ESA50 Again Panic

madcatwoman wrote: Hi Bro
When I spoke to someone at the DWP I did speak to my benefit office (Birmingham), pressed the option for ESA claims and then spoke to a very unhelpful member of staff, who accused me of being uppity when all I was doing was seeking clarification of why I was being re-assessed so early.

Would this have been a call centre responder, how do I actually go about contacting the WCA team as this option was not available on the phone. Do I just ask whoever I speak to, to put me through to the WCA team? Many thanks.

Hi MCW,

If you rang the 0845 number on any ESA letters that you have, your first point of contact would be a call responder in a call centre.

This extract, from your first post would indicate that this was the case ;

"I did contact the DWP for clarification who were very shirty and told me my claim had expired on June 27th."

This is utter rubbish, all ESA awards are in effect indefinite, unlike fixed DLA awards that come to an end. The prognosis is only a "Recommendation" of when any ESA award should be reassessed.

You should request that your complaint is escalated, and request a call back. You need to speak to someone in The WCA Team that has some authority, and knowledge.

bro58

Hi MCW,

A tip,

If you ring the 0845 number, and the call responder that picks up is obstructive, or rude, simply put the phone down and ring once more until you get through to one that is helpful.

They are in the minority, but they do exist.

Once you request an escalation and a callback, they are supposed to comply.

bro58

Hi Bro

And thanks to both you and Gordon for the replies. I did speak to someone more senior this morning, from the actual office that deals with my claim, rather than to the call centre. And because my ESA85A was issued on 30 August 2012 and because they send out the ESA50 forms roughly 2 months before hand they are taking it that my current ESA award will "run out" at that time. Hence their need for a re-assessment.

Even though I explained that basically due to human error I was not informed of their decision until 15 January 2013. And that I have only been in receipt of ESA since 5 February. So there is nothing more to be done. I am extremely disappointed that due to their cock up I am being penalised. So I will have to complete the forms and send them off once again.

Just a quick couple of questions if I may, does anyone know if the waiting times have improved as all? I really cannot face another wait of 5 months. And do you know if you are likely to end up in the same group as before following a re-assessment.

I was very fortunate last time and I keep thinking I will not be so lucky this time around. Do people generally end up in the support group as before if nothing has changed or if conditions have deteriorated or is it just as likely I will end up in WRAG or even be taken off ESA altogether. I am almost too afraid to ask but better to be prepared I think.

Following your advice Bro I have also written to my MP about the fiasco regarding my re-assessment and the stupidly short length of time I have had on ESA. I felt I had nothing to lose. Many thanks.

madcatwoman wrote: Hi Bro

And thanks to both you and Gordon for the replies. I did speak to someone more senior this morning, from the actual office that deals with my claim, rather than to the call centre. And because my ESA85A was issued on 30 August 2012 and because they send out the ESA50 forms roughly 2 months before hand they are taking it that my current ESA award will "run out" at that time. Hence their need for a re-assessment.

Even though I explained that basically due to human error I was not informed of their decision until 15 January 2013. And that I have only been in receipt of ESA since 5 February. So there is nothing more to be done. I am extremely disappointed that due to their cock up I am being penalised. So I will have to complete the forms and send them off once again.

Just a quick couple of questions if I may, does anyone know if the waiting times have improved as all? I really cannot face another wait of 5 months. And do you know if you are likely to end up in the same group as before following a re-assessment.

I was very fortunate last time and I keep thinking I will not be so lucky this time around. Do people generally end up in the support group as before if nothing has changed or if conditions have deteriorated or is it just as likely I will end up in WRAG or even be taken off ESA altogether. I am almost too afraid to ask but better to be prepared I think.

Following your advice Bro I have also written to my MP about the fiasco regarding my re-assessment and the stupidly short length of time I have had on ESA. I felt I had nothing to lose. Many thanks.

Hi mcw,

I still feel that they are giving a load of flannel.

Your ESA award does not "Run Out" it can only be altered or stopped as the result of a WC Reassessment process.

The date that the ESA85A medical report is generated is not really relevant to the effective date of the actual award made by The DWP DM, which can be much later.

When an appeal is successful, the remade decision is backdated to the date of the actual adverse award, not the date that the medical report was generated.

The prognosis is supposed to be the recommended length of the "Award" before reassessment, and should therefore run from the effective date of the award.

I am afraid that you can't really dispute this early reassessment, as they can instigate them any time after 3 months of an award, which is the minimum prognosis.

It makes one wonder whether these tactics are simply to keep a constant flow of money making assessments for ATOS ?

That's just a thought, of course.

You may wish to raise the above questions with your M.P. You could also raise the issue of claimants having to gain their own evidence to include with an ESA50 on reassessment.

At least if The DWP abide by the prognoses, and re-refer approximately 8 weeks before the end of a prognoses, the claimant can start getting all their updated evidence ready in anticipation.

As it stands, you will have to complete the ESA50 and return it by the deadline.

"On the whole", the process does seem to be carried out much quicker now.

The WCA is so fickle, that there is no way of anticipating whether you will remain in The SG.

The more in depth information that you can provide with your ESA50, the more chance that you have of remaining in The SG.

Go into detail, regarding how and why your medical condition and resulting limitations have not changed or improved.

If they have deteriorated provide evidence.

Don't be afraid to cite the actual SG descriptors that you feel you qualify under, and draw reference to any written evidence.

Don't fall in to the trap of assuming that the assessing ATOS HCP has any knowledge of which group you were previously in, and how and why you qualified for it, go into detail.

This will probably entail providing information that you have previously provided, with the addition of any updated information that you may have.

Good luck, and please keep us updated.

bro58

Yes keep fighting and with back ups of all information, keeping records and the never ending swinging door we will all become used to, in order to keep ATOS afloat with more of our dosh.!!!!
We all know what the govt do not, that the amount they pay ATOS and the like is that they are paying out triple £'s to what was before.

Yes, it is a "Merrygoround", but not in a nice way !!!

This is why it is advantageous to use the Pdf version ESA50.

You have an accurate copy of the previous ESA50, which you can then amend and update on your new reassessment ESA50.

Even if the ESA50's change, as they have recently, the odds are that you will still be able to copy and paste substantial extracts of the previous one over to the new one.

bro58