ESA Medical Delay

Kev

To answer your questions

1. If your condition has changed either due to the length of time since you completed the ESA50 or due to this new treatment then you should explain the changes, including medical evidence as available, and send the information to the ATOS office dealing with your assessment, you should also send a copy to the DWP office dealing with your ESA claim marked for the attention of the Decision Maker, also you should take a copy of this information to the ATOS assessment, if you have one, and ask the assessor to read it before proceeding with the interview.

2. See above, by submitting it now there is a chance that a recommendation on your claim can be made by ATOS without you needing to attend an assessment.

3. If you are called for an assessment then you are entitled to 7 days written notice of an appointment, however this includes postage time, so you may actually only get 4 or 5 days.

You should be able to cancel the first appointment without fault, however, you must attend the next appointment on the day specified or your file will be returned to the DWP as a no-show and your claim will be closed unless you can provide Good Cause for the missing the second appointment.

Gordon

Kev

1. There is no legal requirement for ATOS to contact your GP, you can neither force ATOS to contact them nor delay the assessment interview until they do.

2. There is a template letter to request your appointment is recorded in the ESA section. There are no cons to your requesting it although it could mean that your current appointment is delayed while they source the equipment. The Pros are that you will have a complete log off everything that is said during the appointment.

3. A prescription repeat should be sufficient, just make sure that it has a recent date.

4. No, any companion does not need to provide identity or to complete any forms, there is no need for them to answer questions before the interview, if they have valid input during the medical then they should be allowed to speak to a limited extent.

5. There is a section towards the back of the ESA Claim guides that explains about the assessment process and the questions that you are likely to be asked.

Gordon

Kev68 wrote: Thanks Gordon.

If they don't contact my GP does that mean they think they have enough information on my ESA50?

No, if that was the case then they would not have arranged an assessment.

If you have not already seen you GP following your previous post, it may be worth you still doing so, if they were waiting for ATOS to write to them you can now confirm that they will not be, this may help if they were previously hesitant to provide you with support on your claim. You can present any letter or report at the assessment, ask the assessor to read it before starting the interview and include it in the file to be returned to the DWP. We do recommend sending a copy to the DWP as well, to the office dealing with your ESA claim marked for the attention of the Decision Maker.

Gordon