Hi guys, my mind is running overtime so I'll try to keep it brief and to the point. I spent an hour earlier trying to contact the Citizens Advice Bureau for my area and it just rang and rang and I gave up. My situation is as follows... I've been living at home with my parents (lost Mum in October) for the past 10 years since my health issues began as I was not in a position to live alone physically, mentally or financially. One day it will inevitably be me here alone as my dad is 80 years old and while currently healthy we lost Mum very suddenly last year at 75. This is obviously going to turn my world upside down as I'll be grieving, alone and no doubt under pressure from the bank to sell the house (around 50k) still owed to the bank. I have literally zero idea of how I'd go about selling a home, cancelling utilities, tv contracts etc. I've no idea where I'll live or how quick the whole process takes to sell a house. I'm fairly certain this is enough to put me in a bad place again. In my current situation I can afford to run the house, normal bills and food etc as I am in receipt of ESA(IB)SG w/SDP & PIP Higher Daily Living and Lower Mobility. The remaining money from the sale will be split four ways between the four sons. This is a massive worry in itself as that inheritance money is initially going to cause me more harm than good as it will comfortably take me over the 16k upper saving limit and with living alone (no partner) I'll burn through that just trying to survive. The inheritance would no doubt be better putting towards a place of my own, but as I'm long term sick I would never get a mortgage even with putting 50k (roughly) down from my share of the house sale. Renting somewhere is obviously so much more expensive and with the cost of living on energy/food/bills and receiving no benefits because I'm over the savings limit What would you suggest I do to prepare for this inevitability? It's got my really worrying the last few weeks and was finally going to face it head on today with Citizens Advice but as I say, it just rang out. Hoping somebody can help or give some direction. (Is there a way I could keep my benefits as they were and put any inheritance straight in to a small property for myself or will DWP look at that as excessive spending? Even then, how would I get a bank to give me a mortgage, albeit a smaller one, if I'm on benefits?? Hope I've given enough detail and apologies for typos. If you need to know anymore about my situation then please just ask as I appreciate all input) Thanks guys

Hi CAG, Just looking for a quick bit of info. Was placed in ESA Support Group for 2 years from Feb 15 - Feb 17. Obviously we are beyond that date so I'm waiting to hear something any day now. I go away for 10 nights on May 15th (First Holiday in around 10 years) wondering what to do if they throw something in my letter box asking for a re-assessment while I'm set to be away? Am I entitled to go away while I'm in the ESA Support Group and should I inform somebody that I have chosen to do so? Anybody got any idea how long I may be waiting to hear from then as we are now over the 2 recomendded years since I was placed. Thank you in advance for any input, Adam

Update (21/03/2015): So to my utter suprise (not that i don't feel that I don't deserve it), I have been placed in to the Support Group for 2 years. I scored exactly the 15 points required. From the report i received in the post i think it was this descriptor that scored the points... "(ii) repeatedly mobilise 50 metres within a reasonable timescale because of significant discomfort or exhaustion and therefore fifteen points are awarded for moving around” I can on some days mobilise 50m with no problems at all, but on other days it either causes discomfort and pain, or i am simply bed-bound and i'm not walking any amount of metres. Now having read other posts over the last few years on various forums, can i start to relax a bit now or are they going to keep sending for me? I know people have been asked to take forms of ID to the local JCP. I hope if you're reading this then the Original Post can in someway help you in your Medical, and i wish you the best of luck with your outcome. Adam

