No face to face medical

Having read that some people get into the support group without a face to face assessment, does anyone know what percentage of them have mental health problems? Are you more likely to avoid having a face to face meeting if the problem is physical rather than mental?

Kaz wrote: Having read that some people get into the support group without a face to face assessment, does anyone know what percentage of them have mental health problems? Are you more likely to avoid having a face to face meeting if the problem is physical rather than mental?

Hi K,

Whether it is deemed that you require a F2F or not will be dependent on how much relevant evidence that you provide with The ESA50, and whether ATOS feel that they can make a recommendation without the need for a F2F.

It will also depend on an individual's limitations suffered as a result of their medical conditions, whether they be Mental Health or Physical Health.

It would also be dependent on how much supportive evidence that a claimant could provide pointing to the fact that they may not be able to attend a F2F.

If a claimant felt that they could not attend a F2F, for what ever reason, they should state this at an early stage of the assessment, in The ESA50 and provide supporting evidence.

A letter of support from one's G.P. may help with this matter, and you should consider discussing this with your G.P. prior to the start of the assessment process.

If an : ESA 113 Questionnaire is sent to your G.P. (which only happens in around 25% of cases) and you have not discussed the scenario with them, they may well tick "Yes" to Question 6.

It may then be difficult to argue that you cannot attend a Medical Assessment Centre.

Here are the latest statistics Re : ESA :

www.gov.uk/government/collections/employ...apability-assessment

bro58

Thanks very much, Bro - Very helpful

I sent in my partner's ESA50 in 4 weeks ago and heard nothing yet but am hoping for no face to face assessment for him.
One thing,our mail regularly goes missing, if we do not receive the appointment date and never turned up would they resend an appointment? I am worried that one might have been sent and got lost, our house mail is always confused with other places with a similar street name.

Kaz wrote: Thanks very much, Bro - Very helpful

I sent in my partner's ESA50 in 4 weeks ago and heard nothing yet but am hoping for no face to face assessment for him.
One thing,our mail regularly goes missing, if we do not receive the appointment date and never turned up would they resend an appointment? I am worried that one might have been sent and got lost, our house mail is always confused with other places with a similar street name.

Hi K,

If you suffer problems with your post, it may well be worth while informing ATOS of this fact by e-mail :

E-Mail : This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

You could request that they also contact you by phone to confirm any appointment for a F2F if one is deemed necessary.

If a letter of appointment did then go astray, the fact that you have pre-warned them may help.

You could also request that they sent any appointment letter by recorded signed for delivery.

Whether they would do this or not is a different matter, I doubt it.

They are supposed to send out a a BF223 Form to see whether you can show good cause for non attendance of a F2F.

However, there is no guarantee that this would be done before your benefit was stopped.

bro58