WCA coming soon

Hi everyone at B&W

This morning I have finally received the call for my assessment which will be in the third week of June 2015. This is my third assessment as my earlier WCAs were failed because of lies and non recording of my verbal evidence as how my illness affected my daily life.

Plus the fact that until subscribing to your fantastic website after my 2nd failure, I have learned much by reading what the HCPs look for and how they read you! This time I will be taking someone with me as recommended by you.

Two questions I have for the moderators please,

1). Will I have time to still request an audio recording, and do you have a format/template of how this request should be applied for, I.e. written or over the phone?, and to whom should the request be sent/called too, the DWP who pay my benefits or the address on the assessment appointment letter which was sent from Wembley?

2). My first WCA was in Jan 2012, my second WCA was in March 2013. Can I still request to my benefit paying offices, copies of the ESA85 reports from those WCAs? What should I do if they tell me 'no copies are available'? I need them for my associate to read so that he can give me proper legal and moral support on the day of the examination. (they did send copies in may 2013. but I destroyed them in disgust after my appeal was lost).

Lastly do you have any other recommendations to follow or general advice that would help with my WCA?

Thank you for all your help. Regards Tom.

Tommy wrote: Hi everyone at B&W

This morning I have finally received the call for my assessment which will be in the third week of June 2015. This is my third assessment as my earlier WCAs were failed because of lies and non recording of my verbal evidence as how my illness affected my daily life.

Plus the fact that until subscribing to your fantastic website after my 2nd failure, I have learned much by reading what the HCPs look for and how they read you! This time I will be taking someone with me as recommended by you.

Two questions I have for the moderators please,

1). Will I have time to still request an audio recording, and do you have a format/template of how this request should be applied for, I.e. written or over the phone?, and to whom should the request be sent/called too, the DWP who pay my benefits or the address on the assessment appointment letter which was sent from Wembley?

2). My first WCA was in Jan 2012, my second WCA was in March 2013. Can I still request to my benefit paying offices, copies of the ESA85 reports from those WCAs? What should I do if they tell me 'no copies are available'? I need them for my associate to read so that he can give me proper legal and moral support on the day of the examination. (they did send copies in may 2013. but I destroyed them in disgust after my appeal was lost).

Lastly do you have any other recommendations to follow or general advice that would help with my WCA?

Thank you for all your help. Regards Tom.

Hi T,

With respect to Question 1) :

There is a template letter regarding requesting that your F2F "medical" is recorded in our ESA Claims Guides 3rd and 4th links down this page :

ESA Claims Guides

There is also a separate link to the letter 9th link down the same page.

I would e-mail this to : The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) (Maximus) who took over the ESA WCA Contract from ATOS on 02/03/15, so that you have a "paper trail".

You could ask them to confirm in writing by return e-mail that they agree to this.

If they do, print it off and take it with you to your F2F.

I would also a check on the day, on arrival, before the assessment starts, that recording facilities have been put into place for your F2F.

They should give you a copy CD of the recording after the assessment.

We have heard from a couple of members where they have been given the CD, only to find that it was blank when they got home.

You may therefore want to ask the assessor to show you that the recording has been made on the CD before leaving.

Question 2) :

You can request previous Documentation used in your ESA WCA.

This can be done using a Subject Access Request (SAR) :

As well as The ESA85's, there should be an LT54 Form, which may contain useful information.

A description of an LT54 can be found at the bottom of this list :

ESA Forms

There may also be an ESA113 questionnaire, if one was sent to your G.P.

To cover all bases, you could make a SAR for "All" documentation used in your previous WCA.

You can do this using a SAR Form :

SAR Form Download

From this page :

DWP Data Protection Policy

Or you can make the request in the form of a letter, as long as you make it clear that you are making a formal SAR under The Data Protection Act 1998.

Address the envelope : FAO The Data Controller, at the a Benefits Office dealing with your ESA.

Write DPA 1998 SAR in front, top, left corner of envelope.

Once received, they have 40 calendar days to comply.

Sending Documents to the DWP.

Finally, how you manage the return trip to and from the assessment centre will be taken into account as part of your assessment.

You may be observed approaching, leaving and whilst inside the centre.

Assumptions may be made as a result of said observations.

See also : ESA Medical – What to expect

Good luck and please keep us updated.

bro58

To:- Bro 85

Thank you for all the Information and guidance you have sent to me, I will definitely let you all know how my progress goes along.

Thanks again. Regards. Tommy