Hello to all, been a while since I've been about it. Hope all are well. I'm hoping someone can give me some insight to the following: I've been in ESA [sG] since day one, had one reassessment in 2016 which put me back in SG, the second ESA50 arrived in Oct 18, which was duly filled in and sent back by deadline date in Nov 18. I've heard nothing from anyone until yesterday. Yesterday, I received a text message from 'DWP' as follows: 'We've received your Statement of Fitness for Work (Fit Note) and details of your Work Capability Assessment. Your ESA payment will continue. Please don't send us any more statements (Fit Notes). You do not need to contact us.' Two points: 1. I've never sent Fit Notes since my initial claim back in 2012. 2. I've not had the mentioned Work Capability Assessment. Has anyone had the same situation happen to them? I don't really want to contact them. Someone mentioned it may have been done via a paper assessment, but I've never had one so don't know what that entails and should I have been informed by CHDA? I've looked around online but not really come across anything that helps me. Hopefully someone here can give me a clue about this situation. Thanks in advance for reading and any help/ information you can provide. Regards CookieRocks

Hi Guys, Need some help i was on DLA mobility low rate which was due to review December 2019. My GP referred to community health support worker who advised me to apply for PIP as i have high chances getting care and mobility higher rate than low rate mobility due to my mental and physical illness. I was little bit hesitant as i heard a lot of horror stories about PIP rejection rate. Anyways my health support worker rang DWP and arranged a home visit to fill the PIP form. A lady from DWP came to my house on 13th August 2018 and filled all the paper work and contacted DWP to apply for PIP over the phone. The DWP lady also advised that i might receive another PIP form which she advised me to ignore. After 10 days i received new form which i ignored but after 3 weeks i received another letter telling me that they still not received the form. I rang DWP and told that the from already filled by DWP lady after searching on their computer the lady over the phone told me that they got the form but it still not scanned to put on their systems, the lady over the phone also advised that it should be on the system by two weeks and i should contact after two weeks to confirm. After that i was bit relaxed and i totally forgot to ring them back, now i received their letter saying that they rejected my claim is i failed to provide further information. One more thing i never received any further letter from DWP apart from the form which they sent to fill in. The date on the letter is 10th of october and i received the letter on 18th october and i am abroad seeing my parents and coming back 12th of november. The dead line will be finishing 10th of october, i do not know what to do now its not my fault they messed up with my form they also said in the letter that my DLA will be stopped from 23rd october. Thank

According to the dwp I am on contribution based ESA since March 2013, however when the system changed from Incapacity benefit to ESA. I was not assessed according to my circumstances in March 2013, so today they have sent me an ESA 3 form to fill out. I called them to confirm the letter was genuine not fraudulent and they confirmed the reference number on the letter and date it was sent out. He told me you may be eligible for a tax free lump some backdated payments since March 2013? I remember the lady that helped me fill in the form, however i don't remember her assessing me for Income based ESA, isn't that if your already in employment or paid enough national insurance contributions at the time of application your eligible?

Hi, I am currently in support group. I filled in a form, ESA50 in the beginning of July last year. I was called in at the end of December last year for a face to face assessment, I was there for four hours and the interview lasted three hours, I was asked all sorts of questions. I still haven't received a letter from Department for Work and Pensions, Im hoping that I will still be in the support group. If that is not the case, can you please advise me on what I need to do next to dispute their decision. About four years ago, DWP put me in work force interview, I had to go to the tribunal to overturn their decision. I understand the rules have changed, could you please advise me on what I need to do if I have to go to the tribunal again. I appreciate your help and advice, thanks in advance.

Hello, I am posting here to see if I can get some advice regarding employment and support allowance. My history is that I currently recieve ESA in the support group and have been on this benefit for four years now with 3 reassessments including my first in 2012. Twice I was placed in the support group after a WCA but after my second assessment I was initially told over the phone I would not get any benefit. I asked the DWP on that call to reconsider and about an hour later they called back telling me I was again in the support group. I am now waiting to find out about my next assessment for ESA and I have some questions. Firstly does anyone know how likely it is that after 4 years in the support group it will be that they can remove the benefit from me? My condition can in some cases improve but in my case it has not and I still attend the hospital regularly 2 or 3 times a year and I am awaiting a further referral. Surely it would be very difficult for the dwp to remove me from a benefit they previously agreed I was entitled to? Also if I am called to a face to face assessment I will not be able to take anyone with me I don't think which I have done in the past, I will be able to get a lift to and from the centre but nobody is free in the day anymore to come in with me. Will not having a companion at the wca be bad for my claim? My last question is on the new esa50 the say not to send any appointment letters. I feel I should send them copies of my appointment letters as it lets them see that I am still being seen regularly by the hospital and have been for some time. I don't have any reports to send and feel it is important to send something. What should I do?

