Decision letter but not really the wiser

Hello all, once again

Well, round & round & up & down the garden path we go, eh? Since I started this topic I'm afraid I'm still none the wiser! I think by early September I'd made a total of 3 calls to the DWP and written 2 emails to ATOS customer services and STILL hadn't a clue how long it'd be before I got a decision on my reassessment. ATOS told me it was "in the pile" basically, and the DWP just said no decision had been made and they couldn't tell me when it would be. Was the lovely lady I spoke to at the end of July just a mirage? Seems she must've been. Either that, or she really wanted to help me but just didn't have the authority in the end. I dunno. Anyway, I got so fed up of being anxious about the whole thing that I wrote to my MP about 6 weeks ago and told him i was unhappy about the delay in being reassessed. By then it had been almost 4 months since the deadline for returning the ESA50 (ATOS have confirmed they received it ok) and with October 28th looming I was angry. How were any of us to know that this 'delay' wasn't a cynical tactic to make it so that they could refuse many of us our claim and insist that we ask for mandatory reconsideration after the 28th when, miraculously, they would suddenly have caught up with themselves?!

I explained this fear to the MP and very nicely asked him if he'd look into things. He wrote a couple of weeks later to say he had written to Chichester House or wherever to ask them for some indication of how long things would take. Then a couple of weeks after that he wrote to me again, this time enclosing a copy of a letter he had had back from DWP. They claimed that the delays were something to do with an audit commissioned by Lord Fraud, due to the high number of appeals being overruled! Is it just me, or does that not make sense? Surely if the claimant's appeal is overruled, that's a good thing for DWP?! So I'm thinking they got that a bit mixed up. Anyway, they also said that my local ATOS had been 'informed' to fast track my assessment. That was almost 3 weeks ago now and I've heard precisely nothing

Anyone else in this situation at present? I'd also be interested to know if others who've asked their MP to intervene have had better/quicker results? I'm in SG and my money's still going in fine, but obviously I fear the brown envelope when it finally arrives, although actually I broke my back just before the latest forms arrived and had plenty of evidence that there'd been no improvement in the conditions I was originally put in SG for too.

Hello again everyone,

It's eleven months since I submitted my last ESA50 for reassessment. In the meantime I've had very little news of it, even after the involvement of my MP months ago. So yesterday I emailed a lady at ATOS customer services who has responded to my enquiries in the past. This morning she replied and has told me that last month they asked my GP for more info so that they could see if it was possible to make a decision on my claim without an assessment in person. Apparently they've had a response from my GP and the situation is being reviewed. I should hear in due course, she said. I rang my GP today and have an appointment for Friday morning, as I need to reassure myself that he has represented my situation effectively. Since the ESA50 was sent back last June I've been diagnosed with osteoporosis (I'm 47) and COPD and have lung function tests next week, so should know more then. That's all on top of what I explained in the ESA50 last year about both physical and mental health problems.

I suppose what I'm asking is, do any of the moderators rate my chances of getting through on paper scrutiny at this stage? I'm in Support Group and would prefer to stay there, of course.

Hi Gordon, thank you for your helpful reply. I particularly liked the phrase, "The wind is in your favour," it really felt for a moment as though things might be okay after all. It has been such a long 12 months for me since breaking my back, and the grim news I've had about my health since then hasn't helped my recovery, so it would be a godsend at this point to have some good news. But I take your point - there are no guarantees and I shouldn't get my hopes raised too much at this stage.

I appreciate your advice about sending in extra evidence, although I'm minded to wait until I hear something from ATOS or DWP before I do that now. If they decide they want to see me I doubt much will change their minds now that they've heard from my GP but. in the event, I'll take copies of my most recent evidence along with me and send some to DWP as well.

I shall, of course, keep you all posted.