oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Feb 10, 2022 9:58:19 GMT
Hi Everyone,
I've just joined this forum and was looking through the threads to see if there was anything about the dwp work assessment as I have mine tomorrow over the phone but sadly I couldn't see anything on here, I have put a post up in the new facebook group about it as well but would also like to ask here as well, basically want to know what can I expect from the assessment as I've never had to have one done before,
And is it similiar to the PIP assessment I had a couple of years ago that was over the phone as well it was okay but I did lose the mobility side of PIP becuase trying to explain that part over the phone was not easy and I don't think she really took onboard what I was saying, so my worry is that they will find me fit for work when I clearly am not,
So any advice on the best way to get across how much my condition effects me or how they conduct the assessment would be very appreciated.
Many Thanks.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2022 14:29:06 GMT
Hi Everyone, I've just joined this forum and was looking through the threads to see if there was anything about the dwp work assessment as I have mine tomorrow over the phone but sadly I couldn't see anything on here, I have put a post up in the new facebook group about it as well but would also like to ask here as well, basically want to know what can I expect from the assessment as I've never had to have one done before, And is it similiar to the PIP assessment I had a couple of years ago that was over the phone as well it was okay but I did lose the mobility side of PIP becuase trying to explain that part over the phone was not easy and I don't think she really took onboard what I was saying, so my worry is that they will find me fit for work when I clearly am not, So any advice on the best way to get across how much my condition effects me or how they conduct the assessment would be very appreciated. Many Thanks. Hi Oldrocker welcome back. Yes the assessment is very similar. Take your time answering the questions and have some notes in front of you to help. They’ll ask about how you dress and care for yourself and if you need help etc. good idea to dig out your old notes if you have them it’ll give you an idea what they will ask. Be prepared for a long call and tell them if you need a break - they’ll call you back. Good luck and if possible let us know how it went.
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Post by philbadfactor on Feb 14, 2022 17:56:24 GMT
How did it go Oldrocker ?
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oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Mar 9, 2022 15:13:40 GMT
Hi everyone I've had my decision through the UC journal and they have found me fit for work, they say I can challenge the decision but it won't change it, all it will do is log it as I don't agree with what they have decided.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 10, 2022 13:51:50 GMT
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oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Mar 10, 2022 18:14:34 GMT
Thanks for the advice bittertruths I will contact my CAB tomorrow and take it from there, my work coach already knows I'm going to challenge the decision as I told her this on my UC journal, all she replied was okay, also I've looked at the decision letter again and it does say that they think I'm not limited to be able to work so can do some kinda work so I'm right they have found me fit for work, I'm also wondering how this will effect my PIP and the wife's carers allowance as well.
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Post by gordo on Mar 11, 2022 1:29:09 GMT
DWP is usually s'posed to make a distinction with folks who can do some work, but not other work, either due to ill health, or Disability, or both. But being able to do some work is not the same as "Fit for work" in the general sense, which to most folks, means can do work with no problem. If you have limited capability, that is something I'd stress.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 11, 2022 11:22:13 GMT
Thanks for the advice bittertruths I will contact my CAB tomorrow and take it from there, my work coach already knows I'm going to challenge the decision as I told her this on my UC journal, all she replied was okay, also I've looked at the decision letter again and it does say that they think I'm not limited to be able to work so can do some kinda work so I'm right they have found me fit for work, I'm also wondering how this will effect my PIP and the wife's carers allowance as well. As it is UC we are talking about here I would make sure that the client put a journal entry in specifically stating that it should be determined that (s)he has LCWRA. (which is an application for supersession which if granted would increase entitlement) If they then come back with a refusal which effectively says that they do not have LCWRA then go to appeal and attach the journal entries to the appeal (take screen shots of the journal entry's from now on and how they got to this decisions )
The work capability assessment may or may not be part of the decision making process (sch 9 could apply) MY colleagues managed to find a decision maker who overturned a fit for work determination and replaced it with LCWRA once the evidence was produced. He did this without a WCA and determined on his own volition that ESA REg 35 applied. There is still too much of the tail wagging the dog in decision making. It seems that many DM’s are afraid to upset the WCA providers by making their own decisions even when there is compelling alternative evidence Important Difference between UC Regulations relating to LCW and LCWRA in Schedule 8 and Schedule 9Schedule 8 4.—(1) The claimant is suffering from a specific illness, disease or disablement by reason of which there would be a substantial risk to the physical or mental health of any person were the claimant found not to have limited capability for work. Schedule 9 4. The claimant is suffering from a specific illness, disease or disablement by reason of which there would be a substantial risk to the physical or mental health of any person were the claimant found not to have limited capability for work and work-related activity. As such, the second of the above requires you’d have to be at risk if you were found not to have both LCW and LCRWA whereas the first is only in relation to not having LCW which is a lesser test if you like. What they have been doing in putting people from ESA support in UC lesser group to be able to do some work even if it is voluntary work. This is why UC journal is naughty and wont put the regulations and laws in place into how they came to their decision via the journal notice. oldrocker72 did you get any journal entry's with this information from them.? Talking in old terms they may of scored you no points and the assessor report will be really important in how they came to this decisions. Any average person isnt going to no this intel (thank goodness for forums like this) and will say i will appeal in their journal unless it worded correctly they DM UC worker can fog you of or not understand what is being said (poor training) and the journal entry disappears and MR doesn't happen. oldrocker72 may i ask ?? how long was your phone assessment and what questions where asked and what medical evidence did you supply them?
