What if I dont agree with their decision?
After you have returned the ESA50 questionnaire and attended the medical assessment, the decision maker at the DWP will make a decision about whether you have limited capability for work and can continue to receive ESA.
If they find that you do not have limited capability for work you are expected to claim Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) and actively look for work.
If you don’t agree with the decision maker’s decision it is possible to ask for their decision to be revised.
You have 1 month from the date of the decision to request this. If the DWP looks at the decision again but still finds that you are not eligible for ESA you can appeal.
You can also appeal within 1 month of receiving the original decision.
You can use a form called a GL24 to submit an appeal or send them a letter. The GL24 form is helpful as it gives a guide about what you should write and ensures you give the DWP all the information they need.
Send it recorded delivery so you are sure that the information has been received within the strict timescale.
Contact the Rethink Advice and Information Service or your local welfare rights advice agency for more information on how to appeal.
If you submit an appeal you should continue to be paid Employment Support Allowance at the assessment phase rate.
You will have to submit medical notes until the DWP tell you not to. If your appeal is successful any extra amount of ESA you are entitled to should be backdated to week 13 of your claim.
Read the Rethink factsheet on Benefit Revisions and Appeals Factsheet for more information.
If the Department of Work and Pensions decide that you do have limited capability for work and you are eligible for ESA, they then have to decide whether you also have ‘limited capability for work related activity’.
Although these two statements sound the same they are used to decide different things.
The DWP will either place you in the ‘support group’ or the ‘work related activity group’.
When they are making this decision they have to look at another set of descriptors, you can find these at the end of the Work Capability Assessment Fact Sheet. Many of these descriptors are in relation to physical health.
