Yes the 'Judge' made this quote to me before I left! He also said that he felt the medical I had attended earlier had been remiss in some of the facts that had been listed and it was not an accurate assessment of my condition. Then he went on to talk about ESA and expalined it was being migrated next year and because of my surname coming quite late in the alphabet it would probably be about November next year before I hear.

He didnt mention abount another medical, do you know if and when I have to attend another one, as my Welfare Rights advisor was near to useless, so didnt feel I could get the correct information out of him.

Thanks again

Hi angelawallace

When it comes to benefits you can never be certain that what you say is correct, but I think it is highly unlikely that the order of claimants being reassessed during the migration process would be based on surnames. The process is likely to take three years at least. Basing it on surnames would be like giving people who's surnames begin with 'A' priory to a council flat!

When you will be reassessed is anybody's guess, but unfortunately, many members who have won an appeal have been called up for another medical shortly afterwards. I hope it doesn't happen to you, but I feel I should warn you about it.

Best wishes

Derek

Hi Angela,


Between October 2010 and March 2014 existing incapacity benefits claimants (those on incapacity benefit, severe disablement allowance and income support on disability grounds) will be reassessed under the employment and support allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) instead of the Personal Capability Assessment.

Disability Alliance have a dedicated link on their website for the migration process. Incapacity Benefits Migration

Here's an extract on Key aspects of migration :

* no new claim will be required for the move to ESA, the process will be triggered by a notice to the customer;

* the date of a customer’s re-assessment will be based on the review date of their Personal Capability Assessment;

* people who reach State Pension Age during this reassessment period 2010-2014 will not be reassessed to avoid having to change benefits twice in a short period;

* where possible, the DWP will use existing data held for IB/IS to determine entitlement to ESA;

* DWP has pledged to help customers adapt to their new circumstances and ensure continuity of payment is maintained;

* existing incapacity benefits will continue to be paid to the day before the change;

* where people who are eligible for ESA receive more on existing incapacity benefits than the appropriate ESA rate, their existing rate of benefit will be frozen at the point of conversion;

* where people who are eligible for ESA receive less on incapacity benefits than the appropriate ESA rate, their benefit will immediately be increased to the ESA rate on conversion;

* all claims to incapacity benefits on or after 31 January 2011 will be treated as new ESA claims - there will be no link to earlier claims for incapacity benefits;

* appeals may be brought against the decision not to award ESA as a result of failure to meet the WCA threshold;

* ESA will be paid at the same rate as for new ESA claims where a person is appealing against a decision that they are not entitled because of not meeting the WCA threshold;

I recommend you bookmark the link, to keep up to date on progress.

Hope this helps.

Pat

Thanks Pat for the very useful information and have used the link to have a look at all the pints you have mentioned. I hope that the next assessment doesnt come round to soon, but I will definately be more prepared for it.

Thanks again for your help

it looks like they are going in alphabetical order, putting Swindon way down the list with a bit of luck, but i am being selfish and am sorry for that