Esa 50 form/ my phone number

Could someone please help me, I have received an esa50 form and it says I must give them at least 1 phone number to contact me on, I can't cope with having to do this and this is before even attempting to complete the form. I have been dreading this form arriving, I have been on esa for about 6 years and haven't been reassessed for approx 3 years. Thank you in advance.

sproger wrote: Could someone please help me, I have received an esa50 form and it says I must give them at least 1 phone number to contact me on, I can't cope with having to do this and this is before even attempting to complete the form. I have been dreading this form arriving, I have been on esa for about 6 years and haven't been reassessed for approx 3 years. Thank you in advance.

Hi s,

Welcome to Benefits and Work

ESA reassessments for current ESA recipients restarted in December 2015 after they had been deferred since January 2014 due to the back log, so a lot of members have been receiving ESA50's for reassessment since December 2015.

You don't have to provide a phone number if you don't wish to, you can leave the box blank, the whole process can be carried out through paper correspondence.

Nor do you have to speak to them on the phone if they ring you due to already having your phone number from sometime in the past.

Assuming that you are in The Support Group (SG) have a read through the following :

Theoretically ESA is awarded indefinitely, (open ended)

However, in reality, each ESA awarded comes with a recommended period (The Prognosis) before it is reassessed.

See : How often will I be reviewed

From our : ESA FAQ’s

The ESA decision notice letter that you receive after a decision, does not include the prognosis.

Normally, the longest period between re-assessments is 3 years !

So, it would be normal to have to go through regular periodic re-assessments.

Just to make you aware that : The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments (CHDA) (aka HAAS) (Maximus) who took over the ESA WCA Contract from ATOS on 02/03/15 now carry out ESA Assessments/Re-Assessments.

There have not been any changes to ESA Legislation since January 2013, however you should always use our most current Guides.

There have been some changes to The ESA50 itself.

Now that you have The ESA50, you may want to consider :

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

Whilst referring to the guides on this page, 2nd & 3rd links down :

ESA Claims Guides

See also :

How long do I have to complete the ESA50?

ESA50 too big for the envelope

&

Sending Documents to the DWP or Maximus. (aka CHDA, aka HAAS.)

You should treat this re-assessment as if it was your first assessment and not assume that The Assessor will have access to any of your previous evidence. They may not even know that you are currently in The SG, so you should make it clear that you are.

It is therefore important that you reiterate how and why you still qualify for The SG, in that the limitations that you suffer as a result of your medical conditions have not changed nor diminished to such an extent that you no longer qualify for The SG.

Nor have you learned to deal with or adapt to your limitations since your last assessment.

If you are aware how and why you were placed into The SG last time, you could cite that also.

If you want to obtain fresh evidence such as a letter of support from your G.P., obtain it yourself and post it with the ESA50.

Do not rely on Maximus/DWP contacting your G.P. , even if you request that they do so.

They seldom do and are not legally obliged to do so.

You should Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser now. That way you can return to this topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have by replying to the topic.

See : This Topic also !

Thanks in anticipation of your future co-operation in keeping all your ESA related queries to this topic !

bro58

I am the same, but gave them my home number that I don't answer....they will then write to you.....

I rang Maximus yesterday, as they received my ESA50 on 1st March. They told me they have contacted my GP.....I don't know whether this is good or not, as my doctor does not really know me, unlike my last GP.

I am trying to make this a positive as they have not just called me in for a face to face.....well I hope anyway.....

I hope my GP is sensitive to this....

Fingers crossed AP!

Anxiety Plus wrote: I rang Maximus yesterday, as they received my ESA50 on 1st March. They told me they have contacted my GP.....I don't know whether this is good or not, as my doctor does not really know me, unlike my last GP.

I am trying to make this a positive as they have not just called me in for a face to face.....well I hope anyway.....

I hope my GP is sensitive to this....

Hi AP,

You could contact your G.P. and discuss this with them.

If they have contacted your G.P., which is uncommon, they would do so in the form of an: ESA 113 Questionnaire

If you have any further ESA queries can you please start your own topic, as it is not really fair to the OP of this topic to tag on to theirs with your own queries. It can also cause confusion.

bro58