Hi CAG, Not posted for a while but decided I would share my experience of the ATOS Medical I had this morning. Like I'm sure most of you have/will, I did a fair bit of research on what to expect and prepared myself mentally. I got very little sleep last night and was a nervous wreck on the way there as I suffer from severe anxiety in high pressure situations as well as the main issue I was there for which I won't discuss. I can full on understand people who don't normally have anxiety to be anxious as the day of the ATOS medical is one im sure we have all come to dread in the build up. Anyhow, Location: Manchester, Albert Bridge House Appointment Time: 10.00am 11/02/2015 (I went on to ESA in March of 2014) Arrived : 9.45am - Name Called: 9:55am - Was expected to be kept waiting but I wasn't...... Initially. My first note is that the bloke on the reception desk seemed pretty rude. Didn't seem to care, very to the point, slid a clipboard under my nose to do with ID, i had to sign it and then show my ID's. He then disappeared in to the back room for a minute and I had read that they sometimes keep you waiting purposely to see if you can. As I was just about to go and sit down because I was sick of waiting he returned and told me to take a seat. Maybe he was just a bit of a rude person, maybe it was part of the game, or maybe it was a combination of both. Now what my just be paranoia to me, but at an ATOS medical, I know you are pretty much judged from the minute you step foot inside, cameras everywhere, lots of staff wondering around pointlessly, but this is where I may have been being paranoid or misinterpreting something to be to do with me.... A few minutes after sitting down, the same bloke who dealt with me on reception popped out the back, looked me up and down breifly and then returned to the bit behind the reception. A few seconds later a female voice, said rather loudly "WHAT? HE'S FAILED THEN HAS HE? HAHAHA" Bare in mind I am the only person in the waiting room at this point, coupled with the fact the bloke had just come out and give me the once over and seconds after returning to the back office that was said, maybe it is paranoia but it just seemed an odd thing to hear when the day is simply about passing or failing. I was called through to a room just around the corner, maybe 20m away. I was for some reason expecting a room with about 3 people in it but it was just me and her.. She made a swoop behind me as we got to the door, so i would have to open it. It wasn't overly heavy so I pushed it slowly open. (I had read that they walk behind you on purpose so you have to open doors). There was barley any time for small talk on the way to the room. I was told that seemingly innocent questions are all part of the medical, so I was expecting some seemingly normal questions to be part of the medical. There we're none. As I entered the room she asked "Have you been waiting long?" to which i replied "about 11 months). That's me not being a smart arse and trying to be funny, but my little way of confirming what we and they already know, that ATOS is a shambles. She watched me sit down and asked me 4 questions before telling me she wasn't qualified to deal with my condition and so she would get somebody else, who was, to do it. She sent me back to the waiting room, I asked how long i could expect to be waiting and she said somebody would be with me very soon. To me this was all part of the game they play. From the most mundane waiting room I've ever sat it.. I've seen more atmosphere at the Etihad and that's saying something. 10-15 Minutes later I was called by another lady who took me to the room at the very far end of the corridor) most ofthe rooms on the way we're empty but I was taken maybe 50m to the far end, again, all part of the game i'm sure. This lady asked me the exact same initial questions as the first lady had and I immediately knew this was to catch me out or see if my story differed. I have seen enough detective shows to know this is how interrogations are often done. Thew first lady I saw was never going to do the medical, she was simply weighing me up. I was in for around 30-40 minutes for my medical with the second lady during which she asked about my condition, my medications/treatments, how it affects day to day living and because my condition is much worse on some days than others i mentally put myself in the mind frame of my worst day. I was thinking back to a day last week where i was bed bound because of the pain. With every answer I used the words Reliably Repeatedly and Safely, which I had seen on this forum as well as various other guides to the medical. Now the lady was very nice. She seemed understanding, she seemed to listen to my answer as she typed away. This could have been genuine but everything was telling me, it is this persons job to find me fit for work and I felt i was being lulled in to a false sense of security so she could try and trip me up, so after every question she asked, I paused, re-asked the question in my own head rather than just blurting something out which could and almost certainly would he used against me. She then told me we would do a physical test now. She asked me how far we had parked (my dad drove me) from the venue, which i told her about 100m and although I had walked it, I was already feeling the tension build in my lower back and was in discomfort. She told me I didn't have to do any of the things she asked me if I did not want to. The upper body stuff i was ok with because even on my worst day i can move my arms/hands. When it came to the lower half, bending over and anything involving using my back or legs i refused. She asked me to get on the bed, and again I refused as it was fairly high. Now there and then i could have, no questions i could have got on to that bed, but on my worst day there was not a chance i was getting on to it without screaming when i catch my back in an awkward position and feel the shooting pains up my back. My bed at home is at a height where it is fairly simple to just lower myself on to it when my backs in a not so bad way. The bed in the room she asked me to get on was certainly around 2ft higher and it was more of a climb on than a get in if you follow me. As with all my questions on the spoken part of the medical I kept saying, most of the time I can do this but if you ask me to do it x amount of times there will be a point where the tension in my back and the spasms get so severe I just can not do it Reliably, Repeatedly and Safely. She concluded by asking if there was anything i would like her to see. I gave her a letter from my GP stating all my dates, medications, treatments and referrals to specialists. I also gave her a copy of my MRI scan (dated 2012) and told her my condition is significantly worse now than when that MRI was done, and to include a note stating this when sending it to a decision maker. All of the GP's and Specialists I have seen since 2012 keep referring to the 2012 MRI scan results and it annoys me no end, that somehow now I'm assumed to be in that exact same physical state. She told me that was the end of the medical. That it would take 2-6 weeks to hear from the DWP with the decision and it is not her that makes the decision, it will be passed to a decision maker. She told me to go and wait in the waiting room while she took copies of the GP letter and MRI scan. Now on the way back up to reception (50m away), I noticed her walking much faster and I immediately knew that this was to see if i would try and keep up with here. She had told me that the medical was completed down in the room, but at all costs remember this. The medical is underway from the second you step in (reception staff are often, and i think in my case, all part of the game, and the medical will end when you leave the area, I still felt like i was being watched as I made my way out of the building and around the corner. Now this little story of how my medical went is in no way to scare or unnerve you when it comes to your ATOS Medical. It is simply an idea of what to expect. I'm sure some medicals will be similar, and i'm sure some will be almost identical. There's no changing the fact that the ATOS Medical is a huge thing for us all, and we have all done some research. The key is to remember this research come the medical day. As i said earlier I felt like I was being set up to stumble but I just stayed focused, re-asked the question in my own head and stuck to the words of Reliably Repeatedly and Safely. with every answer. To summarize: 1.) Reliably, Repeatedly and Safely. 2.) You are being assessed from the second you walk in. 3.) You are being assessed until the second you walk out. 4.) However nice they seem, be clear they are there to find you fir for work 5.) If you don't understand a question - ask them to repeat it. 6.) Re-ask yourself the questions in your head before answering 7.) If they keep you waiting at the reception upon entering, take a seat - they are testing you 8.) If you cannot open a door, do not try and open a door, make the assessor do it. 9.) Get the names and professions of all the people involved in your Medical - Use a voice recorder if necessary 10.) If you do not feel comfortable doing something, do not do it. 11.) Reliably, Repeatedly and Safely. (This isn't a dupe, drill this in to every answer you give if your condition fluctuates. I am fully expecting to get 0 points for simply turning up. Yet if I hadn't turned up my ESA would have been stopped. It's a catch 22. I hope in anyway this story can somehow prepare you and your answers and your general understanding of the medical. I was a bag of nerves last night, felt sick through anxiety and got very little sleep, but if there was one positive to take from today, I felt amazing once i'd got out of there. Not physically, my back had already locked up on me from the walking, sitting standing, and I am in a fair bit of discomfort as I type this, I am pretty much written off for the day.. After the day loomed closer for the last 6 weeks (when i got my date for the medical) and the nerves and anxiety grew stronger I felt amazing that it was over and done with. Adam

