Told no more esa forms needed?

I was told by the advisor at the jobcentre that when I am due to claim ESA in Feb, l will be interviewed over the phone instead of filling in the long application forms for ESA now. Is this true?

They have seriously messed up with me before, 2 years ago I went through the whole ESA claim, tribunal and won, only to find out I didn't need to go on ESA because I was eligible for income support and disability premiums as I had children under 5.

Now my child turns 5 in Feb, they said I have to go on ESA and will take the disability premiums away (as they are only given if you are on income support). However if I was on jobseekers, they would give me the premiums back. It all sounds so messed up?

gaenor wrote: I was told by the advisor at the jobcentre that when I am due to claim ESA in Feb, l will be interviewed over the phone instead of filling in the long application forms for ESA now. Is this true?

They have seriously messed up with me before, 2 years ago I went through the whole ESA claim, tribunal and won, only to find out I didn't need to go on ESA because I was eligible for income support and disability premiums as I had children under 5.

Now my child turns 5 in Feb, they said I have to go on ESA and will take the disability premiums away (as they are only given if you are on income support). However if I was on jobseekers, they would give me the premiums back. It all sounds so messed up?

Hi g,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

"I was told by the advisor at the jobcentre that when I am due to claim ESA in Feb, l will be interviewed over the phone instead of filling in the long application forms for ESA now. Is this true?"

No, I am afraid that it isn't !!

There is no provision for carrying out an ESA Works Capability Assessment (WCA) over the phone.

In nearly all cases, except for a few exceptions with claimants that may have terminal illness, or mental health problems, an ESA50 Questionnaire will be issued which you must fill in and return by the deadline date that you will be given.

You can have a look at the ESA50 by downloading it from the link on this page :

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

From our : ESA FAQ’s

You would have to obtain a "Fit Note" from your G.P. which would then have to be sent to The DWP as part of making your ESA Claim :

www.gov.uk/employment-support-allowance/overview

As you will have seen, you can make the initial claim for ESA over the phone, but this has nothing to do with The ESA50 and The ESA WCA.

After the phone call, you will receive an ESA 1 Claim Form which will contain all the information that you have provided over the phone.

You would need to sign and return this if you agree with the information therein.

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

It may help you further if you have a look at the Understanding ESA Guide and Claiming ESA Guides on this page : ESA Claims Guides

Once your ESA Claim is accepted, you will be entitled to The Assessment Rate of ESA until you have received a decision on your ESA WCA.

"Now my child turns 5 in Feb, they said I have to go on ESA and will take the disability premiums away (as they are only given if you are on income support). However if I was on jobseekers, they would give me the premiums back. It all sounds so messed up?"

If you were entitled to Income Support, (IS) although you can't be paid IS with ESA, you can be paid the equivalent which is Income Related (IR) ESA.

If you are entitled to IR ESA, then you would also receive payment of any :

ESA Premiums that you may be entitled to.

Such as the one's mentioned in the FAQ above.

These Premiums can also be paid on top of your IR ESA in The Assessment Phase before the WCA is carried out.

So, "Premiums" are payable with ESA.

It looks very much like you have been the victim of misinformation.

Please reply to this topic if you have any further queries.

bro58