My MP contacted the DWP last month and I contacted him again last week and he said he was going to contact ATOS. I received an email from ATOS today stating:- I can confirm that a Health Care Professional (HCP) reviewed the available evidence and advice was provided to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) on 19th September 2014 that you meet the criteria for the Support Group for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA). Your file is in the process of being returned to the DWP and you will not be required to attend a Work Capability Assessment at this time. Atos Healthcare is contracted to provide independent medical advice to the DWP. However, the DWP may choose to accept or reject this advice. Ultimately, the decision on benefit entitlement and whether or not a customer is entitled to benefit and is placed in a group rests with the Decision Maker at the DWP. The DWP will contact you in due course".

Sorry to hear that, what happened with yours then?

My Respiratory Consultant has done me a letter to say that I have chronic Asthma and COPD and my peak flows are 50% less than normal and that I am out of breath which limits my ability to perform physical tasks and that I have chronic fatigue and Fibromyalgia which further limits my ability to perform physical tasks. I've sent this to the customer relations manager at ATOS who will add it to my file, will they actually take notice of this?

I saw my asthma nurse today and I'm not happy as I got a glimpse of the ESA113 form, the GP it was addressed to did not fill it out, it was filled out by a GP who I've never seen before regarding my health issues. I am getting a full copy this week and although he stated I suffer from Asthma, COPD and Fibromyalgia he missed out IBS, GERD, Hiatus Hernia, Unilateral Migraines, Chronic Fatigue and other issues and I'm not happy that because the GP it was addressed to was on holiday that this GP has filled it out, why not just wait? Although I've not seen the GP it was addressed to since March she knows my history much better.

My GP practice manager emailed me yesterday to say they received an an ESA113 form which has been completed and sent back. My worry is that I haven't had much support from the GPs there and that I've seen 6 or 7 different doctors there this year and they are not fully aware of all my problems due to the fact that I am being dealt with by specialists such as Rheumatologists, Asthma Nurses and Respiratory Consultants. My Respiratory Consultant has done me a letter stating I have COPD and Chronic Asthma and how they affect me, I should get this letter through the post by Wednesday so I can send that to ATOS as additional evidence, I also have letters from a Neurologist from last year stating I have memory issues, fatigue, pain and other issues, a Gastroenterology letter saying I have digestive issues such as IBS and GERD. Also my Rheumatologist is hopefully going to do me a supporting letter, would all this count for more than the ESA113? Thanks.

I got an email from an ATOS customer relations manager today saying: "Further to my letter to you yesterday I have just been forwarded your email below together with the attachments you sent. I have sent the additional information you have provided to our Bristol office and have requested that it be linked with your file and considered when the information from your GP is returned. I hope that this is helpful" I haven't got their letter yet but is this usual? Thanks.

Thanks for the replies, I've just got a copy of the letter that the DWP sent my MP and it isn't adequate, it's a fob off letter, I have emailed and requested a supportive letter from my Rheumatologist and Respirator Consultant, hopefully they will help, when I see my Asthma Nurse again this week, I'm gonna ask her for a supportive letter too and ask her to state my problems and how they are affecting me. My lung function is now 51%, I'm in my 30s and due to chronic asthma and COPD, I've lost half of my lung function plus I suffer from chronic fatigue, Fibromyalgia and IBS. Waiting almost 10 months is so frustrating and I've already sent enough medical evidence but I'm going to be sending even more.

Does anyone know of a DWP email address where I can complain? I tried this one: [email protected] but it was invalid, thanks.

Thanks for the replies. She doesn't get a council tax bill as she llives in a room in someone's house, the council that deals with her claim is the Vale of White horse and she does live in Oxfordshire so i think they have got it all wrong. Also her claim started a few months ago and she was getting less housing benefit but as she's now getting less money and on ESA she had to do a change of circumstances which she did 2 weeks ago after she made a claim for ESA so all of her rent should be paid now based on the £350 per month local housing allowance but they are not.

