You can go straight to appeal if you claimed ESA and 

• this is the first time you have claimed ESA, or 

• you have been found not to have limited capability for work for the first time since you did receive an award of ESA. 

If you are in this position, you should ask for an appeal straight away. This is because you can get the assessment rate of ESA while waiting for your appeal. 

All other ESA claimants and all Universal Credit claimants must ask for a mandatory reconsideration first. That is what ‘mandatory’ means.  Use our free WCA mandatory reconsideration tool to increase your chances of getting the decision changed at this stage.