Migration from SDA to ESA

I have been in receipt of SDA and IS for many years and was recently sent an ESA50 to complete after receiving a letter and a phone call explaining the move to the ESA.
Friends from a hospital group I have attended fir many yesrs were simply migrated from IB and IS onto ESA without having go fill in an ESA50 or attend another medical.
Previously I have never had any trouble passing the medical so am wondering why some people are migrated automatically, but others such as myself have to fill in the ESA50.
Is this something to do with me claiming Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) instead of Incapacity Benefit?
Or maybe the ones being transferred over automatically are not due for a re-assessment. And I am as it has been 5 years since I had a mecical or filled in any forms
Thanks for any thoughts or info.
Best wishes everyone,
Andrew

andrevi wrote: I have been in receipt of SDA and IS for many years and was recently sent an ESA50 to complete after receiving a letter and a phone call explaining the move to the ESA.
Friends from a hospital group I have attended fir many yesrs were simply migrated from IB and IS onto ESA without having go fill in an ESA50 or attend another medical.
Previously I have never had any trouble passing the medical so am wondering why some people are migrated automatically, but others such as myself have to fill in the ESA50.
Is this something to do with me claiming Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) instead of Incapacity Benefit?
Or maybe the ones being transferred over automatically are not due for a re-assessment. And I am as it has been 5 years since I had a mecical or filled in any forms
Thanks for any thoughts or info.
Best wishes everyone,
Andrew

Hi a,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

In my 4 years as a Moderator, I cannot recall any of our members being "automatically" transferred over to ESA from IB, IS or SDA without having to fill in an ESA50 Questionnaire.

Once the ESA50 is filled in and returned, you can be placed into The WRAG or The Support Group (SG) of ESA on the paper evidence alone without the need for a face to face "medical", if they consider that you have provided enough paper evidence to do so.

There is no difference in the transfer process for IB, IS or SDA recipients.

The DWP/Maximus are supposed to make allowances for claimants filling in and returning an ESA50 if they have mental health issues.

You should bare in mind that the qualifying criteria for ESA is a lot different to that of IB, IS and SDA.

The national programme to transfer all IB, IS and SDA recipients over to ESA began in March 2011, and was supposed to have been completed in Spring 2014.

They did originally state that SDA recipients would be transferred over last, but as you may have gathered they are already well over a year behind with their national transfers schedule.

Have a read through "Being transferred from incapacity benefit to employment and support allowance," at the top of : This Page.

As you will see, there are other ESA Claims Guides on the same page.

See also : ESA Medical – What to expect from our : ESA FAQ’s

&

IB, IS, SDA, Migration to ESA FAQ’s

Please reply to this topic if you have any further queries after reading through the above.

bro58

Hi, I just found this under the FAQ on tnis website, which does indicate that some people are transferred to ESA without having to complete an ESA50 form, if the information held about them from previous claims for IB/SDA is deemed sufficient:-

"How will I know when the process has begun for me?
You will get a letter from the DWP telling you that you are about to be subject to the work capability assessment (WCA). You will also get a telephone call confirming this and asking if you need any additional support with the process. The next thing most people will receive is the ESA50 questionnaire, unless a decision to award you ESA is made just using the information already held about you."

Has anyone here been migrated without filling in an ESA50.? I am particularly interested to hear from claimants of SDA, but also welcome any info from those previously claiming IB and/or IS.
THANKS,
ANDY

andrevi wrote: Hi, I just found this under the FAQ on tnis website, which does indicate that some people are transferred to ESA without having to complete an ESA50 form, if the information held about them from previous claims for IB/SDA is deemed sufficient:-

"How will I know when the process has begun for me?
You will get a letter from the DWP telling you that you are about to be subject to the work capability assessment (WCA). You will also get a telephone call confirming this and asking if you need any additional support with the process. The next thing most people will receive is the ESA50 questionnaire, unless a decision to award you ESA is made just using the information already held about you."

Has anyone here been migrated without filling in an ESA50.? I am particularly interested to hear from claimants of SDA, but also welcome any info from those previously claiming IB and/or IS.
THANKS,
ANDY

Hi A,

I think that I have already answered your query in my previous post.

"In my 4 years as a Moderator, I cannot recall any of our members being "automatically" transferred over to ESA from IB, IS or SDA without having to fill in an ESA50 Questionnaire."

See This List of historical posts that came up when I put "SDA to ESA" into The Site Search Engine.


This is not really a "chat forum" !

bro58