esa

[staceyrogers]

hi new here I was on incapacity benifet for 9 years over 2 years ago I made the change over to esa and was placed in support group for 18 months,over 8 months ago I was sent a new medical form to fill in,and send back to atos,iam still waiting to hear back from them can anyone tell me how long you have to wait to hear from them.thanks

[Nystagmite]

It depends on the area you live in, whether GP reports are needed, etc. It's difficult to say how long you'll be waiting for.

[**Margaret**]

:staceyrogers:

Following submission of an ESA50, the wait to hear from Atos or Jobcentreplus can be anywhere between a few weeks and several months. Most parts of Britain have unacceptable delays and a twelve month wait for a face to face interview, if one's needed, isn't unusual.

Margaret.

[abc123def]

I heard 6 months after they received my ESA50

[rebel11]

Hi stacey

 

You could chase them up if your concerned, waiting can be quite stressful. I personally think it's best to be pro-active. Keep a diary of all relevant dates and conversations.

[Guest]

I emailed their customer services, every two weeks to ask for an update, I found it good to have an electronic mail trail in case any appointments went "missing" in the post etc. I kind of think my (or rather my daughter's as she did this for me mostly) persistence with this flagged me up for a possibly quicker response. Although it still took 6 months to get their decision, which is now with the dwp for the dm to make theirs..........how long that will take I have no idea...

[Life-Goes-On]

Stacey,

I logged on to ask the same question as you (glad I had a quick look at though posts )

I been waiting 6 months since the forms when in.

My thoughts are the longer then better, saves having to jump though hoops every year to 18 months.

[reallymadwoman]

Currently been waiting 23 months and counting .....

[**Margaret**]

:Waiting ...... n waiting ...... n:

 

Twenty one months n counting ......

 

DWATO have given up the pretense that reassessments are on schedule.

 

http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2013/07/dwp-orders-new-fitness-for-work-providers-but-Atos-clings-on/

 

Margaret.

Edited January 22, 2014 by **Margaret**

[annpow]

hi new here I was on incapacity benifet for 9 years over 2 years ago I made the change over to esa and was placed in support group for 18 months,over 8 months ago I was sent a new medical form to fill in,and send back to atos,iam still waiting to hear back from them can anyone tell me how long you have to wait to hear from them.thanks

 

If you were on incapacity benefit you would probably be better with the Personal independence payment (PIP) rather than the ESA.

 

My brother in-law was swapped from IB to ESA and lost all his carers allowance and his council tax reduction. He has now been advised that he is eligible for PIP and he will be able to have the carers allowance and the Council tax help, which you are not entitled to with ESA.

[antone]

If you were on incapacity benefit you would probably be better with the Personal independence payment (PIP) rather than the ESA.

 

My brother in-law was swapped from IB to ESA and lost all his carers allowance and his council tax reduction. He has now been advised that he is eligible for PIP and he will be able to have the carers allowance and the Council tax help, which you are not entitled to with ESA.

 

It's a lot more complex than that. People can receive both ESA and PIP/DLA as they are paid for different reasons. How the various benefits interact depends on whether ESA is contribution based or income related, but neither form is affected by PIP.

 

For example, you can't receive ESA© and CA at the same time - you'll only be paid the higher of the two. However, in the case of ESA(IR) the CA is deducted from the ESA and a Carer Premium is added. Whether Council Tax help is available depends largely on the household income and the specific rules of the Council itself.

 

So it's not possible to assume everyone's situation is the same.

[annpow]

I know in my line of work, all the councils I deal with will not pay council tax benefit to those on ESA, as according to them, if you are on ESA you have no need for council tax benefit!

 

PIP is a very unknown benefit, they will not even allow you to have a claim form until you prove you are eligible for it, therefore many people who are entitled are not told about it. When I first mentioned it to a member of staff in the job centre I was told that they had never heard of PIP!

[antone]

I know in my line of work, all the councils I deal with will not pay council tax benefit to those on ESA, as according to them, if you are on ESA you have no need for council tax benefit!

 

Which councils do you deal with? As I said, each council can set its own rules, but a blanket ban on ESA claimants seems...extreme, especially if they allow CTR for JSA claimants. If it is indeed the case, it might be time for some folks in their areas to petition the Councillors for a change in the rules.

[yelena22]

Hi, the councils do pay council tax benefit when on ESA I am on ESA and i get council tax benefit people on ESA are entitled to council tax benefit. I received it when on ESA contribution based and on income related ESA.

[RaeUK]

Never heard of councils refusing CTB for people on IR ESA.

[ep1987]

My situation:

 

Live with dad (works full-time) who used to get second adult rebate when i was on IR JSA. However that was scrapped and now either he would have to be in ESA SG or i would have to have a severe learning disability (think higher rate DLA) to get council tax credit. Me being on ESA IR doesn't have a bearing and basically takes away £5 of my benefit per week as i am of 'working age'.

[antone]

My situation:

 

Live with dad (works full-time) who used to get second adult rebate when i was on IR JSA. However that was scrapped and now either he would have to be in ESA SG or i would have to have a severe learning disability (think higher rate DLA) to get council tax credit. Me being on ESA IR doesn't have a bearing and basically takes away £5 of my benefit per week as i am of 'working age'.

 

Yes, but that's a different situation to the one where a council won't pay CTR to anyone on ESA under any circumstances, which seemed to be what was described above.

[worried33]

My area seems unusually fast on ATOS. For normal non recorded WCA's the wait time is usually under 4 weeks. I dont know if I always get prioritised or if its normal for my area.

 

After my first ESA WCA I had to wait about 3 months for a decision but after my most recent one it took them about a week.

[abc123def]

I know in my line of work, all the councils I deal with will not pay council tax benefit to those on ESA, as according to them, if you are on ESA you have no need for council tax benefit!

 

 

Which local authorities are you talking about? I have never heard of any LA refusing CTR for all people on income related esa, I'd be really interested to look in to that.

[PomBlue]

It's a lot more complex than that. People can receive both ESA and PIP/DLA as they are paid for different reasons. How the various benefits interact depends on whether ESA is contribution based or income related, but neither form is affected by PIP.

 

For example, you can't receive ESA© and CA at the same time - you'll only be paid the higher of the two. However, in the case of ESA(IR) the CA is deducted from the ESA and a Carer Premium is added. Whether Council Tax help is available depends largely on the household income and the specific rules of the Council itself.

 

So it's not possible to assume everyone's situation is the same.

"but neither form is affected by PIP."

 

 

But when I was on IS and then later claimed for DLA, and got it, I got a load more stuff on my IS. Doesn't PIP work the same? If I get a lower rating on my PIP than my DLA won't this reduce what I get on my ESA?

[antone]

"but neither form is affected by PIP."

 

 

But when I was on IS and then later claimed for DLA, and got it, I got a load more stuff on my IS. Doesn't PIP work the same? If I get a lower rating on my PIP than my DLA won't this reduce what I get on my ESA?

 

Yes, some ESA premiums are available to those on some types of DLA, PIP or CA, if the ESA is income related. So I wasn't quite correct to say "not affected". My complaint was towards the idea that someone should claim PIP instead of ESA. They are not overlapping benefits and you don't have to claim one or the other. Being in receipt of PIP or DLA can only serve to increase one's ESA.