Hi, This is my second new claim, i was on ESA - June-Dec 2013, then returned to work off my own back before i was event asked to go to an ASOS medical. I'm just wondering if it is different and dependant on the ESA50 this second time around? Adam

Hi all, Title says it all, I have this morning received the ATOS questionnaire to fill in and send back by the end of May. I only sent my ESA1 back around 2 weeks ago and have yet to receive confirmation of my ESA. So how do I view this? is ESA dependant on ATOS assessment now or will they write to me separate? I don't fancy filling that huge booklet in unless i have to. Thanks Adam

]Afternoon All, I have had to leave my job as the problems with my lower back just do not allow me to stand on my feet for 8 hours straight, and my doctor has issued me a fitnote and referred me to a musculoskeletal specialist. I was on ESA from Jun-Dec 2013 and returned myself to work (before having an atos medial, i hadn't been declared fit nor unfit for wok) as the treatment i was receiving then had some effect and i felt human again but i am no longer allowed the injections and im back to square one and the pain most mornings means its physically difficult to even get my socks on.... anyways I just now phoned the ESA new claim line and the operator took some initial details and then informed me we could not go any futher as the claim had to be done on a 'clerical claim form' which they will post out 1st class. (Apparently all things they send to you now are 1st class as of quite recently) I am worried there is a problem as when i claimed last year it was all done over the phone. I asked him about linking my previous claim and he said the computer tells us if thats what will happen when so much has been entered, but we never got that far. What is a clerical claim form? Should I be concerned? Why do they need it to be done this way now when previously it was done on the phone? In advance, Thanksyou, Adam

Thank you for your reply Margaret, So just to confirm as i dont wish to make any mistakes.... I CAN reapply for ESA as i will not be eligible for SSP as im hoping tomorrow when docs open he will support my immediate resignation from my current job as, as much as i love the job/workmates standing up for lengthy periods is causing my health to decline and some days as i say i cannot get my socks on and even make it in. Im gutted to have to give a job i enjoy up but my health must come first and its only getting worse. Regards Edit: Im guessing i would phone the new claims line? Again thanks.

