There is inevitably a focus on advice and representation for ESA appeal tribunals, because of the 1.5 million people being moved from incapacity benefit, income support for incapacity and severe disablement allowance, to employment & support allowance (ESA). However, it's not all ESA appeal tribunals and we must not lose sight of the many other types of advice enquiries that continue to come our way.

A growing area is that of help with DLA from clients in Spain, France, Portugal and other EU states. Word is beginning to spread among the ex-pat community about the decision of the European Court of Justice decision in the case of Lucy Stewart -v- Secretary of State for Work & Pensions in July 2011. Although the case concerned a claim for a quite different benefit, the Court's decision concerned classes of benefit and what they had to say about 'short-term incapacity benefit in youth' applies equally to other benefits classed as 'invalidity benefits', such as DLA care component and carer's allowance.

There are other conditions that have to be met for such a claim to be successful, such as there being a genuine link between the claimant and the competent State (the UK). It helps here if the person has not claimed within the benefit system in their new country of residence and has not worked there. Contact us for free advice about making a claim.

We have clients who are in the process of making DLA claims from outside the UK and they have found Skype and email to be a great help in making sure that they can properly communicate their care needs and maintain contact with us in a way that would be very difficult by post alone. We are delighted that an ex-pat client in Spain has had their DLA award based on this change in the law.

Getting professional help and good advice, never mind representation, is not easy with advice agencies struggling financially and public funding/legal aid for this area of work due to end in April 2013. We are able to help with advice and representation and when it comes to DLA help, this is quite easily managed across the miles, whether by phone or with the added dimension that the video link with Skype brings.

With an ESA50 form or a DLA claim, get help and advice – it is so cost-effective.  Clients sign their ESA50 forms and post them to us, to be completed either during a Skype meeting or a phone call.  This typically takes two hours, just as it does face-to-face.  Then the form is posted to ATOS by us and you get a letter confirming what we think the outcome of your claim should be, based on your instructions.

READ THIS! If you are getting contributory ESA and are in the 'work-related activity group', you may have a problem.  

A rule change in April 2012, placed a limit of 12 months on how long you can receive contributory ESA.  You don't have 12 months from the rule change in April either, as time on contributory ESA before April 2012 counts towards the 12 months.  Once your 12 months is up, you can then move onto the means-tested ESA, IF you qualify financially.  This would be a problem for someone with another source of income, perhaps a pension, or if they have a partner who works or has an income, etc.

YOU WILL NOT BE AFFECTED by this change if you are in the support group.  There is a separate and very restrictive test for the support group and you won't even find it in your appeal papers, unless your appeal mentioned this group.

If you have an ESA appeal and wonder if you should also be asking the tribunal to put you in the support group, GET ADVICE.

If you are going to be completing an ESA50 form and wonder if you should be saying in there how you think you qualify for the support group, GET ADVICE.

You can email us by clicking the link below.  See the 'Contact us' page for more options.