hi im new on this site, been reading some of the threads re:esa appeals, ive got mine in 2 weeks and im really nervous/anxious about it, i suffer from lower back problem and anxiety/panic attacks. i failed my atos last june (nil points) a lot of information is missing from the atos report, ie it states i was there longer than i actually was , never asked questions re:anxiety or the incontinence i suffer with ,and a lot of it is exaggerated to say the least, i got a solicitor involved to help with tribunal, with the info i gave her she had scored me more than 15 points ,the only downfall is that my dr,s report is not helpfull says my solicitor, which has made me feel worse than ever ,solicitor thinks i will scrape through with out the dr,s report which she is not submitting, she told me to go through the atos report and make notes of which i agree, any help would be gratefull as im very down about this ,todays not been a good day. other thing is i have to travel out of town to the tribunal and they are paying for a taxi to and from the tribunal, but dont have anyone to go with me, the solicitor says it will not go against me as there will be the taxi driver with me going and the clerk when i get there, as i get really anxies/panic attacks in unformiliar places ,and usually rely on help from friend/family, but they are unable to come with me, do you think this will go against me. many thanks.

2 or 3 days ago I sent back my questionaire with supporting evidence to the benefit office. I have just contacted them this afternoon and they have said they have sent a report off to the DWP and I do not need to have an actual assessment. I am in the Support Group since 2013 and was due for renewal is this a good sign I am not being made to have a F2F???

Hello all, Hopefully there's someone out there that can help me make sense of my situation. I suffer from severe anxiety and depression which prevents me, almost completely, from going out or having any social interaction (the last time I left the house was 3 months ago to attend my WCA). I had to move back in with my parents last August because I couldn't manage on my own. I applied for ESA in August 2015 and subsequently scored 6 points at the WCA in October. I applied for mandatory reconsideration which resulted in an additional 6 points (total 12) being awarded. I applied for appeal in Dec 2015 and my ESA payments were reinstated 3 days ago. However, today I received another ESA50. The timing of this seems more than a coincidence and I am unsure of the process that follows. Since I am pending an appeal hearing (I don't have a date yet), what happens if/when I fail the medical again? I can understand the DWP reassessing people who have been accepted for ESA (after a reasonable period of time), but I can't find any instance of a reassessment being carried out prior to an appeal, particularly since it has only been 3 months since my last one. I, like most, have had a pretty rotten experience of the DWP and I can't help but suspect that this reassessment is some backhand tactic. I also find them extremely distressing since being interrogated by someone I don't know in a place outside of my home is an almost guaranteed panic attack. Can anyone tell me if i am just being paranoid, or is there something more sinister at foot. Are they trying to trip me up? If I fail the reassessment, will I still receive ESA payments until my appeal? Many thanks for your time.

Hello Consumers forum I have a reassessment for my ESA due in Decemeber 2015. I have been diagnosed with Agrophobia, Panic Disorder, Depression and PTS.. I have asked my doctor if he would support me which he has agreed to. I just don't know what information to ask for? I wonder if he would go through descriptors with me and agree which affect me the most and create a report from that :/ I also have a CPN is it worth asking for a report off her also?

Hi, Two years ago (2012) I was placed in the WRAG ESA group for a year then this time last year I received my ESA50 form for review......I filled it in with all evidence and details of docs, social workers, support worker etc and I was then moved into the support group (2013). It is coming up for the time of the year when I last received my ESA50 last year. Should I expect another one soon? I don't know if I can be faced with all the stress and hassle again especially as I have just moved to a different doctor............ Thanks

I had a sanction placed on my ESA for missing an appointment (that they said was alright as it conflicted with a MIND appointment) but i received a sanction a week later so i got someone to phone and was told the sanction would be sorted once i attend a new Seetec appointment so i did this the day after now a month later and i have still heard nothing (also just attended another seetec appointment which are monthly) about my sanction and i am still receiving the lower amount is it just a matter of waiting or should i phone them to try and get it sorted quicker. also on seetec i have not been going long a couple of months or so but yet i have had 5 different advisers in that time 1 of them i understand as she told me she would be leaving but all the other changes im not sure why makes me so nervous when attending as i never know who im going to be seeing.

