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?

Can someone confirm that I can approach any council due to being forced out and being made homeless because I was suffering from domestic abuse, I don't want to approach my local council. I debated long and hard about whether to contact the police and feel I have to, not only because what has happened is wrong but the council might not take me seriously if I don't report it unless my partner giving a statement to the council as a witness counts? It's a very hard situation as my mum isn't allowed access to money or bank cards, is given 60p per day to take to work for a drink, isn't allowed to go anywhere without my Dad, not allowed to see friends or family, well she has no friends because of this situation and this has been going on for years and years, he checks up on my mum when she finishes work by ringing her, basically she's like a prisoner, I stand up to him which he doesn't like but I've had lots of emotional abuse from him this year, stealing from my room which he admitted to my mum, threatening to turn off my electric in my bedroom permanently because I wouldn't talk to him because of his treatment towards my mum, constantly threatened to kick me out because I wouldn't talk to him, then when my mum was opening up more and more and the net was closing in on him and my partner was becoming aware of all the abuse too, he tried to deflect this issue and twisted it and he told friends and family I was trying to ruin his marriage, so now everyone thinks i'm the bad person trying to ruin their marriage when the fact is my mum has suffered like this for years and I've had lots of verbal/emotional abuse including blackmail over the last few months. My mum has no control or say over anything, what he says goes, she can't even buy her own clothes or shoes, if there was an emergency she couldn't do anything, even her phone contract is in his name and he checks all her bills, all she is allowed to do is to go to work everyday and that's only a 10 minute walk away. When he was confronted about the abuse of me and my mum on Monday he forced me out of the house.

Thanks for the replies, I am hoping to receive more advice on this.

Hi, I was living with my parents from January this year, I had to go back as I had nowhere else to go. One of my parents has always been abusive to the other parent in a verbal and emotional way, however within a few months of moving in the parent ruined and humiliated the other parents birthday and was acting horribly towards the parent so I just kept myself to myself, stayed at my girlfriends house 3 nights a week and wasn't there much and didn't talk to the abusive parent. The abusive parent then proceeded to cut off my internet access, then kept threatening to cut my electric off in my bedroom, stole things from my room which they admitted to the other parent and because I wasn't talking to the abusive parent they threatened persistently to kick me out. Anyway, on Monday this week me and my partner were there and the abusive parent came home from work and we thought we would sit down and talk about the situation calmly and in a civil way, however the abusive parent immediately got aggressive and was shouting in my girlfriends face and almost went for her and wouldn't listen to what we had to say and he forced me out of the house and said I had to leave. Therefore, I am temporarily staying with my partner, although she lives in an extremely small private rented room and it's for single occupancy only and there isn't even washing/cooking facilities in there apart from a microwave and a tiny portable fridge and I can only stay there a few days or a week or so at the very most. I do not want to contact the local council where the abusive parent lives, my partner lives in a town around 16 miles away and that's where I am currently staying. My partner is a witness that I was forced to leave and a witness to the aggressive nature that the abusive abuser showed on Monday, also the other parent has told my partner of several events where they and myself have been threatened, blackmailed and verbally abused, my partner is willing to make a statement also. From advice I have been given that due to the fact I have suffered from domestic abuse I can approach any council I wish, is this true? I have also been advised to contact the police, I am reluctant due to the fact my other parent has been verbally and emotionally abused for years yet they accept it and won't do anything about it and I'm worried they will suffer more if i report it but I think it has to be done. I also have a lot of health issues so I'm very vulnerable if I am homeless. One council contacted me today and asked for the abusive parents phone number so they could phone them to confirm I had been asked to leave but surely this is wrong? A controlling domestic abuser will just say they haven't kicked me out because they won't want to let anyone know they have done wrong and my abusive parent always puts on a show and denies anything when confronted so what can I do? Thanks for your time.

Even though its a non secure tenancy? It states several things in the tenancy about causing problems to other tenants. This tenancies also have no minimum term.

