DLA Appeal

Hi
Today I received the 'Appeal Submission' from the DWP. When I applied for DLA I did not have a medical, their decision to refuse DLA was made purely from my application. But the appeal submission includes the medical report from my ESA application (which took place weeks after I wasa refused DLA). Is this normal practise?

I cannot believe what I read in the ESA medical report. She has written what I told her about my mobility problem i.e. that I have to hold onto furniture/wall to get around the house, that I cannot manage to do the shopping because of my mobility problems, but then she seems to have ignored what she has written because she has said I can walk 200m. She has also written that I have colostomy problems with leakages etc., put then later writes I have little to no problems with my stoma.

They also asked for a report from my consultant and he states I have pain and discomfort after walking 100yds. I saw this consultant recently and at no time did we discuss how far I could walk (my husband was with me and can verify this)

What do I do now? Do I contact my consultant and ask him to write a letter stating that he never discussed with me how far I can walk and his report to DWP was an assumption not fact? and do I send this to the DWP or the Tribunal Service?

Many thanks wordy

p.s. I have not yet been told whether I qualify for ESA, but reading the ESA medical report I am not holding my breath.

wordy wrote:

Hi
Today I received the 'Appeal Submission' from the DWP. When I applied for DLA I did not have a medical, their decision to refuse DLA was made purely from my application. But the appeal submission includes the medical report from my ESA application (which took place weeks after I wasa refused DLA). Is this normal practise?

I cannot believe what I read in the ESA medical report. She has written what I told her about my mobility problem i.e. that I have to hold onto furniture/wall to get around the house, that I cannot manage to do the shopping because of my mobility problems, but then she seems to have ignored what she has written because she has said I can walk 200m. She has also written that I have colostomy problems with leakages etc., put then later writes I have little to no problems with my stoma.

They also asked for a report from my consultant and he states I have pain and discomfort after walking 100yds. I saw this consultant recently and at no time did we discuss how far I could walk (my husband was with me and can verify this)

What do I do now? Do I contact my consultant and ask him to write a letter stating that he never discussed with me how far I can walk and his report to DWP was an assumption not fact? and do I send this to the DWP or the Tribunal Service?

Many thanks wordy

p.s. I have not yet been told whether I qualify for ESA, but reading the ESA medical report I am not holding my breath.

We cannot offer advice to individuals about a specific benefits problem under any circumstances. To give accurate and reliable advice about a specific benefits problem, we'd need to know a great deal about your income, savings, health, household arrangements and more.

To give advice without all this information would seriously risk misinforming you. However, members are perfectly entitled to comment on what you have said in your post, either generally or through personal experience. One thing I will comment on however, is the fact that if the DLA Unit are relying on your ESA medical report, as it was produced after the date of the decision, it cannot be admissable as evidence because it was not material to the decision in question.

If you need specific benefits advice, you can download our FREE, 12 page guide to getting help with your benefits.

Hi,

Just to add that if you are refused ESA it will be important that you challenge this too, as the DLA panel should be informed by the DWP whether you have challenged the ESA report.

There is also nothing to prevent you making a formal complaint to the DWP/Atos about inaccuracies in your ESA report and submitting a copy of this as part of your DLA appeal. You can do this whether you are awarded ESA or not.

Good luck,

Steve

Many thanks Crazydiamond and Steve for your responses to my DLA Appeal queries. I will make a formal complaint to DWP about the inaccuracies in my ESA medical report. I hope I qualify for ESA but if not I will also appeal this.
Just one quick question, who do I complain to regarding the ESA medical report not being admissable as evidence because the decision to refuse me DLA was made before I had the medical, would it be the DWP or or the Tribunal Service or both
Once again many thanks for your help, wordy

wordy wrote:

Many thanks Crazydiamond and Steve for your responses to my DLA Appeal queries. I will make a formal complaint to DWP about the inaccuracies in my ESA medical report. I hope I qualify for ESA but if not I will also appeal this.
Just one quick question, who do I complain to regarding the ESA medical report not being admissable as evidence because the decision to refuse me DLA was made before I had the medical, would it be the DWP or or the Tribunal Service or both
Once again many thanks for your help, wordy

It would be in your best interests to raise the matter before the appeal tribunal.

You can ask the tribunal to disregard the ESA report for the reasons I have previously mentioned, but also you may wish to remind the tribunal that they are looking down to the date of decision under appeal, and not for any period after that date. The ESA report relates to a medical assessment after the date, of the DLA adverse decision.

Whether your contentions will have any effect on the tribunal's eventual decision on your appeal, does of course remain open to question?