Hi everyone, could do with some advice please, one of my neighbours told me he saw a man knocking on my door a few nights ago at 7-50 pm, I was in bed at the time and heard nothing, I have now been told by the DWP that an Atos doctor wants to come and do a home visit regarding my DLA ,when I asked if a doctor had called at my house they didn't know. Are they allowed to turn up unannounced? I find it quite unsettling that a male doctor or indeed any male from the DWP could come to a females house unannounced at that time of night, can anyone tell me if this is right?

I struggled to find out how long my award was for so wrote to my MP,he managed to find out for me within a week

With all due respect abc123def I hardly think you can claim anyone gets off lightly with Atos.I was put in the support group and I know numerous people were awarded this for 2 years,it may only be 4 months early but I was unaware that they could change the recommendations if and when they pleased,there hardly seems much point in the recommendation in the first place if that is the case.

Esa is slightly different,you are given the award for a set period of time after which you will be reassessed again,my query is why they are doing this to me when I still have 8 months of my award remaining

I knew I would have to be reassessed again at some point but not this early,can they send me for another medical so long before my current award runs out?

Hi everyone, I am currently receiving ESA,I was awarded it in November 2011 until May 2013.I have now received another ESA50 form which they say has to be filled in and returned by the 14th October.Why are they sending me this when I still have 8 months left on the current award?I would be grateful for any thoughts on this please.

Hi everyone, would appreciate someones advice.I am on contribution based ESA,I also receive DLA hrm and my care has just been increased from low rate to middle rate,when I spoke to someone from DLA they told me to inform the dwp of the increase to my care rate because I should be entitled to the severe disability premium on esa however I have read on another site that this premium is only paid if you are on income related esa,have tried ringing Jobcentre where I sent my letter to with no luck,I've been on a CAB website which has the following: .ExternalClass .ecxhmmessage P{padding:0px;}.ExternalClass body.ecxhmmessage{font-size:10pt;font-family:Tahoma;}Case Studies A client of Craigavon CAB was awarded DLA and became entitled to a severe disability premium on his ESA claim. He reported this to ESA but was told that he was not entitled as he was receiving contribution-based ESA. This was incorrect advice and if the client had accepted this advice he would have missed out on £53.65 per week. When I use the benefit checker on the directgov website it's telling me I will get extra in the form of income related esa and yet I'm still reading that people are being turned down for this,I live alone and no-one gets carers allowance for me,would just love to know for certain what the rules are if someone could help.

Please have a look at this link,denying the right to appeal?surely that is against our human rights,it's like emotional blackmail www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/...rk-fit-appeal-ruling

Thanks for your replies,I've just phoned my local council and asked why I have only received 3 weeks Housing Benefit payments this month instead of 4,I was told that my last 2 week payment was 1 week in arrears and 1 week in advance so therefore I am only due 3 weeks,I have trawled different sites regarding this because I was always under the impression that HB was paid in arrears,all the sites say this,does anyone know for sure?

Hi everyone, I have been claiming LHA for the last 3 years,it has always been paid fortnightly,I received a letter earlier this year saying there were changes being made to the amount that would be paid but this wouldn't affect me until October,I was due a fortnightly payment on the 30th September which didn't go in and when I rang the council they said I should have had a letter telling me the payments would be changing to monthly starting in October,my 1st monthly payment will be paid tomorrow so by the 14th November I will have been paid 8 weeks rent but when it was fortnightly by that date I would have been paid 10 weeks rent(last payment was 16th September,this now means I am being paid 2 weeks in arrears,how on earth can they just spring that one on people?Has anyone any advice on this please?

Hello, can anyone give me any advice regarding LHA rates please? I know the way it is worked out has changed this year and people are supposed to be able to afford to rent 30% of the property available in their area as opposed to 50% last year.There are 143 properties to rent where I live but I can only afford to rent 2 of them because of the LHA rates,is this right?I would have thought that going of the 30% rate I should in fact be able to afford to rent arounf 42 of the properties available? I'd be grateful for anyones opinions on this.

Hello everyone, I've come across some info on a site that states you are allowed to ask to see what the Atos doctor has written about you during your medical,I've heard you can ask for a copy of this after the medical but this is saying you have the right to see it before it gets sent to the decision maker(not sure if I'm allowed to paste the info on here)does anyone know if this is correct?

Hello everyone, despite twice asking for the name of the person who will carry out my face to face assesment with Atos this week I have had no reply,is there anything I can do about this?

Hi,thanks for your reply,I have read the advice concerning the questions they may ask and they are most helpful at this very stressful time

Hi everyone, I filled in my ESA50 a few weeks ago,I asked that if a face to face assesment was needed could I have the name and medical qualification of the person who decided this,I also asked for the same information about the person who would be carrying out the medical,I got a letter telling me I need to attend a medical next week but no information to the questions I asked,I have asked again for the info (letter posted recorded) but again no word.I had read somewhere on a forum that they are obliged to give you these details if you ask,could someone tell me if that is correct please?I also note that on the leaflet they sent it says "The healthcare professional who does your medical assessment does not make the decision about your benefit" so who actually decides and can you also ask for their name and qualifications?