ESA Claim - logistical problems

chizzleface

Hi all

Having recently signed on the ESA benefit, I am currently in the assessment phase of the procedure. I have been sending in medical notes as per requirements, but this month I have received no payments. When I called the benefits delivery centre to query this, they said that they did not have my medical note on file and are advising me to get a duplicate from my doctor. I am very annoyed about this as I had included a backdated pink medical note in the same envelope, which they say they do have on file. Are there any other methods of sending in the sick notes to the benefits delivery centre, short of sending them recorded delivery, that will ensure they are received and acknowleged? Has anyone else had problems with sick notes being lost by benefits agency? This of course is very distressing to me as I now will have to go to the trouble of arranging an appointment at the doctor and explaining the situation in order to get a past medical note, then send it in and hope it doesn't get lost in the system before I can receive any payment. And I've already been forced to take a crisis loan before my claim was processed due to the long waiting time so will not be able to get another one. I'm at my wits end!

[Deleted User]

the only advice I can offer is to get a copy of the note from gp and send it recorded delivery,sometimes we have to jump thru hoops to get benefits or so it seems,but do remember bdc`s are extremely busy atm and things do go astray

jippity

Hi there,

I just wondered if either of you know how the postal strikes will affect this? I am in the process of claiming and am concerned.

NASA_2

Lost med certs are a pain for everyone, especially those sending them in, but from the other side it isnt hard to see how some go missings. There are thousands upon thousands of them sent in.

tigerlily

I work in a BDC, our post goes to a mail opening centre where it is opened, sorted and then sent on to us, sending anything recorded or next day delivery only gets things as far as the mail opening centre!This means that mail sent to us takes 4-5 days to get to us at the best of times. We are aware that the postal disruptions have had an impact on med certs arriving on time but as yet no word has come down the line regarding med certs arriving late during strikes.

dane-katie

I sent 2 medical certs normal delivery and they lost both, i then sent everything recorded delivery from then on and they didnt loose them. My advice would be to send them recorded delivery

[Deleted User]

jippity wrote: »

Hi there,

I just wondered if either of you know how the postal strikes will affect this? I am in the process of claiming and am concerned.

probably abit early to say as the dates for the first 2 stoppages only just announced,next thurs for drivers friday for the rest

System

They sus[ended my claim after a letter sent to me was returned due to the last postal strikes. Am dreading it happening again, last time it cost me £10 of phone credit to get through to them!

jillyfrock

I take my husband's medical note into my local Jobcentre plus myself. You will need to make an appointment even though it only takes 5 minutes at the most for them to process the med cert. and when you are asked what the appointment is for tell them you want your med cert put onto their internal LMS system. They will scan the med cert which enables any office no matter where they are based to see the details. They will then fax the med cert to the relevant department. If you do this ask them to email the ESA people to confirm that they have scanned the med cert onto the system or ring the ESA yourself. I was advised to use this method by the ESA department who deal with my husband's claim

System

jillyfrock wrote: »

I take my husband's medical note into my local Jobcentre plus myself. You will need to make an appointment even though it only takes 5 minutes at the most for them to process the med cert. and when you are asked what the appointment is for tell them you want your med cert put onto their internal LMS system. They will scan the med cert which enables any office no matter where they are based to see the details. They will then fax the med cert to the relevant department. If you do this ask them to email the ESA people to confirm that they have scanned the med cert onto the system or ring the ESA yourself. I was advised to use this method by the ESA department who deal with my husband's claim

Ah interesting, i did this once, and was told under the cicrumstances it was a one off and that i wouldn't be able to do it again

tigerlily

xXMessedUpXx wrote: »

Ah interesting, i did this once, and was told under the cicrumstances it was a one off and that i wouldn't be able to do it again

I work in a BDC and as far as we are concerned it would be a very definate one off, we do accept that there may be an occasion when a customer has not been able to get a med cert to us on time. It would not be an acceptable use of JCP time to basically process med certs all day. At the end of the day its the customers responsibility to get med certs in on time and the BDC's responsibility to process them as soon as they are recieved. Unfortunately the bit in the middle is dependant on Royal mail. Also its AMAZING just how many people call in to say they have not had their payment and their med cert has run out so they say "well I havent had my reminder yet" as if we are babysitters for their claim, the letters are a curtesy reminder, its not alot to ask that people take responsibility for their claim..........is it??