thing i will do is to get my Member of Parliment involved,who has the right to question written reports from Consultants and Medical professionals about your fitness to work,its about time that this obvious mismanagement by DWP of our condition is sorted out via our M.Ps and the goverments Health Comitee which is a cross party of MPs formed to look after the interests of disabled people including people with P/Disease.Get in touch with your local MP they are elected to look after thier constituents interests and present your case to them so they can raise the issue.Try not to panic,everything is magnified 100 times more with P/D these idiots in DWP and the ascessment agencies bieng used fail to understand what the Medical Consultants say in thier Reports.A stronger Stance is needed within Parliment to rectify the damage caused by Ian Duncan Smith in his reform Bill,A stronger voice by Parkinsons UK is needed ,all this worry and concern over cuts to thier benefits for Parkinsons sufferers is totally unjustified and immoral for themselves and thier carers.Keep your chin up moonandstars and fight it as much as you can.
Hi
I didn't post a reply to Moonandstars post yesterday I had hoped Parkinsons uk would of picked it up and offered help to put it right, it seems to me the government has changed tack from cutting benefits following the resignation's and U turn on pip, to simply awarding claimants of either ESA or PiP zero Points as a way of cutting benefits and not just too sufferers of Parkinsons.
,
I'm not sure lobbying Mp's works Fall guy, as only 4 conservative Mp's voted against cut's, All the rest follow the party line rather than serve their constituents I have written several times when asked too by Parkinsons uk to my own mp who strongly supports cuts, often without reply or getting the standard waffle reply about how the disabled are looked after, I'm not sure how a 30% cut next year to esa wrag group new claimants is looking after the disabled?. or awarding zero points to People with degenerative illness's.
Guys thank you for your comments … I am so grateful to have this forum to vent my feelings. I think I will most probably go to appeal, am dreading it and really really need some help. Parkinson's UK my consultant and my PD nurse hve been very supportive but what more can I give DWP ?
Also the medical practitioner did my assessment is due for revalidation ....... what does that mean? Is it something to do with her coming from abroad she said she is a doctor
You can appeal and go to small court i have heard alot of people who appeal and dwp give in before it gets to court
Is that correct? ....the dwp give in before they get to court ......so far they have proved to be very difficult...... I hope your right. This is so stressful.
I have now had a letter from DWP that states that holding their decision not to award me ESA.
they did not address my statement that their report was factually incorrect..... They merely said that the HCP had no interest in producing and inaccurate report. They did not ask what facts where incorrect.
They also said that the GP just diagnosed illnesses and treated them , but theirc HCP's were trained health analysts. This I assume is why they made no comment on the letter from my neurologist who specialises in Parkinson's disease … Obviously their HCP knows more than my neurologist !!!
They have made me feel like a liar and a scrounger and I obviously need to be on deaths door to be eligible for anything.....I have contacted my MP but do not hold out any hope whatsoever . Will take to appeal but again do not hold out much hope.
Thank god for Parkinson's UK as they will be helping me do the appeal . I don't know what I would have do without their assistancassistance.
Glad to hear you have help with an appeal and i hope sense prevail's, i'm sure you did but did you order a copy of the assessment moon and stars written by the assessor? it may well give you points to argue the reality against their opinion backed up by your neuro and Puk.