esa transfer

rossireps

hi
would someone be able to put my mind at rest at all? please be gentle thanks.
i suffer from mental health issues and live alone,claiming benefit. yesterday i recieved the dreaded letter from the dwp about,transering to esa. now waiting the phone call from them
just wondering as you hear all the horror stories if i should be worrying as much as iam? is it likely i will get the esa and is it the same rate as my is and incap im on now? so scared ill end up with nothing and forced into work i cant cope with
thanks for any help.

atrixblue.-MFR-.

to answer your question should you be worried about the phone call i'd say no, they call you to gather extra info of your condition because the criteria for incapacity benefit doesnt fit the strict criteria for ESA and this is an opertunity to update your benefit file.

not everyone gets a call, it seems that they just select randomly who theyre going to call and the letter is just a heads up.

are you on income base or contrebution based benefit now.

if so if the amount you receive now is below the amount of ESA payments minus any social fund repayments and water rate payments that they take from you will be topped up by ESA, if you get more than what is ESA it will stay at the same rate you recieve now.

more than likely you will receive a ESA50 form to fill in and then send onto Atos with the prepayed envelope.

the ESA50 asks specific key questions centered around the ESA descriptors its your opertunity to send in any relevant information regarding your condition, if you have had a recent Atos medical with incapcity benefit you can send in the the Atos report that you may have, if not you can call incapacity benefit and request that report from the Atos medical you recieved with incap in the past. thats report bears some weight but not all because the descriptors are different, any GP report,any CPN letter, you may or may not have you can ask for by ringing those.

any recent trips to hospital as an inpatient, you can get copies of the discharge letter and treatment plan that was made by the hospital via you GP by asking to view your medical file, any copies of relevant letters you feels support your ESA claim you can request a data protection release form form the surgery and pay a small fee for the admin process to give you a copy of the letter you want if there multiples of letters ask for them in one go because it will still be a small admin fee if you ask later you have to pay the fee and sign a DPRF again costing you more.

if your not familliar with the ESA descriptors, google WCA handbook (Working Capability Assessment), the descriptors to support group and WRAG (work related activity group) can be found there.

rossireps

thankyou very much
i get income based at £202.00 a fortnight i think. i know it sounds awful but was so worried as ive been through so much in the last year i was frightened i wouldnt be able to pay the bills on top of everything else.
i rang a helpline yesterday that just made things worse by mentioning jsa. i would in the future like to do something but need help.
so am i right in thinking apart from having to attend things at job centre its not much different , different name but not the amount.
thanks

atrixblue.-MFR-.

im not clued up on the amount of income related ESA, or whether your single or part of a couple, sounds like the couple rate.

the JSA part of the conversation you had with the helpline proabably is this:

if you fail a WCA ATOS assessment and get refused ESA, you would be able to claim JSA instead of ESA, the problem with that is if you are not fit to actively seek work your not entitled to JSA. so you get stuck in limbo. the most common aspect when this happens is the ESA claimant Appeals the decision and continue to get paid at the assessment (appeal) rate of ESA untill a reconsidderation or Appeal tribunal decision is made, there assuming the claimant wins his/her tribunal, the assessmant rate is converted to full entitlement and any backdated monies is eventually paid to the claimant by ESA.

correct in thinking its not much different. incapacity or income support is no longer being rolled out by the government and is slowly being wound up to non existance.

the difference in INCOME SUPPORT/INCOPACITY to ESA is that the set criteria is much more tight to be awarded the benefit, hence descriptors i talk about.
those who migrate to the benefit from the above benefits get to either keep or have topped up the award amount they had with that previous benefit, those on contribuation based have the contribution based for 12 months and then move over to income related esa, those in support group keep their contribution based for in the whole period where they are in that group,where as those who make a new claim to ESA get the ESA set rates and have two catagories support and Wrag groups.

if you are put in Wrag group, you will be allocated a Work focused interview with a backto advisor at the JCP, the difference is that you do not have to take part in any voluntary retraining untill you feel you are ready.

