Two ESA questions - help greatly appreciated.

Catlover777

After the 13 weeks and the mandatory reconsideration (which was declined due to insufficient evidence/anything) my claim has now gone to appeal - I have sent a fairly long letter to HMCTS in place of the ESA50 form - I found the form way too robotic and there was simply not enough space to write everything, so I used lined paper.

Firstly, as I have not received an ESA payment since the 13 weeks was up, until the hearing I will be receiving the assessment rate. Does this initial assessment rate get backdated? I haven't been paid in 3 months. I mean, does it get backdated before the decision is made? I mean the assessment rate which I would have been receiving had I given in notes since the 13 weeks.

Secondly, do some people get accepted for ESA based on ESA50 or self-written letters alone? I can get medical evidence but perhaps not initially - some doctors seem to not be clued up at all and it may take some time before I can meet the right doctor to get the right medical evidence - I'm not sure what the medical evidence would even consist of!

Thanks in advance and I appreciate the advice, I'll be checking back constantly.

Poppie68

I think you may fail in your appeal...you HAVE to send the ESA50 not a letter in it's place, you should of completed the form and written any additional info onto seperate paper and sent both in.

pmlindyloo

Catlover777 wrote: »

After the 13 weeks and the mandatory reconsideration (which was declined due to insufficient evidence/anything) my claim has now gone to appeal - I have sent a fairly long letter to HMCTS in place of the ESA50 form - I found the form way too robotic and there was simply not enough space to write everything, so I used lined paper.

Firstly, as I have not received an ESA payment since the 13 weeks was up, until the hearing I will be receiving the assessment rate. Does this initial assessment rate get backdated? I haven't been paid in 3 months. I mean, does it get backdated before the decision is made? I mean the assessment rate which I would have been receiving had I given in notes since the 13 weeks.

Secondly, do some people get accepted for ESA based on ESA50 or self-written letters alone? I can get medical evidence but perhaps not initially - some doctors seem to not be clued up at all and it may take some time before I can meet the right doctor to get the right medical evidence - I'm not sure what the medical evidence would even consist of!

Thanks in advance and I appreciate the advice, I'll be checking back constantly.

To answer your question about backdating. The assessment rate of ESA will be backdated to the time it was stopped as long as you can produce fit notes for this period and you weren't claiming JSA.

Link for you:

http://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/appeals-and-mandatory-reconsideration

Catlover777

Poppie68 wrote: »

I think you may fail in your appeal...you HAVE to send the ESA50 not a letter in it's place, you should of completed the form and written any additional info onto seperate paper and sent both in.

Thanks a lot - at the stage I am at, will I be able to send the ESA50 in tomorrow or do they not accept it at this point? My appeal has been lodged, but I am yet to hear of an appointment, and have been told that when I do hear of it, it will probably be at least 2 months before I go there.

pmlindyloo wrote: »

To answer your question about backdating. The assessment rate of ESA will be backdated to the time it was stopped as long as you can produce fit notes for this period and you weren't claiming JSA.

Thank you very much, I'm reading the link now. (Can't quote links due to being a new user)

wouldthisbeodd

Did your ESA stop being paid because you didn't complete the ESA50? If so you will not be paid the assessment rate on appeal. Your best bet is to complete one and send it in...the DM may lapse your appeal and you will then receive your benefit. If your ESA isn't being paid because you haven't sent in fit notes then you need to send them.

If this is your first ever WCA then Atos should call you for an assessment however they are making decisions based on the ESA50 and medical evidence.

Poppie68

Catlover777 wrote: »

Thanks a lot - at the stage I am at, will I be able to send the ESA50 in tomorrow or do they not accept it at this point? My appeal has been lodged, but I am yet to hear of an appointment, and have been told that when I do hear of it, it will probably be at least 2 months before I go there.



Thank you very much, I'm reading the link now. (Can't quote links due to being a new user)

Complete the ESA50 a send in, if you have a copy of the letter you have sent in i would also attach that. Dont forget the sick notes...good luck.

epitome

Catlover777 wrote: »

After the 13 weeks and the mandatory reconsideration (which was declined due to insufficient evidence/anything) my claim has now gone to appeal - I have sent a fairly long letter to HMCTS in place of the ESA50 form -.

What reason was given to close your claim?

Did you fill in the ESA50 as you were required to do and return it before the deadline?

Was your claim closed because you failed to return the questionaire?

If this was the reason, have you subsequently filled in an ESA50 and returned it, giving your reasons on page 17 why it is late?

**What is your medical condition as stated on your fit notes?**

Did you attend an ATOS assessment Y/N ?

Having attended were you then found to be fit for work?

Was your claim closed having been given an ATOS appointment that you failed to attend?

Poppie68

epitome wrote: »

What reason was given to close your claim?

Did you fill in the ESA50 as you were required to do and return it before the deadline?

Was your claim closed because you failed to return the questionaire?

If this was the reason, have you subsequently filled in an ESA50 and returned it, giving your reasons on page 17 why it is late?

**What is your medical condition as stated on your fit notes?**

Did you attend an ATOS assessment Y/N ?

Having attended were you then found to be fit for work?

Was your claim closed having been given an ATOS appointment that you failed to attend?

The OP hasn't returned the ESA50 they sent a letter instead..

epitome

Not necessarily, when I first read the OP, I thought she was saying that she wrote a letter to the appeal court instead of writing an ESA50 to the appeal court - like she thought she was expected to write an ESA50 for the appeal.
- like she was saying she has been through all of ESA process including writing the ESA50 but she failed the assessment , and thought about writing another ESA50 to the appeal court.

We need the OP to clarify the exact reason why claim was closed.

If it is "failure to return a completed ESA50" then she is wasting her time appealing and will not be paid on appeal. The appeal could take 4 - 6 months.

The best thing she can do is return a completed ESA50 with reasons for lateness on page 17 as fast as possible, and send it directly to her Benefit Centre, not ATOS. for the DM to make a decision. She should also make a new claim from the date the old one was closed from.

What will then happen is that the DM will not accept reasons for lateness old claim will remain closed and new claim will start to pay from the date the ESA50 was received.