:MAXIMUS: Who have two alternative names for their service; The Health Assessment Advisory Service, which is delivered by The Centre for Health and Disability Assessments. Have from today, 2 March 2015, become responsible for work capability assessments, which help to determine eligibility for employment and support allowance. Their Head Office Address for comments, complaints and queries about face to face assessments is; Customer Relations Team, Health Assessment Advisory Service, Room 4E04, Quarry House, Quarry Hill, Leeds, LS2 7UA. For telephone contact they've taken over the Atos helpdesk/helpline number of; 08002 888777 There's a new address for electronic mail; customer-relations@chdauk.co.uk And their website address for work capability assessments is; https://www.chdauk.co.uk/ Margaret.

Hi, Ill make this short and sweet but I had my 'MEDICAL' assessment yesterday at ATOS and im so shocked with what it was like. I suffer from mental health issues and have been in the throws of this for around 10 years and have just been granted ESA to support me alongside my long awaited therapy which will last 12 months plus. I was asked to attend an assessment and did so and was abs nervous etc about going but I did and went through what i can only describe as an interrogation. In all my years under mental health care I have never been second guessed about my symptoms, made to talk about why i am ill (this has to be done delicately for someone with my condition), had my answers questioned on my feelings and when I tried to describe my emotions (again not wise for someone like me) I asked for reassurance if she understood and her answer was 'kind of'. Even in my therapy or during going through the system under mental health care have i ever been probed and questioned and worn out by this interrogation style, almost made to feel like a criminal in some ways. I dont think I was heard....how can I condense 10 years into 45 mins anyway? All this and they expect YOU to get evidence aswell?? The reason I am posting this is because i cannot see someone with a worse condition than myself coping with this atall...it has left me very anxious and low but i have a good support network others DONT. How can I effectively complain about this so it stops?? should I write to my local MP? Thanks for listening. PL

I have been on long term incapacity but like nearly everyone else on this I have had the forms which were filled out and returned and now have an appointment for an atos assessment, fully understandable given the benefit changes and I have no problem with this but I hear too many horror stories about it As I have use of my hands, and a pulse I expect that dwp will decide that my benefit will cease, and I have a few questions regarding this will I be notified of the date it ceases? how long after the assessment? can I reapply for benefit right away or does the system really leave you with nothing with no real notice?, I will still be out of work and have no income so surely the least I can apply for is JSA? I am losing a lot of sleep over the what ifs and fearing the worst, ie losing house I just want some plain facts and info on whats to come should I fail the assessment, and how I should go about things to proceed without losing my property. thanks for reading

I have recently been kicked off ESA by Atos, scoring zero points with mental health issues, I recently seen citizens advice which done the mandatorily reconsideration for me, I should have scored about 30 odd points but none of the questions that citizens advice showed me were asked, the mandatorily reconsideration phoned me the other day asking me questions, I got so stressed I couldn't do it so put the phone down due to my condition, she then phoned a few days ago telling me I still score 0 points I explained I got stressed and couldn't speak but that didn't help so I lost my cool with her and swore, anyhow I got the letter through this morning saying they uphold the original decision, also on the letter says that the Atos medical examiner said I looked fit and well and was well tanned and muscular, it was the middle of August of course I would look tanned I think anyone did the summer we had, I was even crying in front of her due to not seeing my children and my father recently passing away, but she lied and made out I was alert I couldn't even keep eye contact with her, but she said I did, what are you supposed to do go in there with a rope around your neck is it, anyway I'm thinking of appealing what do you guys recommend? i seen my doctor on Monday he give me a sick note for 13 weeks as he agrees I am not fit to work at the moment and said he was not surprised with the decision as they are doing it to everyone. Thank you

