0 points awarded what to do next

[nicnacno]

Just received my letter from the esa after being on ib for the last 14 years and i have been awarded 0 points, after reading many of the forums on here i am unsure which route to take next for the best outcome should I phone them first or go to a Cab any advice would be apprecciated

[denys]

I would ring them and tell them you are going to appeal the decision and then phone CAB for advice on how to proceed, not sure if you have to put it in writing but tell the DWP you are waiting for an appointment with CAB. I'm sure someone who has been through it will be along soon to clarify and

[lindaloola]

I also recieved 0 points but appealed and won. I contacted welfare rights who helped me to answer the questions in relation to my condition .highly recommended

[Ldyalb]

My medical is in less than two weeks and I fully expect to be awarded 'nil points' also. Ring them and inform them that you will be appealing the decision. You then need to contact CAB or Welfare Rights asap and get help with processing the appeal. They will be able to advise you on the rest. Good luck

[dianesmallwood]

hi every one first time on here .. was wondering if someone could tell me wat cab is dee
t

[nicnacno]

citizens advice bureau

[nicnacno]

Just phoned esa to tell them that I would be appealing the decision, they said they would look over the decision and see if they could get me up to the 15 points needed they also said that they would contact me today by 5pm

[shazq]

nic

[nicnacno]

No phonecall they are full of promises I will be back on the phone first thing again in the morning

[denys]

Give them hell Nic hate it when people promise and dont follow through

[MCT]

Ask for an appeal form and get to the CAB asap, reconsiderations are automatically done when you put in an appeal. Be very careful of phone calls from DWP & ask that they only contact you in writing.

While doing some Twitter campaigning for the Responsible Reform (Spartacus) Report I came across an email from the Benefits and Works website which contained the following members only information:

"Claimants employment and support allowance (ESA) and disability living allowance (DLA) appeals can now be withdrawn simply by a decision maker telling a tribunal clerk, without providing any evidence whatsoever, that the claimant told them on the telephone they no longer wished to carry on. The shock change to the principle that appeals can only be withdrawn by the claimant themselves, and only in writing, was introduced last month in a bid to reduce the growing backlog of appeals."

Someone from the Spartacus campaign has found another online version of it: http://www.limbcare-parliament.org/ so you can read the full article there if you aren't a member of B&W.

[Woodentop]

Let us know how you get on. I'm fully expecting 0 points from my medical which I had a week last Friday. They told me it would be about 2 weeks before I heard anything. I really pushed the 'it's not so much what I can do now as what I will be like after I've done them' and I really wish they could have seen me over the next couple of days after it.
One word of warning about the CAB though. Make your appointment with them in plenty of time -they are really busy at the mo with all the people with debt problems. Also, check that they have someone who can help you with your particular problem. I was messed around by my local CAB because they didn't tell me straight away that they have nobody qualified to help with form filling when I was doing a DLA claim, although I told them what I wanted the appointment for. It took them so long to tell me, I missed the deadline for returning the form and had no help from anywhere as we have no local welfare rights here.

[nicnacno]

I would like to thank everybody for their help so far. I phoned the esa this morning and spoke to someone else who had a completely different view and told me not to bother with the review and go straight for an appeal. So i have just been up to my local cab who were really helpfull and they have made an appointment for me for next Tuesday to assist in the filling in of the gl24 form. Also have an appointment Tuesday afternoon with my gp to get a medical certificate. Thanks again NIC.

[shazq]

got fingers crossed for you Nic

[nicnacno]

Haven't been on here for a while have just had my dreaded brown envelope to tell me that my tribunal is on the 29th of June . I feel sick with worry to attend the appeal, and working myself up already,don't know what to expect