Hi everybody, First a little background info.... So from June 2013 to December 2013 i was on ESA (not sure which version) and having started to have some success with injections in to my lower back and laser therapy i felt i was fit for work again, and having NOT met an ASOS representative in those 6 months, nor having a scheduled appointment for a medical i decided i felt fit for work and wanted to get back to the job i love. i phoned dwp and informed them i was heading back to work and did not get another note from my doc. Within a few weeks of being back at work i released there was no change in my condition in the work arena when on my feet for 8 hours a day, my back returned to just becoming stiffer and stiffer after maybe an hour to the point i have had to leave work a few times again and phone them on days i physically cant get my socks on. Roll on to the last month (jan-present) i would say my condition has worsened from how it originally was as i now get no relief from the temporary injections (of which i can have no more) and its back to square one with days i cannot even leave my bed without huge sharp pains in my lower back. i have never been diagnosed with anything more than 'a bad back' 'degenerative discs' 'dehydrated discs' which at 25 years old i struggle to come to terms with this is how my life is going to be. 24 months ago i was prescribed citrolapram for anxiety attacks that came from nowhere and after 12 months i just stopped taking them as again i felt ok. These symptoms have no arrived again where i am having panic attacks almost daily as i worry for my future and have recently felt suicidal for the first time in my life as i don't wish for my life to be this way. When i can sleep, i sleep, as often as i can to just hide from reality. i have no social life for fear of my back suddenly going on me as it is prone to do, i am very much housebound. I will see a doc about depression and anxiety on Monday which has all been brought on by my back controlling my life. So my question... Would i be eligible for ESA again should i claim? My condition is gradually getting worse with more frequent days of being bed bound, anxiety attacks returning and depression. Maybe i was wrong for returning to work but i wanted to contribute and i wanted to be back at it as i felt i could live some form of normal life again with my back under some kind of control. Obviously this was a foolish mistake and may it go against a reclaim, me taking it upon myself to be trying to return to work? Thanks you for your time and thank you any advice you may give. Adam

Hi All, it seems i'm chasing my tail with DWP.... the date i wished to claim from was put in for 28/6 on the system when i told the lady when making the claim 28/5 and they have medical notes covering this date... I was told 2 weeks ago when first chasing it up to go to my local job center and get a 'backdated claim form' which when arriving at my job center was told this form was only for JSA and not ESA. Rang the following day to be told 'write a letter explaining why you wish to backdate' which i did. A 2 page letter covering all the dates and reasons, posted it 1st class recorded. I heard nothing or over a week then rang them last Thursday to be told 'we can see everything on our system and i PROMISE a decision maker will call you between 9am and 1pm tomorrow (Friday) - Of course this didn't happen. Received a voice mail today (Monday 29th) saying they apologise but they have 'deleted something from the system' and i have been posted an ssp1 for in post in order to backdate. there is a form after being told there is, then there isn't, and now apparently there is. Isn't the ssp1 form the big huge initial claim form? Am i going to have to fill all this out again? It seems i'm chasing my tail all the time with DWP. They are quick to tell me i need a new fit-note, need to do my atos forms, to wait in for a call that doesn't arrive... . but due to human error on their part i know have to make many phone calls and fill even more form in. Do they want me to just give up on getting the 4 weeks im owed backdated? So angry right now so apologies if it came across in my post. They are all on different wavelengths and this is in no way efficient to the claimant. So i have to fill in an ssp1 again? Advice appreciated, Thanks Adam

I shall try get in to see my GP on Monday the 22nd and see i he can issue it a day early with the date o 23rd so i can get it posted off asap. In regards to posting, i have ready on many posts here at CAG forms that DWP have a great knack for 'not receiving' documents so i am covering all bases by going recorded. Thanks or your help Margaret on both this post and a previous one, much appreciated Adam