good morning all, after 13 months of waiting and me complaining to atos ive now finally got an appointment/assessment with them on Monday 26th jan at 1.30pm. after reading of so many folks being given zero points and being removed of esa after the assessment im kind of prepairing myself for the same treatment. my question is if I don't get the points needed to stay on esa and am removed of esa what is my next move and how do I go about it? ive read somewhere on here about a mandatory reconsideration so how do I go about that or apply for that?. im 62 this year and have been on esa for 13 months now with anxiety and depression and am waiting for both my knees to be replaced.. ive just been awarded pip on the mobility part and just missed out by 1 point on the daily living part so have asked them to reconsider as they never disclosed the facts of my claim. I have to see 2 doctors plus a phychiatrist who ive been seeing for 13 months but still feel im going to be treated the same as most other poor souls so thought id prepare myself before it all happens. many thanks in advance for any help , chris.

Hi, My relative applied for PIP approx. 8 months ago and finally has an appointment this month by ATOS at his home. If he is awarded any kind of award within PIP, is he entitled to backdated payment from when he first made the claim? or from the date of his assessment/home visit please?

How long does it normally take for ATOS to put your travel expenses claim into your bank account. I filled out the form before I left the WCA Centre and handed it back

Hi, I wonder if somebody can help with the most up to date knowledge, as I can only see lots of blogs but from 2012/13 and I guess the law has changed. I had my medical Atos on 23.12.14 and I called up today the DWP because of something else and the guy said that I had failed my assessment but he said I scored 15 points and I read everywhere that you need at least 15 points! Anyhow, he said that the ESA was stopped from the 20th which is not very nice and I have not received the letter yet neither has anybody called me. Does anybody know what to do next? As I figure, you can appeal their decision and meanwhile claim JSA and if this is unsuccessful you can go to court?? Anyhow, I read, that if you make a new claim for JSA you will not be getting anything for the first 7 days? How is this all going to work, I find this rather disgusting, I waited 7 months for this decision and was on the assessment rate and I am now living below the breadline, how can I cope with waiting again for JSA and not be paid for the first seven days? Can anybody help please. Many thanks.

Hi all, I had an Atos Medical booked for a few weeks ago but got a letter from them last minute saying my medical had been rearranged to 16th of Feb. I suffer from depression and anxiety and am not looking forward to this at all. Does anyone know what to expect? What will they ask or expect me to do? Im really worried and anxious about it and would love to hear form anyone who has attended one, especially for depression. Thank you!

I'm doing a post on writing a statement to go with your ESA50 - the idea being to answer as many possible questions you are likely to be asked in the assessment, on the statement, in order to increase the possibility of being put in a group without having to atend an assessment. Anyway in order to help this, I wondered if everyone who's been through an assessment could post as many questions they were asked as they can remember. I'll start in the next post.

My 12 months on ESA is up and i got the dreaded WCA appointment. I asked for recorded interviews. Three times now just before the interview date Atos have cancelled. I attend interview this morning. The chap first of all said the recording equipment had not arrived, then TNT delivered it. After about 20 minutes this chap came back and said the recording equipment was not working and would i be prepared to have the assessment without being recorded. Of course i declined. So after travelling a total of 60 miles this morning and achieving absolutely nothing, ATOS will send me another appointment in the post. Something is telling me these so called ATOS health care professionals do not want these assessments recorded as evidence

http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.co.uk/2015/01/new-job.html The worst part of this is she went from being deemed unfit for work indefinitely to a £60k salaried management position, a nice point for IDS to press i am sure. Is she a sellout or could she do some good from within? (Her own words)

Hi Just looking for a bit of advice. My husband has been on DLA for just over 2 years and in May he was asked to apply for PIP. I filled out the forms for him and sent all evidence from each consultant he sees. We received a letter in June to say all had been received and his assessment would be in 12-16 weeks. I called just before the 16 weeks and was told it would now be 26 weeks but ATOS would be coming to us. His last ATOS assessment for ESA I had to take him and we actually found the lady very nice and she included me quite a bit in the assessment. He was placed in the SG. Is a home visit usual/unusual? Should I be worried? Thanks

I am currently on ESA after getting through the dreaded Atos inquisition last year. I received a letter from Atos asking me to attend an appointment for anther assessment at the begining of december. I telephoned them and asked for arrangements for the interview to be recorded. They then cancelled my appointment for which a week later i received my new appointment date. That is just before christmas. I have just received another letter from Atos. This time telling me they have now cancelled that appointment which was to be recorded and no reference is made for another appointment in the letter intrigued??.

