ESA Rejected

celinepatricia

What do you mean?
I was just asking all the people who stick up for ATOS all the time, no matter what, their thoughts on getting zero points at ATOS medical yet have high mobility DSA. Obviously has mobility problems.

Indie_Kid

No-one can tell you why he was given 0 points. Being on HRM doesn't always mean you're unable to walk. I know a few people on HRM who can walk.

nogginthenog

NASA wrote: »

Where does it say not to send anything? I read the ESA50 again and see it nowhere.

Most people dont supply additional information, I've no idea why they dont, I assume its due to ignorance or lazyness. They obviously should do.

Some advisors advise clients not to send evidence,or hold some back.
I think more people would send in evidence if they were absolutly certain the medic would read it.

Then their is the situation of a claimant sending in proof of a complex and rare medical condition,.Only for the ATOS medic to be a midwife.and not be able to understand it.

nogginthenog

celinepatricia wrote: »

What do you mean?
I was just asking all the people who stick up for ATOS all the time, no matter what, their thoughts on getting zero points at ATOS medical yet have high mobility DSA. Obviously has mobility problems.

You get zero points for not meeting the desciptors.

Pertaining to the mobility descriptor,if you cant walk
but are able to use a wheelchair without pain, your do not score any points.

celinepatricia

Met the decriptor by not being able to walk more than 30m without having to stop due to severe discomfort.

nogginthenog

celinepatricia wrote: »

Met the decriptor by not being able to walk more than 30m without having to stop due to severe discomfort.

I think your right...Its mobilize from March 2011.
I though the new rule was already in practice.

If you cant walk 30 meters then use a wheelchair from march.
Without pain or discomfort of course.

NASA_2

nogginthenog wrote: »

Some advisors advise clients not to send evidence,or hold some back.
I think more people would send in evidence if they were absolutly certain the medic would read it.

Then their is the situation of a claimant sending in proof of a complex and rare medical condition,.Only for the ATOS medic to be a midwife.and not be able to understand it.

The ATOS employee doesnt need the evidence - the DWP do - the HCP is simply going through the set questions.

If you, or others, have evidence that 'some' advisors are saying this to claimants then I would report it to the office manager or whoever it should be going to.

goffo wrote: »

As I have said before, I don't blame the DWP in this matter. They may not know that their hands are being tied behind their backs by ATOS.

Maybe now is the time for the DWP to sort it out and make it quite clear that the more evidence that is available the better and easier it will be to give a proper balanced decision.

On the other hand, maybe the DWP - or I should say their masters in Whitehall - know exactly what is going on with this letter from ATOS. Maybe they see it as a means to be able to fail more claimants?

I think its possibly a DPA matter. ATOS dont need the info therefore there is no reason for them to have it in their possession and it shouldnt be retained even for a short period of time.

DWP must work differently from where I work - claimants are often advised to send in as much info as possible - it is their responsibility.

celinepatricia

I think it causes a lot of confusion for people who arn't used to claiming benefits, if you are told dont send any other evidence most of us didnt realise that when the report from ESA is sent to DWP you had to send evidence to DWP seperately. If the HCP had all the evidence in front of them maybe there would be less people having to appeal. After all, the ATOS HCP is the medical person in this and not the DWP decision maker (how can they decide between HCP report & ESA50 report without seeing the actual person, they are always going to go with the HCP).

NASA_2

celinepatricia wrote: »

I think it causes a lot of confusion for people who arn't used to claiming benefits, if you are told dont send any other evidence most of us didnt realise that when the report from ESA is sent to DWP you had to send evidence to DWP seperately. If the HCP had all the evidence in front of them maybe there would be less people having to appeal. After all, the ATOS HCP is the medical person in this and not the DWP decision maker (how can they decide between HCP report & ESA50 report without seeing the actual person, they are always going to go with the HCP).

ESA are DWP. ATOS are the only outsiders in this.

They will pretty much go with HCP over ESA50 in every case, correctly IMO, to do otherwise would be to let claimants decide their own claims. Though I have seen ESA50's where people dont actually declare any limitations.

Hopefully the relatively few people who have read this thread can now see that they can send more info to the DWP but not to ATOS.

NASA_2

If the advisor is a DWP employee then I would certainly address the complaing to the appropriate person in the DWP. If they are sub-contracted then to the person in that organisation. If you have been told all that you say you have then that is pretty disappointing. There are some occasions where money wise it could make sense to claim JSA but those are a small minority.

If I am speaking to a claimant and the medical process comes up (Its not my area of expertise or part of my job) then I tell them to send in as much information as the have to support their claim. Its on a personal basis I communicate that and not a systemic basis.

The DWP call centre staff are poorly trained from what I can garner, they are trained enough that they can answer simple and straightforward questions, but specialised questions stun them. IMO this isnt their fault. Its a problem within the system. Callbacks are something that shouldnt be needed and if the call centres pass everything onto the BDC then nothing will get processed.

The ESA50 maybe should say to send in additional information if you have it but the fact that it doesnt isnt misinformation. And if it did say it how many people would spend an age trying to get that info and miss the return date? Everyone wants simplification but at the same time to be given every bit of information that its possible to give.

goffo wrote: »

Does anybody know how we can get the DWP to either re-print the ESA50 with more info on it or even print off a letter that should go out with every ESA50 issued until they can be re-printed?

I simply dont see that happening.