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ESA Medical Delay
10 years 5 months ago #127111 by Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
Replied by Gordon on topic ESA Medical Delay
Kev
Feedback from the forum would suggest that recorded assessments are more accurate, perhaps because the assessor is aware that their every word is being recorded, however, I am also aware of a couple of assessments where the report was grossly inaccurate despite it being recorded, so I suspect that it depends on the assessor.
Whilst Tribunals are formed under the rules for HM Courts & Tribunals they do not work in the adversarial way that a court of law would, they are primarily interested in understanding why a claimant meets the criteria for the benefit they are claiming, as such they do not tend to spend much time looking at the validity of the assessors report. You also need to bear in mind that most Tribunals are scheduled to take 40-50 minutes so there is little opportunity for a detailed investigation of the assessment report to be carried out. It may be that it is not being mentioned by claimants, but I am only aware of a handful of cases where a recording was used as part of the evidence that the panel considered and that is over a period of some three years.
If you can get it recorded then I think you should, if only to provide you with a record of what happened, I could remember very little of what transpired in my assessments even the day after.
Gordon
Feedback from the forum would suggest that recorded assessments are more accurate, perhaps because the assessor is aware that their every word is being recorded, however, I am also aware of a couple of assessments where the report was grossly inaccurate despite it being recorded, so I suspect that it depends on the assessor.
Whilst Tribunals are formed under the rules for HM Courts & Tribunals they do not work in the adversarial way that a court of law would, they are primarily interested in understanding why a claimant meets the criteria for the benefit they are claiming, as such they do not tend to spend much time looking at the validity of the assessors report. You also need to bear in mind that most Tribunals are scheduled to take 40-50 minutes so there is little opportunity for a detailed investigation of the assessment report to be carried out. It may be that it is not being mentioned by claimants, but I am only aware of a handful of cases where a recording was used as part of the evidence that the panel considered and that is over a period of some three years.
If you can get it recorded then I think you should, if only to provide you with a record of what happened, I could remember very little of what transpired in my assessments even the day after.
Gordon
Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
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10 years 5 months ago - 10 years 5 months ago #127458 by Kev68
Replied by Kev68 on topic ESA Medical Delay
They have come back and confirmed that it will be recorded 
Normally how long does it take for a decision? I know xmas/new year will probably delay this somewhat.
Normally how long does it take for a decision? I know xmas/new year will probably delay this somewhat.
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10 years 5 months ago - 10 years 5 months ago #127463 by bro58
Hi K68,
Waiting times for decisions seems to vary from region to region, so I can't give a definitive answer.
The bulk of any waiting time seems to be in receiving a paper based decision, or gaining a face to face after returning one's ESA50.
Once a face to face has taken place, the medical report is forwarded to The DWP ESA DM, so again there would be regional variations depending on the workload of the particular DWP office dealing with your ESA WCA.
I have heard from claimants who have received a decision within 10 days of attending a face to face.
Others have waited several months.
As a precursor to your face to face, you should read through our ESA Claims Guides 3rd & 4th links down this page : (Whichever guide is applicable to your medical conditions)
ESA Claims Guides
From pages 68 & 70 respectively.
You could also browse The WCA Handbook which advises The ATOS HCP's are how they should carry out the assessment.
The link for this can be found on the same page, 2nd link down under the heading :
DWP ESA Resources
Please keep us updated.
bro58
Replied by bro58 on topic ESA Medical Delay
Kev68 wrote: They have come back and confirmed that it will be recorded
Normally how long does it take for a decision? I know xmas/new year will probably delay this somewhat.
Hi K68,
Waiting times for decisions seems to vary from region to region, so I can't give a definitive answer.
The bulk of any waiting time seems to be in receiving a paper based decision, or gaining a face to face after returning one's ESA50.
Once a face to face has taken place, the medical report is forwarded to The DWP ESA DM, so again there would be regional variations depending on the workload of the particular DWP office dealing with your ESA WCA.
I have heard from claimants who have received a decision within 10 days of attending a face to face.
Others have waited several months.
As a precursor to your face to face, you should read through our ESA Claims Guides 3rd & 4th links down this page : (Whichever guide is applicable to your medical conditions)
ESA Claims Guides
From pages 68 & 70 respectively.
You could also browse The WCA Handbook which advises The ATOS HCP's are how they should carry out the assessment.
The link for this can be found on the same page, 2nd link down under the heading :
DWP ESA Resources
Please keep us updated.
bro58
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