I have been signed off by my doctor & gone onto ESA. I received a form from Atos that i have filled out, i omitted my phone numbers from the form as i feel that it is a private company & if they want to contact me i want a paper trial / evidence, i don`t trust dealing with them on the phone. I then had a worry that i should of checked first that omitting my phone numbers would not come back to bite me in the %^$ . Can anyone clarify that i am within my rights to withhold my numbers. Thanks Paddy

hello. I have been on pip for a year now high rate mobility and standard care. I had a change of circumstance so had another assessment. I got 0 points mobility because they said I walked 30-40m to the room. it was 5 m. so I checked google earth and the whole building is 3 cars wide. also I told her I could only move 5 m at a time and she said I need in minutes. I said 1 minute. she put down 2-3 minutes. what is going on at atos. it was a physio that saw me. what can I do please.

I used to be on the disability rate of Income Support. i got an ESA50 form on 19-4-12 to apply for ESA. i sent that back on 17-5-12. on 19-7-12 i was accepted into the Work-Related-Activity-Group of ESA. i appealed that, by filling in forms & getting my GP to send a letter saying i need to be put into the Support Group. On 25-10-12 i was excepted into the Support Group of ESA...the letter also said i may need a review on/by 25-11-13. On 27-9-13 i got my 2nd ESA50 form to fill in...which i didn't expect because i'd only been on ESA 14 months & in the Support Group only 11 months. even though it was a hassle spending days filling it in, i did it & sent it back on 23-10-13. i waited to a letter from ATOS or DWP, but i never heard anything! my ESA [sG] payments came as normal, so i assumed they'd decided to keep me in the ESA Support Group. on the 7th of May 2014 [exactly 28 weeks after i sent the ESA50] i got a letter [dated 2nd May] from ATOS saying... "We have been asked by DWP to carry out an assessment in relation to your benefit claim. We have arranged an appoinment for you at 2.35pm on Monday 19th May. If you don't attend, your benefit may be affected. If you would like more information about why you need an assessment please contact the DWP office that deals with your claim." Is this sudden assessment the very slow reaction from the ESA50 form i sent last October? or some other reason? i've been unable to work for the same reason since october 2006, so getting forms/assessments this often seems a waste of everyones time! the only medical i ever had was on 9-5-07...which was 5 months after i started getting Income Support. I suppose i was lucky i wasn't asked for a medical when i changed from IS to ESA. I have various physical issues that cause me pain, but alot of my disability claim is due to mental illness. either way i look at it a physical exam [or whatever they're going to do] will not tell them what's in my head or what pain i feel! I couldn't tell you how many months it's been since i last went on a bus or to town. just the thought of shopping or seeing my parents in town is daunting, let alone this medical! I can't lose my benefit money, so i'm guess i can't get out of having this medical? the fact i only got 12 days notice of the medical isn't great...no time to get an appointment with my GP...although i guess that wouldn't help. it also didn't help that i got this letter on the 1st day of being ill with some kind of "bug", which is why i'm only posting about this now. i should mention i photocopied the 1st & 2nd ESA50 forms & the "evidence" i sent with them. should i take that with me to the assessment? the ATOS medical appointment letter came with the WCA AL1C [07/13] Face-to-Face Assessment leaflet. that raised some questions i hope someone on here can help me with. it says take current medications with me to the assessment. i'll obviously take my Antidepressants, anti-anxiety pills & painkillers, but i'm guessing things like anti-histamines for Hayfever aren't required? i'm abit worried about my anti-anxiety pills dosage. on the pill box it states the dose i'm meant to take...the minimum dose for that medication. however i have to take alot more than that dose in stressful situations...like a medical. that's not because i've grown tolerant or/& abuse my med's...it's simply that the minimum/low doses don't work on me. [btw i have told my gp, but he just tells me to "try & stick to the perscribed dose"] :O so should i be honest at the ATOS medical about that? surely if they know anything they know i'm on more than the minimum dosage because i'll have to take enough to calm me that it makes me drowsy, etc. i really don't know how much sense i'll make at this assessment due to medications! the leaflet says i can claim travel expenses for public transport to/from the assessment. i'd usually get a £3.90p Dayrider, but i wondered will they want to keep the bus ticket? because i'll obviously need it to get me home again. i could get a Single to town & then another Single to get home, but that costs more. it says they can only pay travel expenses into a bank/building society, so i'll have to give them my building society's name, sort code & account number. i don't know about anyone else but i don't like the idea of giving them that stuff. seems dodgy for such a small amount of money! the leaflet says they can't pay into a Post Office account [which i don't have but many people do] or pay cash. why? the leaflet says to contact ATOS "if you would like to request an audio recorded assessment or would like to audio record your assessment yourself. Please contact ATOS asap to allow arrangements to be made." should i have my assessment recorded? if i should, will phoning ATOS on Thursday 15th or Friday 16th be enough notice for them to sort audio equipment for my appointment on Monday 19th? if it's not enough notice should i re-book so i can get it recorded? if ATOS do the audio recording do i get a copy of it to keep? i know i can take someone with me, but if i don't will that affect thier assessment of me? my parents will be on holiday & i don't trust anyone else. should i just tell ATOS that? there's a small chance i could get a lift to [& maybe from] the assessment. i know that would mean no travel expense refund, but would getting a lift to or/& from the appointment sound better, even if the person who gives me a lift doesn't come into the assessment building? the leaflet says i can get a copy of the report ATOS will do [at the assessment] from my Jobcentre Plus office. i'm guessing it's a good idea to get a copy to see what ATOS have said about me? the leaflet doesn't say when to contact Jobcentre Plus. i assume after i've seen ATOS, but when? on the ae day? or later? last of all i wondered what happens after the ATOS medical. how long will it be until i get a letter [or phone call] from DWP or ATOS to say whatever the medical results are? if you've read my whole post i'm very grateful. i'm sorry for the long post, but i'm really worried & keep thinking of questions. any answers/advice via this thead or via Private Message are gratefully received.

