Medical Certificate Rejected (JSA to ESA due to Appeal)

Have a client who am trying to help get off JSA and back on ESA as is appealing (received by Tribunals Service on 27 January 2015_.  Unfortunately his medical certificate (dated 23 December 2014 and lasting 6 months) has not been accepted and although his JSA payments have stopped - his ESA payments have not started again.  He is being asked for one from 11 December 2014 - not sure why that date in particular.  Is this possible - can I argue anything?  Thanks a lot for any help..

Was 11th December the decision date? If so, that’s probably why they’re insisting on a med cert from that date. The quickest route from A to B in terms of getting your client some dosh might well be to contact his surgery, explain the urgency and see if they will issue one….

@1964.
Wow, yes it was.. good spot.  OK so need to contact his surgery.  Thank you.  Do you happen to know why it needs to cover this period as I only asked recently for ESA payments to get reinstated - are they backdated then rather than transferring now?  Thanks again for your help..

They have it drummed into them that the claimant needs to be covered by med certs from the date of the decision against which they are appealing so even if client has claimed JSA for part of the period the DWP tends to insist on a med cert covering them throughout (then the DWP affectively offsets the JSA that has been paid against the arrears of ESA due for the whole period, if that makes sense).

Got it - just wondered if there was a legal basis for this in the legislation..  In any case.. thanks a lot.

This is my own advice to myself for the future..  JSA is paid two weeks in arrears.  Therefore the best time to make the transition is just after client has been paid which will give you the maximum time for the transition to happen smoothly without client suffering lack of payment.  The medical certificate you provide should cover the period from the decision date ESA was stopped.  If you have problems, call Jobcentre helpline and ask for a Short Term Benefit Advance on behalf of the client (http://www.cpag.org.uk/stba-adviser-tools).

I came across this for the first time last year. Previously, I’d had no difficulty getting ESA reinstated from the date the appeal was lodged. Where the med3 doesn’t start untila month or two after the date of decision, it means lost benefit but c’est la vie. I can’t think of a legal basis for the refusal to reinstate ESA from the date of appeal. i don’t think the rules state that LCW must be demonstrated throughout that period, but I may be misremembering. I do my best to avoid this problem by advising people to obtain med3s continuously even while claiming JSA pending appeal.

@Edmund Shepherd
Yes, I think I will be doing this going forward - good idea - carry on getting med3s.. 

Still if anyone can find any legal backing for what they are doing (or not).. I would still be interested in hearing.