Help!! ESA stopped because wc assessment questionaire not arrived

clem28_2

Hi
been on Esa for over a year now being placed in support group after tribunal.
Received a wc assessment questionaire to fill in and send back 19th december.
My wife filled it in, we got all surgeons reports ,doctors letters xrays and other documents relating to my claim and sent it all before december 9th.
we received 3 letters thisweek
1 we have stopped paying you ESA because we have not received the ESA500 completed questionaire.
2 letter how much they have paid me in 1 year
3.P45 page 1,2 and 3
got intouch with jobcentre etc telephone no on letter, they put it on there file and after numerous telephone calls to cut along story short, have said nothing can be done as you have either not sent the form back or its been lost in transit as they have looked and havnt got it.
so i have to wait to receive another esa500 fill it in and start the process again applying, and stating why this form is late.
i am very concerned as private information sent with this form as gone missing.
these people who i talked to wernt helpful at all wether call centre or other departments.
as anyone else had this problem now no longer getting esa is there anything i can do other than re apply when the esa500 form arrives
any help.
also i letter came saying decision maker says im fit for work, just come out of hospital again after neck spinal surgery
clem

dcm85

There's not really much that you can do if you have been told the ESA50 has been lost. Any mail you send to the DWP, whether is is to a BDC or ATOS, gets sent to a Royal Mail sorting office, who then forward it on to the relevant centre for you. So it probably hasn't been lost, but instead forwarded to the wrong centre or still in the string office! Although, when you do reapply for your ESA, it should be processed as a rapid reclaim for you. Providing the claim has actually been shut down on the systems, which rarely happens. Good luck!

rotoguys

As the old claim has now been closed, a new claim will have to be submitted.
It is quite possible that it will be rejected as you cannot make a reclaim with 6 months of an old one being closed unless its for a new condition or a worsening of the old one.

If by any chance they do accept a new claim on what you are saying, then you will NOT be paid anything until you have 'passed' the ATOS assessment and after you have forwarded a new ESA50. You will be treated as failing to supply the ESA50. It could be another 3 months before you get any money.

LoopyLu

This happened with my partner's claim. He sent back the bright pink form with a sick note. Well they got the sick note but somehow lost the form!

custardy

clem28 wrote: »

Hi
been on Esa for over a year now being placed in support group after tribunal.
Received a wc assessment questionaire to fill in and send back 19th december.
My wife filled it in, we got all surgeons reports ,doctors letters xrays and other documents relating to my claim and sent it all before december 9th.
we received 3 letters thisweek
1 we have stopped paying you ESA because we have not received the ESA500 completed questionaire.
2 letter how much they have paid me in 1 year
3.P45 page 1,2 and 3
got intouch with jobcentre etc telephone no on letter, they put it on there file and after numerous telephone calls to cut along story short, have said nothing can be done as you have either not sent the form back or its been lost in transit as they have looked and havnt got it.
so i have to wait to receive another esa500 fill it in and start the process again applying, and stating why this form is late.
i am very concerned as private information sent with this form as gone missing.
these people who i talked to wernt helpful at all wether call centre or other departments.
as anyone else had this problem now no longer getting esa is there anything i can do other than re apply when the esa500 form arrives
any help.
also i letter came saying decision maker says im fit for work, just come out of hospital again after neck spinal surgery
clem

so how did you send them?

Cpt.Scarlet

rotoguys wrote: »

As the old claim has now been closed, a new claim will have to be submitted.
It is quite possible that it will be rejected as you cannot make a reclaim with 6 months of an old one being closed unless its for a new condition or a worsening of the old one.

This is actually incorrect, you can make a new claim, but it will not be paid until six months have elapsed or you pass the WCA.

The DWP are supposed to contact a claimant if the ESA50 is not received, this may give you some leverage but you still need to complete a new form before anything will happen.

rogerblack

clem28 wrote: »

1 we have stopped paying you ESA because we have not received the ESA500 completed questionaire.

Write and say you appeal the decision to end your benefit, because the ESA50 was submitted, but was lost in the post.