I put in a claim for ESA in November 2013 for Chronic Pain, Chronic Fatigue, IBS, Chronic Asthma and other issues, over the last few months I've also been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and COPD. I filled in a very thorough ESA50 and sent a lot of medical evidence with it and stated sections 29 and 35 stating it would be a risk to my mental and physical health if I was found not to have a limited capacity to work after a WCA. I also requested that if I had to have an assessment then I wanted it at home and recorded. Haven't heard anything, I have complained to ATOS who said it would be passed onto the customer relations manager or something, my MP contacted the DWP and was basically fobbed off. My Asthma Nurse and Respiratory Consultant say I shouldn't even have an assessment. Can I send in more evidence? If I get some more supporting letters from my Asthma Nurse and Respiratory Consultant is there any chance that this could prevent me from having an assessment? I do have copies of two letters from my respiratory consultant already but waiting for another one to arrive. My main concern though is the fact it' nearly 10 months now and II've not heard anything. Does anyone have any email addresses for the DWP or ATOS where I can send them more evidence? I don't trust them to get it by post even via recorded delivery, too much stuff seems to go missing. Thank you for your time.

Hi all, my partner was on SSP as she's been off sick from work for over a year but it has recently stopped and she is now on ESA. She lives in a room and looking at the housing allowance rates she should get £350 a month, her rent is £350 a month, however they have only awarded her £250 a month and using the excuse that her postcode falls under a different county, how can this be? Sounds like she's big fobbed off, can anyone help? Thank you.

No he hasn't hit me or my mum, it's all emotional, manipulation, controlling and verbal but he got extremely aggressive with myself and my partner on Monday as we wanted a quiet civilised conversation with him about it. He has stolen things from my room such as games console controllers and USB adapters, apparently his excuse for this were that his had gone missing so he decided to openly steal mine and turn round and say they are his even though they aren't, he admitted this to my mum as she told me, he ruined my mums birthday by going mad at her just for throwing some bread out for the birds, made her cry and just humiliated her yet a few days later he did the same with with the birds but it's ok for him. I stopped talking to him because of his treatment of my mum, I was only there 4 days a week as i stayed at my partners 3 nights a week and with him working during the day, I was only there with him for 6-7 hours per day for 4 days a week but because I wasn't talking to him he kept making threats to my mum saying you better sort him out and make him talk to me and socialise with me, I didn't wanna go anywhere near him after the way he treats my mum and the fact it has got worse and worse over the years. He threatened to stop me having internet access which he later did by changing the access code, he then proceeded to unplug the router everyday before he went to work and hid it in his safe until he came home then plugged it back in, he was doing this for months around 10-12 weeks and right up until the day I had to leave. He also threatened to permanently disconnect just my electric in my bedroom if I didn't talk to him or socialise with him, he kept going mad at my mum saying he's gonna keep going on at her and also not talk to her properly until she has "sorted me out" and forced me to talk to him, also he manipulated her by saying i'll call a truce, if you sort him out i'll talk to you again but if you don't things will stay the same. He also made lots of threats about kicking me out just because I wasn't "socialising with him" my partner knows all about this as I had to tell her when it was going on. Also my mum was opening up more and more to my partner about how he is with her and how he has treated her over the years and she gets upset when she talks about it but then some days she says she can't do anything as she's been with him over 30 years etc etc and she thinks she doesn't deserve any better. I spoke to her about bringing the police in, especially when I was receiving blackmail and threats from him but she kept saying no don't do that. Hes done lots of things to my mum over the years and always fully controlled her, the issue is because I had to live there this year that it got worse and because I won't tolerate it he has targeted me as well. I was diagnosed with COPD a few months ago, when my mum informed my Dad of this, he response was "I want proof". he's never cared about me even when I was very young and almost died of Asthma in hospital he never even came to see me. My mum has never ever had access to money, bank cards, or been able to go shopping or anything alone or speaking to anyone or having any privacy, he always goes through her phone and well there's so many things I could say. I remember once years ago she was out with her sisters, he was at work, as he didn't get no answer on the phones, he went looking for her and found her out with them and forced her to leave and go home. I haven't lived there all the time so I haven't seen everything but i've seen enough and after targeting me and blackmailing me and stealing things and trying to control me and take away my basic rights I think enough is enough.

I am not confident the police will do much but if I report it then it's down to them what they do, I'm concerned because my mum has been having this for years and she accepts it and it's got worse this year and with me he has been very bad the past few months in particular, I need to get a crime reference number and some proof so that I can prove to the council what has happened and so that I can hopefully be re-housed.

Thanks for your response, they both work full time, he still finds the time to ring her though when she finishes work even though he has another few hours left at work.

I've tried ringing a few times but haven't been able to get through, I have emailed them, that was done on Thursday. I just wondered if anyone else could give me some advice on here in the meantime or if someone has had a similar experience?