ESA Stopped for failing to attend appointment. Can somebody please help?

[bs0lth]

I have just received three letters from the DWP saying that they sent me out an appointement on for the 3rd of July to attend a ATOS assesment, and that they wrote to me to tell me that I failed to attend.

 

I have received nothing at all from either ATOS or the DWP for either the meeting or the letter telling me I failed to attend.

 

They are now saying my ETA has stopped as I am fit to work because I did not attend the meeting that I knew nothing about.

 

This happened last year but I found out about it on the phone for a different reason and was able to attend.

 

has anyone any idea what I do now...

[reallymadwoman]

Do you have problems receiving post from other organisations and is your letter box solely for your use or shared? Have you changed address at all and are the letters you have just received correctly addressed?

 

You can appeal the decision but you will not be paid ESA whilst waiting for the appeal to be heard.

 

If you haven't changed address and have no problems receiving other post and have successfully received the latest three letters, then you may have problems proving you did not know about the assessment.

 

 

I think you can make a new claim for ESA immediately but you have to submit 'fit' notes from your GP and you will not be paid until you've attended a medical, but check that as I'm not absolutely sure.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Are you sure the DWP and Atos have the right address on their records? Mistakes can happen,

 

My best, HB

[bs0lth]

Hi,

 

I normally get all of the mail sent to me, I haven't changed my address for 13 years, but I have had other problems getting mail from ATOS last year they said twice that they sent me out appointments. I was on the phone to the DWP and they gave me the medical centers phone number. I phoned them and was told that there was an interview coming up. I received no letter from them, but was able to attend the interview. I have no idea if they are sending to the right address, I do not have a shared mailbox etc but have not received anything from them at all.

 

This time I have had nothing at all, mind you saying that the only thing that has changed is that there was a block of flats built at the top of my street, and for a while we got a lot of the new flats mail, I have no idea if they got ours by mistake, but that has seemed to have sorted itself out and nothing that I know of has or is going missing.

 

I would love to know why they dont send this sort of stuff out recorded delivery to prove that you get the stuff.

 

I send everything to everyone recorded to give me a paper trail and prove that I sent the letters in the first place.

 

Lynne

[bs0lth]

I have been back onto the phone to them as they say that my case has been closed down and that I need to talk to the department that closed it... and they promised to phone back by 4pm.. didnt happen so now waiting for them to phone againl..

 

however talked to somebody else and they said that there is now nothing I can do and have to restart my case again..

 

Im stumped now, does that mean I have to wait 13 weeks for help with my mortgage etc again?

 

this is so not good...

[unclebulgaria67]

See if you can get an appointment with yout GP tomorrow if you are unfit to work and then phone the ESA new claims number. It will then take to 14 days to decide on your new claim. In the meantime you will need to take up a complaint with the DWP office that dealt with your previous ESA claim. Ask them to obtain copies of the ATOS appointment letter sent and the letter advising of the missed appointment. From what I have read, they send an appointment letter by normal post giving a few weeks notice and then if you failed to attend, the ATOS assessment centre send you a letter which you have to send on to the DWP saying why you did not attend. They then decide whether to accept your non attendance reason and if they did, they ask ATOS to arrange a new appointment.

[bs0lth]

So it all has to start all over again, this is really bad, I have done nothing at all wrong, I cant prove that I did not receive the letter and then, but they can not prove that I did. nightmare... so I am the one that will suffer, this is not fair, I am hanging onto my house by my finger tips... I had somebody out here about 6 weeks ago to interview me, they knew everything about my case, so why did they not ask why I did not attend the interview, and why if they did not receive any letters from me did they not write to ask about it.

 

feel like jumping off the bridge at the moment. Getting a sick note is not a problem,

 

the rediculous thing is was I was about to go back to work, but wanted to return on the permited work scheme, suppose that is out now as well.. this is doing my head in...

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

I know I said this before, but have you double-checked that DWP/Atos have the right address on their records? It's always worth checking when something like this happens.