EDIT: you will not be turned down for ESA on migration from another benefit, you have to have a face to face assessement from the Atos group, who advises the DWP decision maker who can either place you in Wrag, support o group or refuse as you dont meet criterion

rossireps

i get what i think is called disability premium, i live alone and have done for the last 4yrs.
i rang the helpline back and i think that is what they were saying but told me i shouldnt worry about it(ha ha) personally i think i should be ok for esa but its a worry

atrixblue.-MFR-.

rossireps wrote: »

i get what i think is called disability premium, i live alone and have done for the last 4yrs.
i rang the helpline back and i think that is what they were saying but told me i shouldnt worry about it(ha ha) personally i think i should be ok for esa but its a worry

yes its a worry but dont asume youll be placed in Wrag or support group, you need a minimum of 15 points score in the WCA test to apply for either groups in 1 descriptor or an acumilation of 15 points over many descriptors.

mental health on its own is hard to prove to the DWP and Atos without solid evidence.

the above tips in my first post about looking at the descriptors, and seeing how you apply, is best way to take on ESA. ultimately were not in control on what a decision maker or atos view us so, dont be suprised once ESA50 is sent in that you have a face to face and then be awarded zero. you have make it a start to goal challenge, compile evidence, fill in the ESA50 with the WCA handbook in mind where the descriptos meets certain MH related questions, may have to go to an assessment, then may have to appeal and the end result is what a tribunal awards you as a scenario you must considder.

Muttleythefrog

As above... try not to worry... many do indeed have bad experience regarding their WCA (work capability assessment) but by no means should you assume that.. and even if so... there are options.

Soon enough you should expect ATOS HC to supply ESA50 form to you for completion.. this is for factfinding in relation to the descriptors for the WCA. ATOS HC act as the medical advisers to the DWP for ESA and have big impact on decisions made.

Focus on the descriptors.. try to get supporting medical evidence of your problems and especially if they relate to the descriptors. If you want to get a headstart then there is the ESA50 form in pdf format available online... ultimately at the appropriate time you'd need to print it off and post it if you were to use that version. Again at the the approrpriate time you can send medical evidence with the ESA50 form... all that material will be used to decide if a face to face medical is necessary and you cannot be found fit for work without at least being offered the medical.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/prod_consum_dg/groups/dg_digitalassets/@dg/@en/@money/documents/digitalasset/dg_195544.pdf

MUMZ2BEE

I too am currently waiting to be migrated from incapacity benefit onto ESA.

I also received a phone call to discuss this from the DWP; then they sent me an ESA50 questionnaire to fill in.

I have the dreaded medical on the 15th November, but to be honest I am not worried now because I have a care worker to attend with me.

Its just all bog standard stuff with the benefits system; if I fail then my partner is willing to support me regardless.

Good luck though!!

bluenose5_2

atrixblue.-MFR, you said mental health on its own is hard to prove to the DWP and Atos without solid evidence. so what would be Solid Evidence ?

Muttleythefrog

bluenose5 wrote: »

atrixblue.-MFR, you said mental health on its own is hard to prove to the DWP and Atos without solid evidence. so what would be Solid Evidence ?

Medical evidence probably... and ideally as close to details relating to the descriptors as possible or ultimately medical opinion directly regarding the applicability of WCA descriptors. It isn't necessary to have supporting evidence but it sure can make a big difference to being persuasive in the processes of WCAs.

sunnyone

MUMZ2BEE wrote: »

I too am currently waiting to be migrated from incapacity benefit onto ESA.

I also received a phone call to discuss this from the DWP; then they sent me an ESA50 questionnaire to fill in.

I have the dreaded medical on the 15th November, but to be honest I am not worried now because I have a care worker to attend with me.

Its just all bog standard stuff with the benefits system; if I fail then my partner is willing to support me regardless.

Good luck though!!

So having a stranger who knows jack about you and your health and who cannot speak on your behalf/intervene in any way is enough to stop your worries about the (none) medical?