Any ideas how i get around the dates? They have asked for the new fit note to be sent in for Tuesday 23rd but i won't actually see my GP until Tuesday 23rd as he will not date it in advance and it may take a few days to get to them... Thanks

Hi All, Just a quick question. I have just received a letter stating that my current it note expires next Monday 22nd and they expect the new one on Tuesday 23rd. Now i wont see my GP until Tuesday 23rd as he i know fit notes cannot be dated in advance so how the hell can i get it there on the same day as it may cause 'stopping or suspension of payments) How do i go about this? Surely they understand this is impossible to do as the fit note will be dated 23rd when i collect it on the 23rd and it may take a ew days or them to get it. The pre paid return envelope (2nd class) included also says on it not to affix any other postage stamps? Im not sure if is ok for me to affix a 1st class recorded stamp on this? I did last time and it got there within 2 days. Ideas? Thanks in advance Adam

Hi & thanks or the replies. Yes my SSP was in relation to average weekly wage as opposed to tax year earning i got mixed up sorry. I did what Margaret suggested and phoned ESA back up and the man i spoke to told me that backdated claim forms only relate to JSA and not ESA so he confirmed what Margaret suggested which was to write a letter explaining my reason for requesting a backdating on my ESA (as explained in OP) and posted it off First Class recorded this aftternoon so just a case of waiting now. Just another quick question.... My current fit note expires on 23/07/13 (a week today) and i know this causes problems with continued payments of ESA as my doctor will not issue one in advance and it may be around the 24th/25th that it will arrive via post at my benefit office (Preston) if i collect it on the 23rd dated for the 23rd. Do they understand that continued fit notes cannot be obtained in advance and there will be a gap o a ew days where they do not have the current fitnote needed? Im just worried it will affect my ESA Thanks Adam

Hi Everybodyl, First time poster here (although i have been keeping my eye on various posts for a few weeks now) so forgive meifi i am the wrong section. I am currently employed but off work with doctors 'fit' notes as i have been struggling with a lower back problem or over 2 years now (25 years old ) I recently was told i was entitled to ESA (assessment phase) and it would be paid from 28.06.13. This was the not the date i gave when i put my telephone claim in on 01.07.13. I rang fairly late on the day and the Welsh lady on the other end was speaking at 100 mph and seemed to rush me and in all o this the dates have been mixed up. When i received my package with the questions and answers i'd given on the phone the dates were incorrect as mentioned above so i phoned them up and the lady said she had 'added the notes' of the new dates i wished to claim from. It now turns out that these 'notes' are nowhere to be found on the 'system' and i have been told today to go to my nearest Job Center to get a 'backdated claim form' and send it of with a letter explaining why i am backdating to my processing office (Preston) to pursue my backdated payments. My last day worked was 24.05.13 and my first doctors 'fit' note was dated 28.05.13 and my processing office has all 3 fit notes including the first one mentioned above as i sent them all off as part of the evidence they needed along with SSP1 form. Now, the reason i claimed on the 01.07.13 even though i last worked the 24.05.13 was because at the start of June my employer told me 'there should be no problem with Stat Sick Pay' and being a fool i just took this as gospel and expected to be payed something at the end of June. I was NOT and i had not received an SSP1 form from my employer which i understand is to be sent to an employee within 7 days (i may be wrong). My company basically left it to me to realise i had been paid 0.00 for the month of June and also let it to me to chase a SSP1 form which they then sent to me but had not signed it (they literally ticked the box that said i was not entitled to SSP as i had not earned enough in the tax year) Eventually i got it signed and dated on 08.07.13 and sent it off with the fit notes mentioned above. So my question is this... Will i be chasing my tail in trying to get this backdated or in your judgement do i have a reasonable case for backdated ESA? I am slightly annoyed that the lady i spoke to last week took the new claim dates and 'added them to the system' only to be told today i need a separate form which i shall get tomorrow and send of with a letter explaining the previous paragraph and the whole trouble of obtaining my SSP1 form from my employer which i was told was compulsory to the claim when initially making it. Sorry for waffling on but i didn't want to miss any details/dates and i am just after a bit of guidance as to i i have a case or not and if getting a backdated claim form from my local Job Center is the correct path to take. Thanks for reading/replying Regards, Adam