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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Work capability issues and ESA  →  Thread

Decision Makers Guide on failure to attend WCA

Mr Finch
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Benefits adviser - Isle of Wight CAB

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Total Posts: 509

Joined: 4 March 2011

Decision making practice seems to have become increasingly unreasonable on good cause. I have someone who has incontinence and severe mental health problems who has been found not to have had good cause despite evidence being supplied of this now and in previous assessments. MR upheld this.

The letter seems to imply that not contacting Medical Services has been considered as a relevant factor. The DMG also strongly implies this will tip the balance in a close case (Example 1): https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/pdfs/adm3-14.pdf

Surely this isn’t a relevant factor at all, as it could make no difference to whether the claimant would have attended? I believe Example 1 is promoting an unlawful approach both to this as a factor and to assessing evidence more generally.

Charles
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Accountant, Haffner Hoff Ltd, Manchester

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Joined: 27 February 2019

DWP would probably argue (see the first sentence of para. 5) that if the claimant had contacted Medical Services they could have re-arranged the appointment and been able to attend, so it is relevant.

I believe an appointment can only be re-arranged once though, so if that has already happened (as is the case in Example 1), I’d agree with you that contacting Medical Services is irrelevant to good cause.

[ Edited: 12 Mar 2019 at 05:08 am by Charles ]