find out if atos have all my paperwork

intrested wrote: Hello again sorry to be a bother I got my dreaded date for my medical with atos on the letter itvsays to bring all evidence of medication and statements from carers and so fourth but my daughter put statements and all meds all appointment s in with esa form , how to I find out if they have got them they say on th form not to contact the number on appoint form unless it relates to appointment. I am realy worried now please help .thank you

I am afraid that there is no easy way of doing this.

The phone number on the covering letter is for the admin department that arrange and manage the appointments, they have no direct access to your form and evidence, so will be unable to help you.

You can request a copy of the information in your file, this can be informal, just write to ATOS at the same address as the ESA50 was sent, or, if an appointment has been made, to the address where it will be held, the information may be provided, but ATOS are not required to respond.

You can make the request formal by phrasing your letter in the form of a Subject Access Request, the problem here is that ATOS are allowed 40 calendar days to respond and may choose to make the most of this time.

ATOS may also take the view that they are not the data owners and the request should be processed by the DWP, this will mean that your request cannot be serviced until ATOS return your file which will be after the assessment has been done.

My best suggestion is to take a copy of the ESA50 and your evidence to the assessment if you have one, and ask the assessor to confirm that they have a copy and have read it before proceeding with the interview.

Gordon

intrested wrote: Thank you for your reply my assessment is jan 7 so I don't hold out any hope, but if they have not gotthe evidence that we sent them and we take it with us do they have to look at it my daughter took photo copies of everthing, with some of my problems being covered under. Mental health can my daughter ask if the asseser has any knowledge of mental ilness.

Section 4.2.5 of the WCA Handbook requires the assessor to copy and read any new information brought to the assessment by the claimant.

You can ask for their qualifications but there is no legal requirement for the assessor to have formal training in mental health, the Secretary of State merely requires them to have successfully completed an approved disability assessment course.

That said, a recent high profile Upper Tribunal case stated that any assessment produced by an assessor without a background in mental health must be questioned in regard to its validity, whilst this is of no use in regard to the assessment on the day, it would be of significant value if you had to challenge any Decision that resulted from the assessment, assuming of course that the assessor does not have training in mental health issues.

Gordon