Raymondo, member of Kilburn Unemployed Worker’s Group and
Social Work Action Network London, shares with us his Work Capability
Assessment Survival Tips…
The Work Capability
Assessment is the test by which people claiming the out of waged work benefit
Employment and Support Allowance are gauged as qualifying for Employment and
Support Allowance or ‘fit for work’.
“The Work Capability Assessment (WCA) has three stages.
Firstly, the Limited Capability for Work Test determines whether or not
you remain on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), secondly, the Limited Capability for Work Related Activity Test determines whether you join the
‘support group’ of claimants or the ‘work-related activity group’ and thirdly,
the Work Focused Health Related Assessment provides a report that can be
used in any work-focused interviews that you may be required to attend later
on.” (i)
Atos Origin are the company profiting from carrying out the
much criticised Work Capability Assessments.
WCA Survival Tips
(Some of these tips
are repetitions or further defining of others. This is to add emphasis.)
1) Never answer a question without
understanding what it means. (ii)
2) Wise up on the ESA eligibility
‘descriptors’. (iii)
3) From the moment you first apply for
Employment & Support Allowance, consider
4) who will be best
suited to accompany you to the ‘medical’ interview and
5) who to approach
for evidence to back your case.
The person to
accompany you will be your McKenzie Friend. (iv)
6) Realise that shame and embarrassment in
relation to your condition may be the biggest barriers to your successful form
completion. In the world of claiming ESA what was previously regarded as a
‘mark of shame’ often becomes a ‘badge of honour’.
7) Picture yourself on a really bad day,
because otherwise the inconsistency of ‘it varies’ answers will too easily be
interpreted as, “This descriptor is insignificant to this claimant’s
eligibility.” Beware also of the inconsistent ordering of some of the answers
in the ESA50, and recognise the relevance of minimum 24 hour working week
realities to what makes your condition worse.
8) Realise that the ESA50 form content sets
the scene for how you will be assessed.
9) Consider the possibility of a relevant
helping professional completing the ESA50 on your behalf, but be the final
arbiter on this. A relevant helping professional’s authoritative input may be
especially helpful if yours is an invisible disability or mental health
condition, but if they take a rushed approach to your form’s completion while
you may be inclined to attempt to avoid embarrassment in stating how bad your
condition really is/can be, their input may well weaken your case.
10) Never attend the Work Capability Assessment
‘medical’ alone. This is something you must factor in when completing the
ESA50.
11) Make optimum use of the ‘lead time’ from
receiving the ESA50 application form to the deadline for form completion and
return, bearing in mind that the ESA50 will be redirected to a different
address than that given on the reply envelope before it reaches the Atos team
who will be conducting your individual assessment.
12) Quote any documented evidence as much as
possible in the body of the form, rather than relying on a covering letter
and/or other attachments that are all too commonly ‘lost in the post’.
13) Keep copies of all your form content and
documentation. Electronic copies of your form content can make editing form
content easier for repeated testing situations.
14) Check out the building accessibility of the
‘Medical Examination Centre’ (MEC), realising that elevator access may not be
operating at the times that the adjoining jobcentre closes. (Some MECs are open
on Sundays, and when jobcentre staff go home at 4:30pm, elevator access may be
denied.)
15) Realise that the ‘suggested route’
details/advice that Atos Healthcare admin issue of how to get from your home to
the MEC may be unnecessarily complicated in order for you to be intimidated out
of attending.
16) Don’t allow yourself to be bullied and
intimidated by the inflexibility of ‘we’re only following orders’ Atos
call-centre staff. In the event of your not being able to attend the MEC as a
consequence of any ‘last-minute emergencies’, say, arising from the weather
denying your McKenzie friend access to a car ride from home to the MEC, realise
that a call to the relevant Disability Benefit Centre can trump such
inflexibility. Remember, without someone to attend the medical, it will be
assumed not only that you have no trouble getting to appointments alone, but
also that you will be a less reliable witness than someone who can corroborate
your version of what happened or did not happen at the medical.
17) Consider the ‘medical’ as more of an
observation activity with you as the one being observed from the time you enter
the waiting room, rather than an exhaustive and thorough medical examination.
18) Seek out, join, or form a support group for
benefit claimants. This will help make your life feel more relevant between
WCAs and help to counter the isolating influences of the reassessment process.
19) Keep abreast of changes to the law as it relates
to your ESA entitlement.
NOTES AND SOURCES
(ii) Dorothy Leeds (1998) Secrets of Successful Interviews.
The fact that the vast majority of ESA claimants who win their tribunals do so
with advocacy support indicates that those without advocacy are not
sufficiently resourced with the relevant information and interpretative
guidance.
(iii) Beyond a Yahoo! Search for “ESA descriptor points”,
you might consider subscribing to the services provided by Benefits & Work
Publishing. A year’s individual person subscription to Benefits & Work
Publishing costs currently less than £20 per year and allows you unlimited
access to their guides written by legal professionals into how the ESA
descriptors might be interpreted.
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