ESA medical letter but no ESA50 form

Well I have received an email reply from customer services. I'm stunned by the content though -

"If you require more time to complete an up to date questionnaire please let us know and we will arrange for your forthcoming assessment to be put back to a later date.
 
All ESA claimants are issued with an ESA50 to complete. You were issued with this in December 2012, however this was not received back from you. Your referral continued to be progressed however and a work capability assessment was arranged for you for 14th May 2013, however our records show that you did not attend for this. As a result of not attending, your benefit file was returned to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as per the process we are required to adhere to.  The DWP re-referred your benefit file back to us on 20th September 2013, and an appointment has now been arranged for your work capability assessment for 9th June.
 
If you are able to provide us with a completed questionnaire, a Healthcare Professional will review this to see whether we have sufficient information to enable us to to provide advice to the DWP without the need for a face to face assessment on this occasion, or whether you will still be required to attend for one. "


As you can see, apparently I missed filling an ESA50, missed a WCA, and the DWP didn't sanction me or cut me off. Is that a first??

I haven't had an ESA50 from ATOS/DWP/Maximus that I haven't filled in and sent off. How can this happen??

I'm just taking time to digest this and I think I will ask for more time and send them a form off.

I must just add that I'm pleased with the tone and speed of the reply and the lady clearly has looked into what's going on.

MammaT wrote: Well I have received an email reply from customer services. I'm stunned by the content though -

"If you require more time to complete an up to date questionnaire please let us know and we will arrange for your forthcoming assessment to be put back to a later date.
 
All ESA claimants are issued with an ESA50 to complete. You were issued with this in December 2012, however this was not received back from you. Your referral continued to be progressed however and a work capability assessment was arranged for you for 14th May 2013, however our records show that you did not attend for this. As a result of not attending, your benefit file was returned to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) as per the process we are required to adhere to.  The DWP re-referred your benefit file back to us on 20th September 2013, and an appointment has now been arranged for your work capability assessment for 9th June.
 
If you are able to provide us with a completed questionnaire, a Healthcare Professional will review this to see whether we have sufficient information to enable us to to provide advice to the DWP without the need for a face to face assessment on this occasion, or whether you will still be required to attend for one. "


As you can see, apparently I missed filling an ESA50, missed a WCA, and the DWP didn't sanction me or cut me off. Is that a first??

I haven't had an ESA50 from ATOS/DWP/Maximus that I haven't filled in and sent off. How can this happen??

I'm just taking time to digest this and I think I will ask for more time and send them a form off.

I must just add that I'm pleased with the tone and speed of the reply and the lady clearly has looked into what's going on.

Hi MT,

If you had been sent an ESA50 and not returned it and then not attended a "medical" the likely hood is that you would have received correspondence from The DWP asking whether you could show "Good Cause" for the above, with the threat of stopping your ESA if you couldn't.

Even if they had sent an ESA50 out in Dec 2012, as that was 30 months ago, it would not be current, so they should have still sent one out prior to this reassessment.

Maximus were not carrying out "medicals" for ESA on 20th Sept 2013, it was ATOS.

Maximus only took over from ATOS on 02/03/15.

They should not be arranging a face to face "medical" until they have looked at a current ESA50 to see whether it is needed or would be appropriate.

I would advise that you do fill out a current ESA50 and post it to Maximus.

You could also send copy of it FAO The ESA Decision Maker at the address of the DWP Benefits Office/Centre on your most recent ESA letter.

If it ensues that you do have to attend a face to face, as a backup, take another copy with you and hand it to The Assessor before the start of the assessment.

If you want to push the issue, you could ask Maximus and The DWP to provide administrative proof that the ESA50 and subsequent face to face appointment letter were sent to you circa Dec 2012/May 2013.

The important thing to concentrate on in the short term is to fill in the Pdf ESA50 and get it to Maximus.

If you can provide enough information, they may be able to make recommendations to The DWP without you having to attend a face to face.

You may want to make a written request for the face to face to be recorded also. (if one is deemed necessary)

They should comply with this request and there is a pro-forma letter regarding this in our ESA Claims Guides

Well done for challenging Maximus, and please keep us updated !!

Make sure that you keep all future correspondence with Maximus in writing by e-mail.

bro58

I have emailed the lady back, thanking her for her speedy answer and saying I'll email her either tomorrow or Monday to let her know if it's possible for me to get a form completed and returned to them before the WCA. I am hoping a friend, who knows me very well and who's been on hand to care for me often, can help me over the weekend.

I am still digesting the email although I know that's really secondary to completing the pdf form now.

Thank you for your help.

Right - I have asked for, and been granted an extension. My appointment has been moved from 9th June to Friday 26th June which is exactly 4 weeks today. I have been asked to email my form back. I asked what date they would need it by and was given 19th June which is 3 weeks today.

I did ask why I have been given 3 weeks to complete the form when normally you're given 4 weeks and the lady said the appointment for the 26th was the furthest ahead they could book and as they've re-arranged it once they cannot do so again as per DWP guidelines (and as mentioned above by Gordon). The lady did then say that I should get the form to them as soon as I could before the appointment and they will get it looked at.

I am exhausted - but do feel that customer services have treated me as a human being which is something I have never been close to feeling when dealing with ATOs/DWP before.

I will be getting help next week with the form and will now focus on complying. Sadly my health is not complying and I've gone quite a bit downhill in the last couple of days. I do feel as if I've done all I can though and I do feel being able to email is a huge improvement for me as I am unable to use the telephone myself.

I will keep you updated and would like to thank you for your help. (I will be using your guides to complete the form too).

MammaT wrote: Right - I have asked for, and been granted an extension. My appointment has been moved from 9th June to Friday 26th June which is exactly 4 weeks today. I have been asked to email my form back. I asked what date they would need it by and was given 19th June which is 3 weeks today.

I did ask why I have been given 3 weeks to complete the form when normally you're given 4 weeks and the lady said the appointment for the 26th was the furthest ahead they could book and as they've re-arranged it once they cannot do so again as per DWP guidelines (and as mentioned above by Gordon). The lady did then say that I should get the form to them as soon as I could before the appointment and they will get it looked at.

I am exhausted - but do feel that customer services have treated me as a human being which is something I have never been close to feeling when dealing with ATOs/DWP before.

I will be getting help next week with the form and will now focus on complying. Sadly my health is not complying and I've gone quite a bit downhill in the last couple of days. I do feel as if I've done all I can though and I do feel being able to email is a huge improvement for me as I am unable to use the telephone myself.

I will keep you updated and would like to thank you for your help. (I will be using your guides to complete the form too).

Hi MT,

Well done for getting to where your are !!

Look after yourself and please let us know how you are getting on.

bro58