 

HB

[unclebulgaria67]

See your GP, start a new claim and then deal with the problems about the old claim. As you say if they visited you 6 weeks ago, it is a bit odd they did not know about a missed ATOS appointment.

[bs0lth]

Well the saga with ATOS/DWP keeps on going....

 

I have been informed yet again that I have not attended an interview and that everything is being stopped again...

 

I have explained to the DWP that I have recieved nothing at all from ATOS, I asked last time that they contact me by phone to confirm that I was attending the interview since I had no letters, I have no idea why this keeps happening, I have nothing to hide and I will attend if I actually know about it.

 

Has anyone else had problems with getting appointments or is it just me?

[Lilly_Monroe]

Do you live alone - could anyone be picking up the letters.

[**Margaret**]

:bs0lth:

 

Right, if no one else has access to your mail, and at risk of playing parrot to :honeybee13:, you need to find out where Atos are sending these letters. Sooner rather than later!

 

Here's a list of regional Atos centres. Which one you're under is defined by your postcode but it's likely to be the nearest one geographically. Phone and insist they disclose the address that they're holding for you. As Atos have a unique talent for saying they'll correct data entry errors, but not doing so, you'll need to be very assertive.

 

List of regional Atos centres;

 

http://dpac.uk.net/tag/atos-phone-numbers/

 

Atos Customer Relations;

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?357849-Atos-Complaints-Procedure-A-Guide

 

Another CAGGER with the same problem;

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk./forum/showthread.php?339588-IB-to-ESA-assessment-never-got-appointment-letters-missed-assessment-now-a-cutoff-date-for-benefits./

 

Best wishes, Margaret.

Edited April 6, 2013 by **Margaret**

[bs0lth]

Hi,

 

Thanks for your reply

 

Well where do I start, this is just a nightmare.

 

My benefits have been stopped, basically what there are saying is that I received the letter asking why I did not attend the medical therefore the address was correct for the medical appointment so that I would have received that and ignored it or just didnt turn up.

 

 

I have been passed from pillar to post over the last two weeks, I honestly now have no idea what to do, how do I prove that I did not receive the appointment letter?

 

I have phoned ATOS and they said they tried to contact me the week before the interview by phone but they phoned the wrong number, however talking to somebody this morning and my phone numnber is correct but they can see that it has been amended over the last week so they said they cannont comment on which number was called

 

I have no idea what on earth to do and I am not thinking right I will continue with this in a little while when I put my thoughts in some kind of order

[bs0lth]

Ok I decided that I would start a new thread since I need to try to sort out what has just happened.

 

I received a letter on the 16 of February stating that I failed to turn up for a medical assessment on the 11th of February.

 

All of my benefits were stopped three weeks ago because they said that I failed to turn up for the interview and also that I failed to give them reasons for failing to turn up.

 

This was the third appointment that I have failed to turn up for.

 

My problem is that I have not received appointment letters from ATOS asking me to attend an interview. I receive the letters telling me that I failed to attend, I receive everything else from the DWP but there seems to be a problem with the appointment letters.

 

I have explained that I have not received them and asked if they could confirm the receipt of the letters by telephone after they have been sent out.

 

I have been trying to sort this out for the last three weeks...

 

I took in proof of postage to prove that I sent in my reasons for not attending.

 

I explained over the phone that the reasons that I had not attended was because I did not receive the appointment in the first place. I also explained that there had been some problems with my post but that seems to be sorted now. There have been a set of flats built at the top of my street, and if the name of the flats is not put into the address I get their letters and sometimes they get mine. However, the postie is normally ontop of this and it looks like its sorted out.

 

My concern is that no matter how I try I can not prove that I did not receive the appointment letters. They say their system shows they were sent out to the correct address and I am getting everything else send so why am I failing to get the appointments.