I was recently rehoused by my local council as part of the homelessness prevention route, I moved in last week. However, since I have moved in I have had nothing but problems with the upstairs tenants, they make constant noise (not music) but banging around constantly and just making lots of noise all the time and this carries on until up to around 1am-3am or later sometimes. The previous tenant complained about them but I was informed before I had moved in that it had been resolved, it's classed as a private let but the council is involved in the tenancy as well. It's in a very unpleasant area, it's in a block of around 12 flats, some of them are unoccupied but the tenants upstairs seem friendly with quite a few other tenants which concerns me as I reported them to the Landlord. The Landlord got back to me yesterday stating that he had reported it to the police and the anti-social behaviour team at the council but will they actually do anything? also, because they are friendly with some of the other tenants they will easily guess it's me complaining with me being downstairs and with me having only just moved in. We have non-secure tenancies so they can be evicted easily and they have been reported before so really I think they have had a second chance and blown it and they should be evicted but I doubt that will happen. They are also running up and down the stairs very regularly and have lots of visitors banging on their doors so I don't know if any illegal activites are occuring but I feel very uncomfortable in the area and in my own flat. I have taken precautions, I have a panic alarm on my keys, I also have a panic alarm on the wall next to the flat door, there is also 4 big locks on my flat front door which were already there so I'm presuming there has been problems there before. I am just very worried, luckily I am not back there until Boxing Day as I am spending Xmas with friends and family. Any advice you can give me? Thank you.

My name is on it so is the council's, also there's no fixed term.

Hi all, I was wondering if you could help me. I split up with my partner a while back and I was living with her however, her tenancy ended up 20th so I had a homeless assessment done by the council almost two weeks ago and they allocated me a studio flat that is through a private landlord and is £148 per week, the council have said because this is not a normal private rent and because I'm on ESA the rent will be paid in full. I moved in yesterday and the place is freezing and thats an understatement even with two electric heaters on, i have health issues that mean i cant be cold, also the guy upstairs was banging around and making a lot of noise up until 3am, apparently the previous tenant complained about him. If I ever want to move out suddenly can I do so? A family member might be offering me somewhere to stay for a while as they were shocked by the place earlier today. Thanks.

Anything I can do about this cancellation fee? I can't afford to pay it anyway regardless that's why I informed him they would have to take me to court for that kind of money and I'd have to pay £1 per week or something.

I took out an 18 month contract in June for Phone & Broadband with BT, I am having to leave my property later this month and staying with a friend temporarily so I cannot transfer it to another address. I phoned up and they quoted me over £200 to terminate, I informed them that I hadn't signed anything or agreed to this. The guy was rude, I got his name but he wouldn't budge as I said I will not be paying anywhere near £200, then he threatened me with Debt Collectors stating that they would chase me and take my personal possessions, surely he cannot say things like that? Any advice? Thanks.

As I split up with my partner a while back I have now been able to put in a claim for ESA, I am on the assessment rate and received my ESA50 last week. It has to go back within the next 3 weeks so I wanted some advice about filling it in. I was going to ask my GP for a supporting letter quoting Regulations 29 & 35 but I doubt she would do this for me, although it might be worth trying. I am planning to ask them for a home visit too for my assessment as well as it being recorded because I have several conditions and struggle to go out often so very little chance of me getting to an assessment 50 miles away. I suffer from chronic Asthma, chronic fatigue, irritable bowel syndrome, hiatus hernia, B12 deficiency, gastro reflux disease, widespread pain (possible Fibromyalgia waiting on seeing the Rheumatologist) and also unilateral headaches (a form of migraines.) Any advice you can offer me? I have scanned copies of my prescription showing that I am on 7 different medications, I have scanned copies of a Neurological Report stating I have fatigue, balance issues, short-term memory problems, tingling, twitching and suffer from a form of Migraines and some anxiety etc etc, I also have a copy of a recent Spirometry showing that I have an obstruction in my lungs and that my Lung Age is 74, despite me being in my 30's. I also have some reports from ENT's and Gastroentrologists regarding my irritable bowel and reflux disease and abdominal pain and swallowing issues. I am just trying to get as much evidence as possible to send with the ESA50 in the hope that I won't be called for an assessment as I know some people aren't, however I would have to hope for a miracle on that one. Thanks.