Hi If anyone out there can give me advice I would be grateful. I was moved,following a medical from IB to ESA last November. I received a letter in November advising that I could only receive this until mid November 2013. Just before Christmas I was diagnosed with cancer and this year have undergone surgery,chemotherapy and radiotherapy. I have been told that the severe pain I am in is a direct result of chemotherapy and radiotherapy but there is hope that it may wear off in time but we are talking months not weeks. I have not felt well enough to face the thought of what options I may have but I have to do something now...Does anyone know if I can ask for the claim to be re-assessed please? If I knew that I could receive ESA for a few months longer it would be a massive relief. If I can ask for a re-assessment to take my updated situation into account how do I do this please? Many thanks in advance Elizabeth

Hi Just after a bit of advice. I have a reassessment 2 weeks today. I suffer with an anxiety/panic disorder. Given 12 points last time, advised a return to work possible within 3 months. DM at DWP change this decision once receiving the ATOS report and gave me 18 points and advised reassessment in 12 months. Not long after my initial assessment I developed a swallowing disorder, Dysphagia, which is a pretty bad thing, and relates to 2 Support group descriptors, ie the swallowing and chewing food ones. I had professional help filling in my form, and sent a letter from my doctor and psychiatrist explaining my illness/es, how it affects me daily, and referring it to the descriptors, specifically the Support group descriptors. I also sent proof that I am seeing a Speech therapist who is attempting to teach me to swallow naturally again, which as yet isnt helping, and also urgently referred to the ENT for a check to make sure there is no physical problem with my throat, Yet they are still assessing me again. Im not sure what else I can tell them when I visit, my illness is clear with 10 months of medical evidence/records to prove it, it has been proved to them by my Doctor/Psych by letter. I was referred to the Psych due to this condition and losing so much weight within a short space of time (2.5 stone in 2 months) plus I am on some very strong medication, including 30mg diazepam daily, 50mg quetiapine nightly (antipsychotic drug) plus 100mg setraline daily. None of the medication is working as yet, and can take quite some time before it does. Even when it does start to work, it will only help with the anxiety of swallowing, and will not then allow me to eat/drink/swallow normally again, the speech therapist will need to do this and she thinks it could take months. Im pretty angry that I am being assessed again and just dont know what else to say, I know I am going to have a severe attitude when I go into the assessment room, I have anger issues when stressed/anxious which I find difficult to control, and on this day this is exactly how I will feel. I feel quite sorry for the person Im going to see, especially if its the same witch as before, because she was rude and lied on the report she created, and if it is her I will tell her so as soon as I see her, because I am not taking any rubbish from her this time. Any advice on what to do/say whilst im there? I will attempt to stay calm, but when you can barely swallow your own saliva at times, mainly when stressed, I cant see it being a very friendly meeting. Thanks. Daz.

Hi I had my first ATOS assessment in March 2011 which surprise surprise I failed with only 6 points, but managed to get overturned in the first stages of the appeals system and placed in WRAG.asked them to send me one I heard nothing at all regarding a reassessment till I got a letter on 4th April 2012from ATOS demanding that I send in the questionnaire I had been sent by April 11th 2012. I had never received this form so, I phoned ESA straight away and requested a new one. 2 weeks later my ESA did not go in my bank and I had not received the form so again I phoned ESA and after an hour wait and having to endure the torture of that infuriating music I finally spoke to someone and was told it had not been paid because they had not received the form back. I informed them that I had not received it even after requesting one, they sent me another one the following day and am happy to say paid my money via FP that day. As soon as I received it I filled it in, provided alot of evidence and requested that the assessment be recorded, I then sent it back via recorded delivery straight away. As of yet I have not heard anything. Do ESA notify you if they do not require you to have another assessment? Or do they just keep you hanging on adding to the stress of worrying that you have to attend an assessment, be deemed fit for work, having your money cut whilst you wait for an appeal to be sorted out?