Face to Face "medical" no ESA50

I have a WCA on Thursday 25th I only just read today (23rd) I should have had an ESA50 before being called for a WCA. I read through the forums and called Maximus to say I have not received an ESA50. I was glibly informed they have one on file from 2013 so I don;t need to fill one in. I mentioned that I have Whooping Cough, I'm ill, and although I have had one interview rearranged by me and once rearranged by Maximus as they were running behind on the day, I was told I can;t rearrange again. My background disability is anxiety and depression. I have e-mailed Maximus to complain. I am panicking I will "fail" all this because I haven't had time to prepare my interview due to my appalling health. Cutting it fine but any advice would be very very gratefully recieved xx

Rita wrote: I have a WCA on Thursday 25th I only just read today (23rd) I should have had an ESA50 before being called for a WCA. I read through the forums and called Maximus to say I have not received an ESA50. I was glibly informed they have one on file from 2013 so I don;t need to fill one in. I mentioned that I have Whooping Cough, I'm ill, and although I have had one interview rearranged by me and once rearranged by Maximus as they were running behind on the day, I was told I can;t rearrange again. My background disability is anxiety and depression. I have e-mailed Maximus to complain. I am panicking I will "fail" all this because I haven't had time to prepare my interview due to my appalling health. Cutting it fine but any advice would be very very gratefully recieved xx

Hi R,

If you have escalated your challenge to Maximus as an official complaint.

You could draw their attention to our News Articles from the links provided in my last post of : This Topic.

You are allowed to re-arrange once, so even if you discount the one that Maximus cancelled, you appear to have re-arranged once your self prior to that.

You could still try to challenge this as you are currently suffering from Whooping Cough, which I believe is infectious.

Ideally, you need documented evidence from your G.P. stating that you are currently suffering from the above.

You could also ask your G.P. to provide a letter of support stating that you need a Home Assessment that being the case.

If you cannot gain written confirmation from Maximus that you do not have to attend, you must, or face having your benefit payments stopped, although being too ill to attend "should" be accepted as "Good Cause" by The DWP ESA DM.

See :

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/794/regulation/23/made

www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2008/794/regulation/24/made

Unfortunately, only The DWP DM can decide if you had "good cause" for non-attendance, and this would probably require you to provide documented medical evidence and the completion of a BF223 FORM.

This would be if Maximus would not re-arrange and returned your file to The DWP.

You could also contact ESA and inform them of your problems :

THE ESA PHONE NUMBER DWP : 0345 608 8545 Press Option 3 for ESA. (Open 8AM-6PM. Mon-Fri.)

You should escalate to a Supervisor and request a call back !

Please keep us updated.

bro58

Thank you, you are an angel, I haven't hear back from Maximus and time is ticking, one of my problems is I have no voice at the moment! I will ring the DWP after a large coffee, will let everyone know what happens next. thank you again, and I mean it when I say you are angels to people xxx

Ok, spoke to DWP, they advised me to let Maximus know I am too ill to attend. They are sending me and ESA50 and a BF223 FORM. A note is on the system saying I am too ill to attend. I fill in all the forms and send them back pronto. They said a call back from a supervisor cannot be ordered via the contact centre above, its not part of the procedure and I don't have a good enough reason to request it as the contact centre have done everything they should! Will now e-mail Maxiumus and relay the conversation to them.

Well done Rita! Thanks for the update.

ok, this is what I got back from Maximus - there is no mention in this reply of me being to ill to travel to the WCA, just that I cancelled.

Thank you for your emails.



Currently, we are in receipt of an ESA50 completed by you in 2013. We completed a review of this document in 2013 and asked you to attend an assessment with us on the 04 December 2013. Our records show that you failed to attend this appointment so your case was returned to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). They considered the actions on your case and asked us to schedule a further appointment for you. The referral choice they made, did not prompt a further ESA50 to be issued. You may wish to discuss with them why they made this decision.



Nonetheless, in line with DWP requests we have made a further appointment. We are not responsible for making the decision as to whether further ESA50s should be issued, nor are we responsible for issuing duplicate ESA50s.



I understand from your emails that the DWP have now agreed to issue you with another ESA50 form, which you could have brought to your assessment, together with any additional medical evidence you wish to be considered as part of your claim. However, you have advised in your emails that you will not be attending your scheduled appointment and the DWP have advised that they will be issuing you with a BF223 form, which allows you the opportunity to explain your reasons for not attending. Once your appointment date has passed, your case will be closed and returned to the DWP for their consideration. As such, we would advise that you send any medical evidence and your new ESA50 to them directly for consideration.



We are unable to reschedule more than one appointment date, in line with agreed DWP procedures. Any deferment of a case must be requested by DWP directly. As we have received no instruction from them on this, your appointment will remain open.



I apologise that you found the staff at our Contact Centre to be unhelpful and I do hope that the above information clarifies everything you need. A formal record of your correspondence has been made and if I can be of any further assistance with your complaint, please do not hesitate to contact me by return email or at the address below.



Kind Regards






Michelle Maycock | Customer Relations Manager