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oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Mar 11, 2022 15:46:03 GMT
Hi Tanis the phone assessment lasted 20 minutes and he basically asked if I was left handed or right handed can I wash and dress myself how far can I walk before needing to rest, how long can I sit for before I have to stand up and stretch my back, how well am I sleeping can I do up buttons and zips with no help from my carer (wife), can I plan a journey and travel there without my carer do I drive,
He wasn't really interested in how painful my condition is or the fact that the outside of my left leg is permanently numb due to my condition and my consultant at the hospital told me that it will be like that for the rest of my life, he asked how my diabetes is and how well I'm managing it, he asked if I've gone into a diabetic coma and gone to hospital and luckily that's never happened to me yet, and he asked me if I had been offered nerve blocker injections or surgery on my back,
I explained I'd been offered both and I'd accepted the injections first before going down the surgery road, but the consultant told me that surgery won't fix my condition it will just make living with it slightly more bearable as I'd still have the numbness in my left leg and I'd still have the pain when I walked or stood for to long or sat for to long,
Anyway I explained that by the time my appointment came through for my injections the pandemic had hit and because I'm diabetic the risks to my health are to high so they have removed me from their books for either the injections or the surgery,
As for the medical evidence I sent in a letter from my consultant which explained my condition and how it effects my day to day life and information about what they found with my two separate MRI scans that I had done a year apart.
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oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Jul 18, 2022 13:47:31 GMT
Hi everyone sorry for not posting sooner but been waiting for my mandatory reconsideration decision to come through, it should have been in May but got the decision today and despite the support of my doctor with new evidence they are still saying I'm fit for work and need to talk with my work coach about what jobs I need to look for, also there is nothing in the letter from them to say if and how I can challenge this decision unlike in the previous decision I had from them,
And I have a mate who can get me a job tomorrow but it's a very physically demanding one as it's working for a dairy farmer although that's all I've ever done apart from the ten years as a firefighter I don't know any other type of work, and I'm not an indoors person I know that I would hate working in an office or factory so I'd be very limited on what I can do as manual labour is all I've done my whole life, Anyway that's where I'm upto with my work capability assessment not sure where I go from here.
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Post by gordo on Jul 18, 2022 17:04:24 GMT
Hi Oldrocker. That's the pits! I would avoid trying to get anything that is so demanding, it affects your health. Not sure how you challenge this latest decision, but others might be able to advise you on that.
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oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Jul 19, 2022 5:13:09 GMT
Hi Gordo,
My old work coach yes I have a new one now that I only talk to over the phone anyway my old coach told me at our last meeting that if I wasn't happy with the decision I was to go through the decision letter and ask for a tribunal instead sadly tho there isn't anything to say how to do this process in the letter,
She did explain to me how the tribunal would work it would be at our local crown court in a small room off to the side and it would be in front of a panel of judges and the DWP on one side of the room me and whoever was representing me on the other side and a independent doctor in the middle, the judges would hear from everyone and either uphold the DWP's decision or rule in my favour to be put in a different catagory, She suggested that I talk to CAB as they can help fill in the legal paperwork if nothing else, and I agree with you I can't work in a physically demanding job and I can't sit down for very long either as it makes my back and legs go numb,
So not sure what I can do because the DWP have stated in the letter that their is nothing wrong with me and am capable of doing any kind of work, anyway I have a phone appointment with my new coach next week will see what he says and go from there.
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oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Jul 23, 2022 15:56:14 GMT
Hi Everyone,
I've looked at the decision letter again and found some extra pages I didn't originally see I must've have been blinded by annoyance at the decision I didn't look through the full letter properly,anyway it explains how I can appeal the decision I can either fill in the form online or print it off and send in with the original letter or ask CAB for help with the paperwork which is probably what I'm going to do I have one month to make an appeal against the decision,
I'm just wondering if anyone in here has had any experience of the tribunal system and if it helped or not and how long it took.
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Post by philbadfactor on Jul 26, 2022 5:03:44 GMT
Unless things have changed markedly the Tribunal is simply a solicitor, even a trainee at whatever firm is running the Tribunal and a medical Dr. I've had 2 in the past 10 years for ESA and won both without trouble. I expect the same thing to happen again eventually. To my mind the Tribunal is the real assessment. The DWP one is bogus and has been since Cameron and Osborne. What I would do if I was you is go through the motions at the Jobcentre And wait for the Tribunal which might be in say 3 or 4 months time. If you can present new evidence that can grease the wheels a bit.
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oldrocker
Junior Member
Hope springs eternal Baldrick
Posts: 79
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Post by oldrocker on Jul 27, 2022 7:08:07 GMT
Hi Philbadfactor,
I spoke to my work coach and told him that I didn't agree with the decision and was going to appeal at a tribunal instead and he just said fine we'll chat to you in a couple of weeks to see how you are getting on with it and he was gone, but the only bit of advice he said was to contact someone from Citizens Advice as they can do the paperwork and represent me at the tribunal,
Which I was told would be me and my representative the DWP an independent DR and a panel of judges, also I don't have to look for work or do anything as I've asked for a tribunal hearing just keep supplying sick notes until the final decision made at the tribunal, which I found out from Citizens today that you don't even go to court now unless it's absolutely necessary now it's done by the judges reading through the paperwork and they use that to make a ruling on your situation, only going to court if they can't agree and want to actually ask questions if you can't attend court they can offer phone calls or video conference but I was told they prefer to just look at the paperwork and make a decision that way these days,
Anyway I'll keep everyone informed as to how things are going hopefully I can actually talk to the judges so they can see for themselves how my day to day life is effected.
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