esa work related group, freaking out, not sure where to start?!

sherbie

elo everyone,

sorry if this is in the wrong board, i cant think straight at the mo. i just got a letter saying im in the work related group for esa, and im really upset and confused. i thought i had to have an atos medical first, but i havent had one, theyve just placed me in this group, and thats that. great, im crying again now, so sorry if this goes to pot.

last year i had a home visit from atos for my dla, i got higher rate for mobility, and lower for care ( i had been on middle, and weirdly i was worse than the previous time, but they still lowered it) but i was too scared to appeal as the lady on the phone at the dla said they could just take more benefit away. im in all sorts of mess financially, and thats created so much trouble, but still not as much as not having any money, so i just accepted it.

sorry, im waffling. im really muddled. theres a leaflet in the letter, but its called "jobseekers allowance, disagreeing with a decision", so am i on job seekers, is that just another name for esa?

ive no idea what to do. can they really decide without even seeing me? i mean ive heard all about atos, so would expect this anyway even after a medical, but still, can they do this?

in the letter it says that there are 4 things i can do. do i ask for all 4, what kind of thing to i say, should i write or phone/get someone to phone for me?

what happens if they now send me an appointment for the work interview thing at the job centre? Do i go?

Im really sorry, this make little sense, but i wanted to ask for help right away before i go into total utter melt down and cant write about it atall.

thanks in advance for any help, and im sorry if how to proceed is written down somewhere already, but i couldnt see it, but im sure id looked at it before when they sent me the forms for esa.

rogerblack

The work related group is not JSA.
It is ESA.
You can be placed in either group of ESA, on the basis of the paper information without seeing anyone.
You can't be denied ESA without being given the opportunity to undergo a medical. (unless you've been turned down recently)

First thing to do is to phone the DWP, and ask for a written statement of reasons about the decision, and a copy of the ESA85A and any other evidence used - this is the medical report that will have been produced by ATOS on the basis of your submission.

In the work-related group - you can be compelled to go to interviews, or do other activity that is 'reasonable'.
What is reasonable is in their view.
You may find https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/58802845#Comment_58802845 on this topic which I've just written useful.

sherbie

Thankyou for the reply, and sorry for the delay in mine. I had another issue right after, so have only now had a chance to start thinking about this again.

I will do the things youve said, and i will look through the info on the link youve provided, im sure itll be helpful.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply and help, it means a lot.

Pennywise2012

For some reason, all their 'disagreeing with the decision' leaflets have JSA on them, regardless of which benefit is the one in question. So don't worry about that!