letter from dwp for changing from ib to esa

hi, i have had a letter from dwp to say someone will be calling me in next 2 weeks to discuss me moving from incapacity benefit to esa. i have been getting ib for 15 years now as i have fibromyalgia. this letter has been giving me severe stress and making my illness much worse. i am getting confused on what to say to when they ring up. are there any trick questions . if i have to fill out medical questionare how do i get help with filling it out.

Hi Katherine,
As Far as I am aware, the phone call is just for very basic info at this stage, so no 'trick questions'. The difficult bit is filling out the form, you should be able to get help with that from the CAB.

I'm sure that a mod wil be along soon with more specific info.

Please use the forum search facility in the first instance, where you may already find an answer to your question?

katherine wrote:

hi, i have had a letter from dwp to say someone will be calling me in next 2 weeks to discuss me moving from incapacity benefit to esa. i have been getting ib for 15 years now as i have fibromyalgia. this letter has been giving me severe stress and making my illness much worse. i am getting confused on what to say to when they ring up. are there any trick questions . if i have to fill out medical questionare how do i get help with filling it out.

Hi Kat,

Try not to worry too much,

The phone call that you speak of is standard, and simply reiterates the whole process.

If you don't feel up to it, you don't even have to answer it, the whole process can be done by correspondence.

You should receive your ESA50 about a month after your initial letter, and it may be worth contacting them if you haven't by then.

You can download and save a copy of the interactive ESA50 from this link. :

www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/...lasset/dg_195544.pdf

Then with the help of the excellent ESA Guides that can be accessed from the orange MEMBERS ONLY box on the left, you could even start filling it in, a bit at a time. The good thing is that you can save and edit as you wish, then when it is due to be returned, which should be around 6 weeks after receipt of the normal ESA50 through the post, you can simply print it off and post it to the ATOS address given, by the deadline given.

Have a good read of the ESA guides, it will give you a good idea also, of what to expect.

Hope this helps

bro58

thankyou for your tips, will study all the guides.