Perhaps note the royal mails statistics - http://www.royalmailgroup.com/sites/default/files/Quarterly%20Quality%20of%20Service%20Report%20to%20Ofcom%20Qtr%202%2011-12.pdf

If 99.6% of letters are delivered correctly, then 0.5% are not, which with (say) 3 million ESA50s a year, that will be 15000.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch42.pdf will also be useful - this is the decision makers guide.

Specifically, see 42222 and subsequent, on page 39.

42227 specifically.
Firstly - were two reminders about the ESA50 recieved?

If not, then were they sent?
If they were not sent, then the decision to terminate the claim is invalid, and the WCA process continues - the DWP needs to send out another reminder, and you still have time to submit the form.

If the reminder was not received, and was sent,, but the ESA50 was not received, then you have 'good cause' for not returning the ESA50 - you did, but it was lost in the post.

Any evidence of lost mail to your address may be useful.

Witnesses of you posting the letter may also be useful.

If you make a fresh claim without doing this, you cannot be paid until you get the medical, as others have said.

So, make an appeal, on two grounds.
Firstly, your benefit was terminated for non-return of the ESA50, but you have good cause as you posted it (evidence).
Secondly, that you believe the reminder letter(s) may not have been sent, so the decision to terminate your benefit is procedurally incorrect.

On another tack, you may also consider getting backdated medical evidence, and submitting a fresh, backdated claim of ESA.
I'm unsure if this is permitted.
However, in this circumstance, you still would not be paid until your medical.

rotoguys

rogerblack wrote: »

Write and say you appeal the decision to end your benefit, because the ESA50 was submitted, but was lost in the post.

Perhaps note the royal mails statistics - http://www.royalmailgroup.com/sites/default/files/Quarterly%20Quality%20of%20Service%20Report%20to%20Ofcom%20Qtr%202%2011-12.pdf

If 99.6% of letters are delivered correctly, then 0.5% are not, which with (say) 3 million ESA50s a year, that will be 15000.
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dmgch42.pdf will also be useful - this is the decision makers guide.

Specifically, see 42222 and subsequent, on page 39.

42227 specifically.
Firstly - were two reminders about the ESA50 recieved?

If not, then were they sent?
If they were not sent, then the decision to terminate the claim is invalid, and the WCA process continues - the DWP needs to send out another reminder, and you still have time to submit the form.

If the reminder was not received, and was sent,, but the ESA50 was not received, then you have 'good cause' for not returning the ESA50 - you did, but it was lost in the post.

Any evidence of lost mail to your address may be useful.

Witnesses of you posting the letter may also be useful.

If you make a fresh claim without doing this, you cannot be paid until you get the medical, as others have said.

So, make an appeal, on two grounds.
Firstly, your benefit was terminated for non-return of the ESA50, but you have good cause as you posted it (evidence).
Secondly, that you believe the reminder letter(s) may not have been sent, so the decision to terminate your benefit is procedurally incorrect.

The onus is on the claimant to prove on the balance of probabilities that it was posted. I would imagine that the DWP get 1,000's of people saying this to try and get round the fact that they DIDN'T post it. You will have to show that you did.

On another tack, you may also consider getting backdated medical evidence, and submitting a fresh, backdated claim of ESA.
I'm unsure if this is permitted.
However, in this circumstance, you still would not be paid until your medical

AND on the basis that you 'pass' the medical and are found to be unfit for any type of work or work activity.

Given that this is going to take a whole load of time with no guarantees, the poster needs money now. I would suggest that they sign on and claim JSA in the meantime!!!

clem28_2

Thanks Roger,
to appeal do you need a specific claim form saying you appeal.
if so where do you get them from, as i am still waiting from last week for the replacement esa50 form.
so i might as well send an appeal in.
clemm

rogerblack

Just a letter, with enough information to identify you, and the decision you're appealing against, and the reason.
You can use a form - which can be downloaded here - http://www.dwp.gov.uk/contact-us/complaints-and-appeals/

However, if your condition has worsened, you can make a fresh claim for ESA immediately.

Ellejmorgan

Any important forms I always hand in at the jobcenter and get a recipt, they then pass it on to the correct esa dept.
Did this with last atos form they got it in 4 days..