Esa Another assesment

Hi all after been reassessed last year and moved from Income support to Esa, filled in the form and after a few months got a letter saying I was been placed in the support group without a face to face assesment, after a year I got another Esa 50 form to fill in, this was last sept and have just got a letter through today saying I need a face to face assessment, I cannot believe they at atos have taken the time to read my esa 50 form which was very detailed, can you request atos to take a look at it again before having a face to face assestment, Thanks.

It is very unusual not to have an assessment so I suppose you could say you were 'lucky' not the have one the first time, I use the term loosely of course. I do not think your suspicions around whether Atos have read the form are unwarranted. If the form was detailed it may well have simply been scan read. Individuals reading the forms have an allotted time per form.

As far as I am aware you do not have the right to ask for them to review your form at this stage. This of course doesn't stop you from asking but I think it will be at their discretion and they are unlikely to comply.

If you have difficulty attending an assessment the best course of action would be to get a doctors letter stating this and why. This should hopefully initiate a home visit. Of course this letter could also include why you fulfill the Support Group criteria which may preclude the need for assessment, but this is still unlikely. If you already have a date for assessment you should phone them immediately explaining why you cannot attend before following up in writing and with evidence.

Following on from PuccaLove's excellent advise - you should be aware that claimants are only allowed to miss/change one appointment before their case file is returned to DWP and, potentially, the claim closed with loss of benefits. If you do defer this appointment and are still requested to attend for a face2face assessment, you should take great care to ensure that you keep that appointment.

Hi all thank you for the information, I have my assessment early next week and was looking for some basic tips as my memory is very poor, like a lot of people my condition varies day to day, week to week. When I am going through a bad period, I am bed bound for weeks on end and in agony and heavily sedated with medication, when I am not in bed I take pain killers daily and struggle with all forms of movement, when at the assessment, do I explain my condition based on a bad period or when I am not bed bound, as I do not have a typical day.

ESA descriptors are supposed to be those that apply for most of the time. So if you are usually bed bound you can lean on this however they will obviously note that you have attended the assessment. If there is no 'usual' then you would be best advised to explain the variability. Of course they can use the variability to their advantage and note what you are like on a better day but if you have made the variability clear on your form they should not be able to use this against you at any appeal.