ESA Tribunal Success

This morning I received notification that my appeal against finding me fit for work was successful. I suffer from M.E/CFS and chronic migraines, and had been given 0 points originally, based on a ridiculous medical assessment last November.
I appealed the decision in January, and now, more then a year after I first applied, I at last received an award for ESA with the work related activity component.
While I am very happy with the outcome of my appeal, I feel many more people will be forced through the lenghthy appeal process due to the badly designed assessment "test" done by Atos, and believe my own positive outcome was due in huge part to the doctor and tribunal judge who believed in M.E/CFS and its that it would be harmful for me to be made to work, and passed me on the Regulation 29 (2).
I'm hugely relieved, and hope that this site will be equally helpful to people as it has been to me, although I would urge everyone to try and find representation if at all possible. Mine was invaluable for helping with writing letters, phoning the DWP, and in general lending a helping hand.
Good luck to everyone waiting for their appeal date!

justme12 wrote:

This morning I received notification that my appeal against finding me fit for work was successful. I suffer from M.E/CFS and chronic migraines, and had been given 0 points originally, based on a ridiculous medical assessment last November.
I appealed the decision in January, and now, more then a year after I first applied, I at last received an award for ESA with the work related activity component.
While I am very happy with the outcome of my appeal, I feel many more people will be forced through the lenghthy appeal process due to the badly designed assessment "test" done by Atos, and believe my own positive outcome was due in huge part to the doctor and tribunal judge who believed in M.E/CFS and its that it would be harmful for me to be made to work, and passed me on the Regulation 29 (2).
I'm hugely relieved, and hope that this site will be equally helpful to people as it has been to me, although I would urge everyone to try and find representation if at all possible. Mine was invaluable for helping with writing letters, phoning the DWP, and in general lending a helping hand.
Good luck to everyone waiting for their appeal date!

Hi,

Thanks for sharing your good news.

It can give hope and encouragement to others currently going through the system that it is possible to obtain a just award at a tribunal.

Pete

Well done justme for winning your appeal
Best Wishes
x

Hi,

Well done, a year is an awfully long time to have to fight for something you should have been entitled to in the first place.

Thanks for sharing your good news with us.

Steve

Thanks Pete.
Yes, I would definitely encourage people to stick with the appeal process if at all possible - it can't make things worse, but good representation is really important, too, especially for those who struggle with written and spoken sumbissions.

Thanks Steve.
Yes, the year was very long. I think the process was slightly extended because I first had to appeal to other descisions (directly to DWP - not Tribunal), because they first claimed I was a full time student when I wasn't (part-time, and suspending studies), and then again for residency reasons since they first said I wasn't entitled to receive benefits even though had been resident for ten years and paid NI for the last 2 of those years. Lets say having the medical fail wasn't a complete surprise considering the quality of work by the DWP beforehand.
THe best thing about the Tribunal is that they are independent of he DWP,something I don't think Atos is at all.