Success at last, well partly !

My son has uncontrolled epilepsy, which has worsened over the years .. he gets full care DLA (runs out next year) and his wife gets carers allowance for him ... he was put in the WRAG ... twice this past year he has been sent for from Job centre/DSS, or whatever it is called nowadays. Both times they have told him there is little they can do for him and that he should have been put into the support group and advised him to go to tribunal, which he had already decided to go ahead with. The tribunal was last week and I went with him as his representative..it was horrendous for him as these sort of things really freak him out. He can never respond to the questions properly and when asked how he was a year ago he did say he couldn't remember last month never mind last year ... the seizures now give him loss of memory in that when he recovers, he has lost the few hours before the attack and never gets it back. He said it is like having amnesia and difficult to get back .. he experiences panic attacks and unless absolutely necessary does not go anywhere alone as he is frightened of having an attack when out alone ...the doctor was extremely nice and gave my son plenty of time to answer and put him at his ease, he also asked me to respond when son seemed to be stuck for words and also allowed me to give him feedback at the end of the tribunal ..

Result - his appeal was upheld !
However, there are a couple of things we are not sure of ... it states:

Quote:
In applying the Work Capability Asssessment 24 points were scored from the activities and descriptors in schedule 2 of the ESA regs 2008.
No descriptors from schedule 3 of these regulations was satisfied but regulation 35 of the ESA regs 2008 applied.
The tribunal recommends that the department reasssesses the appelant within 12 months.
The tribunal received cogent oral evidence in relation to mental factors
Unquote
Does this give him any extra benefits or what else ?

When we asked for and received all papers relating to his original assessment, we only got schedule 2 descriptors which the assessing nurse had ticked, no paper on schedule 3 descriptors so no idea what the nurse said ..
Already my son is getting anxious because he will be called back so quickly and I have simply said they always say that, he can at least have a few months without uneccessary worry which does bring on seizures. But does this mean that he will have to face another tribunal within the year, or assessment or what, as I have no idea what the regs 35 of the ESA are about.

Sorry this has been so long, but I do wish to add our thanks to everyone involved here for such support and help with filling in forms, attending tribunals etc ... well worth the small subscription fee which I am always happy to pay
Thank you for reading and hopefully responding
Valerie

Valerie wrote: My son has uncontrolled epilepsy, which has worsened over the years .. he gets full care DLA (runs out next year) and his wife gets carers allowance for him ... he was put in the WRAG ... twice this past year he has been sent for from Job centre/DSS, or whatever it is called nowadays. Both times they have told him there is little they can do for him and that he should have been put into the support group and advised him to go to tribunal, which he had already decided to go ahead with. The tribunal was last week and I went with him as his representative..it was horrendous for him as these sort of things really freak him out. He can never respond to the questions properly and when asked how he was a year ago he did say he couldn't remember last month never mind last year ... the seizures now give him loss of memory in that when he recovers, he has lost the few hours before the attack and never gets it back. He said it is like having amnesia and difficult to get back .. he experiences panic attacks and unless absolutely necessary does not go anywhere alone as he is frightened of having an attack when out alone ...the doctor was extremely nice and gave my son plenty of time to answer and put him at his ease, he also asked me to respond when son seemed to be stuck for words and also allowed me to give him feedback at the end of the tribunal ..

Result - his appeal was upheld !
However, there are a couple of things we are not sure of ... it states:

Quote:
In applying the Work Capability Asssessment 24 points were scored from the activities and descriptors in schedule 2 of the ESA regs 2008.
No descriptors from schedule 3 of these regulations was satisfied but regulation 35 of the ESA regs 2008 applied.
The tribunal recommends that the department reasssesses the appelant within 12 months.
The tribunal received cogent oral evidence in relation to mental factors
Unquote
Does this give him any extra benefits or what else ?

When we asked for and received all papers relating to his original assessment, we only got schedule 2 descriptors which the assessing nurse had ticked, no paper on schedule 3 descriptors so no idea what the nurse said ..
Already my son is getting anxious because he will be called back so quickly and I have simply said they always say that, he can at least have a few months without uneccessary worry which does bring on seizures. But does this mean that he will have to face another tribunal within the year, or assessment or what, as I have no idea what the regs 35 of the ESA are about.

Sorry this has been so long, but I do wish to add our thanks to everyone involved here for such support and help with filling in forms, attending tribunals etc ... well worth the small subscription fee which I am always happy to pay
Thank you for reading and hopefully responding
Valerie

Hi V,

That is really good news !!!

Well done on winning your son's appeal to be placed into The SG from WRAG.

Thank you for your positive comments about our site.

"In applying the Work Capability Asssessment 24 points were scored from the activities and descriptors in schedule 2 of the ESA regs 2008."

This means that your son has been awarded 24 points across all the Limited Capability for Work (LCW) Descriptors,(Schedule 2) as seen here :

WRAG (LCW) Descriptors

"No descriptors from schedule 3 of these regulations was satisfied but regulation 35 of the ESA regs 2008 applied."

This means that they found that he did not qualify for The SG by fulfilling any of The SG Functional Descriptors in Schedule 3, as here :

SG (LCWRA) Descriptors

But he does qualify for The SG under Exceptional Circumstances rules, Reg 35, most probably under "Substantial Risk" to himself or others, as seen here :

ESA Reg 35 for entry to The SG (LCWRA)

"The tribunal recommends that the department reasssesses the appelant within 12 months."

Tribunals have started making recommendations of when an award made by them should be reassessed by The DWP, this would be 12 months from the date of The tribunal's decision.

However, they are just recommendations, and have no legal standing.

"The tribunal received cogent oral evidence in relation to mental factors"

Exactly what it says.

As the Tribunal's SG decision is actually a "Re-making" of the WRAG award that was appealed, it will be backdated to the date of the WRAG award, and your son will receive any arrears of backpayment owed from that date to present.

To speed this process up, you could send a copy of The Tribunal's Decision Notice, (when you receive it) to The Benefits Office dealing with his ESA. :

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

The Tribunal have recommended that he should not be reassessed by The DWP for 12 months. However, The DWP can ignore this recommendation. If they do, you could involve your M.P. and ask them to challenge why the DWP have gone against the Tribunal's rcommendation.

At the end of the day, I am afraid that The DWP have the final say.

See : How often will I be reviewed

bro58

Just to add.

As your son is now in The SG, he cannot be compelled to take part in any more WFI's or WRA.

He can do so voluntarily if he wishes to.

bro58

Thank you so much for your reply ...
He certainly would be at risk to himself, having a few fractures already thanks to fits, and even one down the stairs last year resulting in a smashed coccyx - but that could have been worse ..
Will it change anything for his current DLA, or when it is reviewed ?

Valerie

bro58 wrote:

Valerie wrote: Thank you so much for your reply ...
He certainly would be at risk to himself, having a few fractures already thanks to fits, and even one down the stairs last year resulting in a smashed coccyx - but that could have been worse ..
Will it change anything for his current DLA, or when it is reviewed ?

Valerie

Hi V,

If your son's fixed period DLA award is up for renewal after October 2013, then he will be reviewed under PIP criteria.

In preparation for this you may wish to keep up to date with the information that we have on PIP :

Draft PIP Claims Guide. (Top Link on page)

PIP information including PIP Self-Test

PIP Topic Thread in Spotlight Area


bro58

Hi V,

Should have added, The SG award should not have any adverse affect on his current DLA award. If anything The SG qualifying criteria is stricter than DLA, in some respects.

See my comments in my previous post regarding his DLA renewal.

bro58