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ESA pressure
well just had a telephone call from the father of a client.
Just saw him a week ago after he had been placed in the WRAG so we were assisting with getting him into the SG.
The guy has worked himself up so much about things he’s committed suicide
So thank you very much Mr Cameron and your cohorts, another one off the books for you.
That’s awful although, sadly, not unique.
Awful indeed.
Out of interest, can the estate still pursue an appeal after his death?
Awful indeed.
Out of interest, can the estate still pursue an appeal after his death?
Typical Welf… only interested in the money!
Intellectual curiosity Dan
An appeal lodged before death is abated once death occurs unless someone applies to be appointed to act and then the appeal can continue.
Thank you. Curiosity satisfied.
Very, very sad…I would like to think that ‘they’ will learn from this but of course they won’t (or, indeed, care). I wonder if the family would be pepared to involve the press? Probably not (understandably so of course) but events such as this give the lie to all the negative ‘shirkers, scroungers, fraudsters’ spin don’t they?
On the subject of posthumous appeals I’ve repped at several. One I particularly remember involved a man who had failed the old PCA. He claimed JSA rather than recieve reduced rate IS whilst his appeal was ongoing, and dropped dead at the local JC whilst queuing to sign on. His widow continued with his appeal. There was a point during the hearing when everyone present- including the chair, the doctor and a PO- were wiping tears from their eyes. The appeal succeeded incidentally.
Yes, you don’t forget these cases do you? The last one I did was an ESA failure. The client was found dead (a suspected overdose) about one week before the hearing and his former partner applied to become the appointee. The tribunal abated the appeal. When the decision on appointeeship was made the appeal was re-instated. Shortly after a decision maker rang me to get further insight into the claimant’s mind (I have to say in all my years he was one of the most damaged individuals I’ve ever met). The decision maker was absolutely fantastic, compassionate and knowledgeable (he had not been involved in the original decision nor the appeal until now). After talking for a few minutes he told me that he would revise the decision immediately and put him in the support group. He even rang me again to inform me that he was going to pay the arrears to the former partner, who had incurred some expenses throughout the affair, rather than to the father who was somewhat estranged.
Now I’m not sure whether the experience of failing the WCA and going through the appeal process contributed to his death or not. This might have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. But I will say that if it hadn’t had been that then it’s likely it would have been something else sooner or later (this was not his first attempt). Shortly before his death he’d sent me a long and rambling diary going back many years. It was laced with prosaic images of self loathing and suffering, the origins of which go back to early childhood and reminiscent in parts of Dante’s seven circles of hell. It was all rather sad really, and in some sense, inevitable.
What a sad story Nevip.
Thing is (and I’m sure the experience is the same for all of us) there’s so very little safe ground before the tipping point is reached for many of our clients, especially the ones with long-term mental health issues. Someone who is just about holding their own can de-stabilise with frightening speed when a nameless, faceless bureaucracy suddenly pulls the rug away from under.
The true cost of all this is probably both unmeasurable and incalcuable.
I’ve repped at a few after death too - they tend to be successful…..one of mine died of a heart attack while travelling to make sure he knew where the Tribunal venue was so he wouldn’t be late, the weekend before the hearing.