ESA Obtaining a home visit

Dan9

I wonder if anyone can help me. Basically I have been on Incapacity Benefit for a number of years and am now being transferred to ESA. I received a date for my medical assessment a few weeks ago, and informed them that as I am housebound, I would need a home medical instead.
I was told to ask my GP to fax them with details of why I needed a home appointment. Since then I have badgered my GP surgery to send the fax to ATOS. I was continually reassured that it would be done, but everytime I phoned to see if it had, it hadn't! I ended up having to change the date of my ATOS assessment as the GP still hadn't sent the fax to them. I literally called up every day last week to chase the fax up, and finally on Friday of last week I was told by ATOS that they had received the fax from my GP, however one of the pages was missing! So now my mother is going to the doctors tonight to pick up the fax and is going to fax them over yet again to ATOS, tomorrow. However my medical assessment is this Thursday, and I cannot change the date of it again, as I've been informed that you can only do this once.

I'm really concerned that the ATOS GP will now not have enough time to look at my request for a home visit, and I'm worried that my own GP won't have put the required information down, that will make ATOS grant me a home medical. I've had severe OCD for many years now and I also suffer from vertigo and started getting severe panic attacks, especially when in a moving car. I haven't left my home for months, so I'm so worried about having to actually go to the assessment centre. I'm not sure I can do it. I know in reality if I went it would help my case, as it would show how bad I get, but I can't bear the thought of having to go through it. I'm not concerned about the actual assessment, it's the journey there. I'm not sure what options I have, do I have any? What happens if I don't go to the appointment?

rogerblack

The assessor at ATOS may or may not be a doctor.
Neglecting what should have happened.

If they do not arrange a home visit.
ATOS will inform the DWP that you were a 'no-show' - and your benefit will stop.
You will not be able to restart this unless either a decisionmaker decides you have 'good cause' to miss the appointment, or you get a fresh medical (possibly at home). (you should send the DWP any evidence of why you missed the medical, so they can make this decision)

If the decisionmaker does not decide you have good cause, you can in principle appeal this, but this may take some considerable time.

Dan9

Thanks for your reply. I called ATOS again this afternoon, and was told that they had cancelled my medical on Thursday and they wouldn't want to see me at home either. I don't understand, since when I called them this morning the woman from ATOS told me that she hadn't even given the fax from my doctor to their GP to look at, because they hadn't received the whole 3 pages.
ATOS have now said that my file is being sent back to the DWP, he said perhaps they decided they had enough evidence from my GP and decided I didn't need any kind of medical...I'm relieved, but a bit worried that I will be placed in the wrong group now. I suppose I will just have to wait and see.

rogerblack

Some claimants are not required to attend medicals.
These are if ATOS feel they have enough information to assess you based on the documents they hold.
The (possibly partial) fax from your doctor, or even them re-looking at what they hold may have caused them to conclude that they can realistically allocate you to one group without a medical.

If the DM disagrees that you should get ESA, you need to have an in-person medical at some point, otherwise, an ESA award will follow.

It's possible that this could be the work-related group, when you believe that you should be in the support group.
You can appeal this decision.

Brassedoff

It is important to consider that ATOS having sufficient information not to need a medical is not a guaranteed pass into either of the groups.

Just wait to see what the decision maker decides, but have your paperwork ready to get a request to see the basis of the decision in case you disagree.

HB58

DWP cannot refuse ESA without a face-to-face assessment (unless the claim is stopped due to someone not turning up for the appointment).

Poppa_G

I requested a home visit in a telephone conversation ATOS. They informed me that I would have to get my GP to fax them with reasons why I couldn't attend a medical, of which my GP did.

A couple of weeks later I received a letter from ATOS apologising for any inconvenience caused and that I had no need to attend a medical. A couple of weeks after that they wrote to me to say I'd been placed in the WRAG, naturally with the help of my GP I'm appealing this decision.

When it came through I asked for my work focused interview to be done over the phone, it was refused. When I attended the interview the interviewer was very apologetic and told me that she could see that I was clearly unfit for work and said that she'd phone me in 6 - 12 months time, by which time she thinks I'll have won my appeal to be placed in the support group. However, judging by comments on here it's a never ending circle.