esa advice needed

hi all

i am after a bit of advice ...my husband was on long term IB and was recently swapped over to esa ,in late June we filled in the esa50 form and sent it off, expecting them to contact his G.P and then send him a medical appointment but to our surprise he was awarded on the WRAG, without any contact with G.P or a medical, i felt he deserved to be in support group so logged an appeal,i phoned around his specialists etc for supporting letters,but on thursday12th sept we had a phone message saying that someone from dwp had called and would ring back.
they never did but on the 17th sept we received a letter informing my husband that he had won his appeal and the DM had placed him in the support group, which was quiet a relief for him as he has really been effected by the stress of it all, seeing the relief on his face was a great feeling as short lived it was...
on the 24th sept my husband received a esa50 form again
I contacted dwp who passed the book to atos ,so I called them who said it was dwp decision so I rang them back again they said that he had been placed in WRAG for 24 months and same for support but it said to review immediately....is this going to happen all the time now
it just seemed totally crazy that he won his appeal less than a week earlier
what is he to do now ,does he have to fill in the forms again and start from the beginning again
are we wiser sending letters from his doctors/specialists with the form this time ...
will it be a DM looking at new form again,
nothing has changed with him apart from a increase to his morphine doseage

his illness will never get any better there is no fix, operation or treatment for him just medication

i wish i could just go back to work and do 60 hrs a week just so i can tell DWP where to stick there forms but there would be no one to look after my husband so were stuck with this stress...

rosiegirl wrote: hi all

i am after a bit of advice ...my husband was on long term IB and was recently swapped over to esa ,in late June we filled in the esa50 form and sent it off, expecting them to contact his G.P and then send him a medical appointment but to our surprise he was awarded on the WRAG, without any contact with G.P or a medical, i felt he deserved to be in support group so logged an appeal,i phoned around his specialists etc for supporting letters,but on thursday12th sept we had a phone message saying that someone from dwp had called and would ring back.
they never did but on the 17th sept we received a letter informing my husband that he had won his appeal and the DM had placed him in the support group, which was quiet a relief for him as he has really been effected by the stress of it all, seeing the relief on his face was a great feeling as short lived it was...
on the 24th sept my husband received a esa50 form again
I contacted dwp who passed the book to atos ,so I called them who said it was dwp decision so I rang them back again they said that he had been placed in WRAG for 24 months and same for support but it said to review immediately....is this going to happen all the time now
it just seemed totally crazy that he won his appeal less than a week earlier
what is he to do now ,does he have to fill in the forms again and start from the beginning again
are we wiser sending letters from his doctors/specialists with the form this time ...
will it be a DM looking at new form again,
nothing has changed with him apart from a increase to his morphine doseage

his illness will never get any better there is no fix, operation or treatment for him just medication

i wish i could just go back to work and do 60 hrs a week just so i can tell DWP where to stick there forms but there would be no one to look after my husband so were stuck with this stress...

Hi rg,

I am assuming that the June and September dates that you mention are from this year.

If so, there seems to have been a "cock up".

If you still have the letter informing you of the reconsidered SG decision, it should have a date from when the SG award starts.

A reassessment of this SG award cannot take place any earlier than 3 months after that date.

SG awards generally have a prognosis of 2-3 years.

How often will I be reviewed

ATOS should only send out an ESA50 once they receive a referral or re-referral from The DWP.

You need to ring the 0845 number on the ESA SG award letter, where you will speak to a call responder.

You need to escalate a complaint to a manager/supervisor in The WCA Team based at the DWP benefits office dealing with your ESA.

They should give you a call back, and you should ask for an explanation of why another ESA50 has been sent so soon, with a threat to complain to your M.P. if you do not receive an adequate response.

If they admit that this ESA50 has been sent out in error, you should ask them to confirm this in writing.

If they still insist on you filling in The ESA50, it may be best to make a start on it whilst pursuing your complaint.

If you are to do this you could make a start by :

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

Whilst referring to the guides under the heading of "New ESA50 form"

On this page :

ESA Claims Guides

See also :

How long do I have to complete the ESA50?

ESA50 too big for the envelope

&

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS


See also : Contacting your MP

Complaining to The DWP

Complaining to ATOS Healthcare

bro58