 

I contacted the Royal mail delivery office to make sure they were aware there was a problem and they said they would look into it

 

I contacted ATOS to ask them why they did not phone me. They stated that they tried to phone the number they had on file twice on the 21st and 22nd of January and got no reply so they wrote to me instead. They could not confirm that which number they tried to ring, but said it was my landline. I had my landline took out aprox 2 years ago now and have told the DWP that I do not have a landline each time I have talked to them. However, until this week it was still showing on my claim. I was told today that it had been amended and that they only now had my current mobile number on file. So I cant even now prove that they failed to contact me on the right number.

 

I wrote to the DWP telling them that I had concerns about where they were sending the appointments to. In theory I should have got them the same way as all of the other information I receive from the DWP. I honestly think there is a bug in their system where the appointment letters come in.

 

I have been claiming ESA since 2008, I got the first and second set of appointments without any problems, I then took them to tribunal and won and since then I have not received any further appointment from them. The last time I attended an interview it was a fluke that I managed to get the appointment, I had phoned about a different matter and I ended up phoning ATOS and was told about an appointment three days later, I attended but did not receive a letter for that appointment.

 

Now three appointments on and I feel at a loss at what to do, I honestly did not receive the appointment letters, The ESA50 that they sent out I did not receive either but I received a letter telling me that they had not received it back, I went to the jobcentre to pick up another one and dropped it off there once I had filled it in

 

I am now at my wits end

 

I have asked to appeal the desission I was told that they had re-concidered it but the evidence was against me since the failure to attend letter is sent out from the same place as the appointments. which I was told earlier by ATOS that they were not sent from the same place

 

I have re-applied for ESA but they say that I have to attend a medical before they reinstate my benefit and that takes me back to what happens if I fail to get another appointment letter.

 

can somebody please point me in the right direction here, Im at a loss of what to do, I have no idea why I am not getting these letters, I have not idea how to prove that I am not getting them, and I just keep going up against a brick wall trying to talk to anyone about it.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I think it's probably best to keep your information together, so I've merged the threads but kept your new title.

 

I'm also going to move the thread to the main benefits forum as I think more of the guys might see it. If you're not happy with that in a couple of days, it can be moved back to the Atos forum.

 

My best, HB

[bs0lth]

Hi Honeybee thanks for that, I am really struggling here, I read the similar thread, and its been some help, but I have no idea what to do at the moment. Stress just doesnt come into it. I feel like I am getting pulled from pillar to post and that nobody seems able to either listen or help. I am having a hard time dealing with I keep being told different things from different people I talk to dealing with ESA. I also feel that they just don't believe a word I am saying, my main problem is how do you prove that you have not received a letter? there is no proof. I can prove I posted one with a cert of posting but unless its sent recorded I cant prove it got there. I really just want to bang my head on the wall.

 

I would appreciate any help tat I can get at the moment, I have no idea now what else I can do, I was wondering if it would be worth sending in a subject access request to ask for all of the documentation they have, but what I really need is the stuff they hold on computer like phone numbers address etc to see what has and has not been done. Would it be worth doing this?

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

I can't remember the detail of your thread. Have you asked Atos what address they hold for you please?

 

HB

[estellyn]

Is there a specific person at the other flats who gets your mail? If so, ask them to confirm in writing that they sometimes receive your post, but are not always able to return it, or that they send it back to the sender (whichever is correct). You could even type up a short statement for them to sign, so that the work for them is minimal.

[bs0lth]

Hi Honeybee

 

I have phoned ATOS they say that they sent out to my address, which is correct. This is what is so concerning that its just the ones with the appointments that I do not seem to get. Atos also said that they tried to phone me twice before my appointment to confirm that they had sent out the letter. I did not receive calls from them either, but saying that its only this week that the DWP took off my landline number and made sure that they had the correct phone number for me.

 

Estellyn

 

I did not think about doing that, I will draft out a letter for them to sign now, I had thought about going to see them to see if they would answer the DWP if they wrote to them.

 

more food to think about

 

Lynne

[bs0lth]

Something else that has just crossed my mind. Both the DWP and ATOS knew about the problems I was having with the post, if this was the case and they couldnt get me on the phone why did they not send out the letter by recorded to make sure I got it?

