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ESA Cock-up!

  • Kei-Sha
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11 years 11 months ago - 11 years 11 months ago #104950 by Kei-Sha
ESA Cock-up! was created by Kei-Sha
Q. 1. Are ATOS allowed to give me the same nurse for my 2nd medical assesment ??
Hi. :)
I'll try to keep it as breif as possible. I was on long term Inc' Benifit & 5 yr's ago (before ATOS) I had to go for a medical & scored more than 15 points with back, shoulder/arm & mild arthritis problems then when the benifits system changed I was put on cont' ESA with a 50% reduction in income & called in by ATOS for a medical assesment (like many,many others,) at that time 18 months ago my shoulder/arm problem was still the same but my back & arthrits had worsend to the point that I was very retricted in everything I could do from walking to sitting but scored 0 points so I appealed & faild but was given 6 points by the appeal judge for walking problems, nothing for back or shoulder/arm which I got 15+ points for 1st time. As my claim has gone over 365 days I'm now on income based ESA as I am still claiming along with my GP's agreement that I'm not fit for work as the athritis & back are even worse now & of cause I've had to fill in an ESA 50 form & have been called in for a medical assesment. Are ATOS allowed to give me the same nurse for my 2nd medical assesment ?? because her medical report was full of incorrect facts (REMOVED) & ommited lots of info which lessened my problems, making me appear fit for work to a decision maker who is 20/30 miles away & has'nt even met or spoken to me & can I refuse to be seen by her on those grounds ? mind you by what I have recently heard they are all told to do the same things !!
Q. 2. Can the DWP not pay out any benifit for up to 3 months, even if your providing Dr's notes.
As I mentioned in Q1 I am in receipt of income based ESA but my partner ( who is regestered dissabled with bone problems ) also failed her appeal 3 weeks ago which was 2 weeks before her 365 day's expired so as soon as we got home from the appeal she downloaded the income based ESA claim form, filled it in & sent it off only to find 2 weeks ago durring a phone conversation with DWP that she was'nt entitled to claim & was told that her £71 would be taken off her & added to my £10 ( this is because we have a little bit in a savings bond) so I would have to claim for her or if we prefered we could have the claim in her name claiming for me which suits us better, as the council bungalow is in her name due to her health conditions but we would have to put that in writing which we did. Today after spending 1hr 45 min's on the phone to DWP (at our expense) they have now informed us that my claim has been stopped after receiving our letter but my partners could take up to 14 day's to go through & even then they may insist on her having another medical assesment before the claim is started which could take up to 3 months & in in the mean time we would not receive any money even though we would be sending in Dr's unfit for work notes. They are now sending me an ESA 3 claim form to re-start my claim & have my partner added on to it, why can't they have done it whilst on the phone , they've got all the details.
WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF THIS COCK-UP!!! :unsure:
Keith
Last edit: 11 years 11 months ago by Gordon.

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11 years 11 months ago #104962 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA Cock-up!
Keith

Unless you made a formal complaint to ATOS in regard to the previous ESA85, ATOS would have no reason not to use the same assessor, you may be able to request another person carry out the interview, but this would be at the discretion of ATOS and would certainly would use up the one cancellation that claimants are entitled to.

As to your claims, only one person in a couple can make a claim for an Income Related benefit, so as the DWP have pointed out; your two options are for you to claim with your wife added on, or for her to claim with you added on, as far as I am aware there should be no difference in the amounts payable or other benefits that can be accessed.

I assume that you have made a new claim for ESA following your failed appeal and that you are awaiting an assessment in connection with this.

You say that your wife's appeal also failed, does this mean that she was found Fit for Work or was she was appealing to be placed in the Support Group? If the former, then your wife would also have to make a new claim for ESA, however, as you already had one open, this would not be allowed. If the latter, then despite her ESA(CB) payments stopping, she would remain eligible for ESA and could in principle claim ESA(IR) subject to you closing your claim.

So, if your wife still has open claim following her appeal then you can be added to it and it should only require an ESA3 to be completed for her payments to be restarted.

If your wife does not have an open claim then she would need to make a new claim, this will require a new ESA50 and likely an assessment, payment for you as a couple will probably take 2-3 weeks, the ESA1 should capture all of the information required for you as a couple.

If it your claim, then it will take some time to re-open your claim, I would guess 1-2 weeks, If you only completed the ESA1 based on your income and assets then the DWP will not have the information required to set a up a joint claim, in which case an ESA3 will also be required. If you did complete it as a couple, then I would agree that an ESA3 is not required, however, having been told to complete one, you must do so, unless you can convince the DWP that you do not need to as the information has already been supplied.

As a general comment, if you have anything more than a general request, it is often worth escalating a problem from the DWP call centre to a manager, as they are much more likely to be able to deal with your request there and then, this usually requires a call back.

Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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