ESA letter - mistake?

purplebutterfly

My husband was put in the support group for ESA at the end of last year after a lot of trouble and doctor intervention.

Yesterday he received a letter from ATOS - the standard "if you are on Incap/Income Support/ etc you need to apply for ESA" letter that we already filled in a year ago.

Is it possible that this is just a mistake on the part of ASOS? I would have imagined that a reassessment letter would say that it was a reassessment rather than an initial application? Has anyone else had this?

Luckily I managed to intercept the post before he saw the letter as he can't mentally handle any of this - the last assessment saw him end up in hospital because of it.

I'm going to phone first thing in the morning but I'm getting really anxious about it all as I'm not well enough right now to cope if things end up as bad as they did last time.

aspencer6

My daughter had to reapply after 18 months, she is in the support group. We sent in the form and they decided she didn't need to be seen by them (ATOS) on this occasion. She will have to reapply again at some point, probably when she is transferred to PIP.

purplebutterfly

Thanks - did the letter say it was for a reassessment or was it just the standard questionnaire letter?

rogerblack

purplebutterfly wrote: »

Is it possible that this is just a mistake on the part of ASOS? I would have imagined that a reassessment letter would say that it was a reassessment rather than an initial application? Has anyone else had this?

Have you posted this elsewhere on the site?
If not - there was a remarkably similar post yesterday.
In short - yes - reassessments happen - you need to confirm this is an error.
Simply because the covering letter is wrong may not mean you don't have to complete it.
You may want to consider getting a doctors letter to request an assessment at home.

purplebutterfly

No I didn't post anything yesterday - only posted tonight because it has been preying on my mind so much that I'm getting myself in a state.

I'll talk to them on the phone and then get the doctor to contact them again, if necessary. I just wish they let you know how long you had before a reassessment so that it wouldn't come out of the blue like this. It's the worst thing possible for people with serious mental health problems like my husband

rogerblack

purplebutterfly wrote: »

. It's the worst thing possible for people with serious mental health problems like my husband

It may be worth considering getting made an appointee for his benefits.
This would mean they write to you, not him.
https://www.gov.uk/become-appointee-for-someone-claiming-benefits

purplebutterfly

I arranged to be made an appointee last year but ATOS have still addressed the letter to him. To be honest, it wouldn't make much a difference who it is addressed to because as soon as he knows they've been in touch it's going to have a terrible effect.

Even our doctor was astounded at just how amazingly incompetent they are when he had dealings with them

Brassedoff

I thought they re-assessed every 12 months + anyway?

Pippin12

Brassedoff wrote: »

I thought they re-assessed every 12 months + anyway?

The reassessments can occur from 3 - 36 months after initial award.

rogerblack

Pippin12 wrote: »

The reassessments can occur from 3 - 36 months after initial award.

And the reassessments can be a paper exercise - meaning the claimant is never contacted. (In the most serious cases)

aspencer6

purplebutterfly wrote: »

I arranged to be made an appointee last year but ATOS have still addressed the letter to him. To be honest, it wouldn't make much a difference who it is addressed to because as soon as he knows they've been in touch it's going to have a terrible effect.

Even our doctor was astounded at just how amazingly incompetent they are when he had dealings with them

Does the DWP have you down as his appointee? If they haven't you must contact them to get that sorted. Also make sure the DWP tell ATOS you are his appointee because if they don't ATOS will not speak/write to you.