 

I have also thought about the suggestion to see the people at the similar address, I think I will go and talk to them and suggest a letter for them to sign after I have spoken to them, that way I can put in what they do with the mail.

 

L

[speedfreek]

Have a look at what is being said in this thread on rightsnet here

 

http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/4275/

 

Start making the requests for the documents they say and I'd also request your full file from the DWP/ATOS using a Subject Access Request or 2. The DWP one is free so.....

 

http://www.dwp.gov.uk/privacy-policy/data-protection/

 

Not sure on ATOS any ideas anyone?

[Lilly_Monroe]

Something else that has just crossed my mind. Both the DWP and ATOS knew about the problems I was having with the post, if this was the case and they couldnt get me on the phone why did they not send out the letter by recorded to make sure I got it?

 

I have also thought about the suggestion to see the people at the similar address, I think I will go and talk to them and suggest a letter for them to sign after I have spoken to them, that way I can put in what they do with the mail.

 

L

 

Maybe because it is not in their interest you receive your mail - certainly not with ATOS anyway.

You could also have a word with the sorting office and ask for them to look out for mail with YOUR name - being sent to the wrong address.

Speaking to the posting helps but he does not sort the mail.

Not sure with the automated service if they can still do this - but register with them that mail is going astray.

At the end of the day who does the buck/onus lie with - to make sure we get our mail.

Is it:-

 

Us

The Sender

The PO.

[dibdabable]

I'm not sure but could you get all Atos/DWP mail sent to your nearest Post Office. I know you can do this with packages. I've just done a quick search and there is a thing called redirect and protect, but I'm too tired too find out more. I know I heard on the radio not so long ago that sometimes if Royal Mail have had problems entering a property, nasty dog that sort of thing, that they do, refuse and the person has to collect it from their nearest sorting office. I know this would be a pain but at least you'd know that you'd be more likely to receive it. If you still have problems then, you'd know that it has nothing to do with your address being wrong or anything else.

 

The other thought I had was is there anyone who could receive your DWP/Atos mail for you. You could give Atos/DWP a new address and if you still have a problem then you have a lot more to go on. Sorry I can't be of more help about your current situation though. I don't suppose you can contact your MP or CAB. Maybe try and speak to someone more seniour if the first person is of no help.

[bs0lth]

Hi

 

Can I just say at the moment thank you for all answering this post.

 

I have talked to the delivery office and tried to actually get somebody from customer services from Royal mail to talk to me but thats just a nightmare. I will have to keep going though because at the moment its on my to prove there is a problem with my mail.

 

I will look into seeing if there is somewhere else to actually send the mail to, to be honest though the ONLY thing that is actually going "missing" at the moment seems to be the ATOS appointments, and to be honest I have had problems getting them for the last three years long before they built the flats at the top of the street. I dont know if its a bug on their computer system or what but bnever mind.

 

I have printed out a SAR to send the DWP think its about time that I see exactly what they have on file for me, mainly because there is something going on there and I dont know maybe it will highlight the problems

 

I also got an appeal leaflet through, but you know what no letter telling em when it had to come back by and they did not put in dates for me, just the leaflet and thats after asking again and agiain if I could appeal it.

 

Been back along to the flats again today to see number 6 he wasnt there, looks like I will have to go again tomorrow.

 

anyway thanks for your ideas, it gives me something else to look at tomorrow.

 

L

[bs0lth]

Lily

 

you makes some vaild points, I had to prove to the DWP that I sent in a reply to them, ok so they did not seem to get what I sent, but thank god I got a proof of postage to prove that I had at least sent the flaming thing, what is doing my head in is that they just say it was sent out... we sent it so that your lying saying you did not get it... they have no proof what so ever that they even sent it, and they cant prove that I got it.. they system sucks, appointments when they are that important should be signed for....

 

its not right and its not fair...

 

ho hum