i have just found out this morning i have failed my atos assesment told i have to go on job seekers allowance even though i am confined to a wheelchair because of spinal damage i got no points at all..any advice please

Ive made a claim for ESA. Dis so begining of December 2013. I'm 22 weeks into claim (13 weeks of which is the assessment period ).....I've been told it'll take months to sort out my claim but not as long as a year I'm still on the lower rate. Everyone I see on forum sites talk about getting their appeal dates, I haven't got that far.....How long is this gonna take, anyone got any ideas???

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-29815425

Just making a few enquiries on ESA, my son has a medical next Monday 1st and no doubt they will kick him off the ESA even though he had a medical certificate covering him for 6 months under anxiety and depression. He is awaiting referral to the mental health but has not got an appointment yet. Basically he doesn't need more stress and worrying if it has to go to appeal, and he will have no benefit at all until the appeal comes up if it does go that far, housing benefit etc stopped is this the case, surely they cannot leave someone with nothing or can they?? Please help, these are very nasty people. Regards Mashmalow

If this happens, well then I fear for the future. http://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/7241/ “Global firm Maximus are in pole position for the £500million UK Government contract, despite a history of allegations of corruption, incompetence and discrimination. The successful bidder will be announced next week ....” http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/company-fined-millions-fraud-tipped-4457618 http://disabilitynewsservice.com/2014/10/incompetence-discrimination-and-fraud-the-us-company-that-could-take-over-from-atos/

I'm so confussd. I completed a form last august think it was a esa50, loads of pages. I didnt hear anything then this week I have recieved an appointment for a medical. I thought atos had been suspended? Part of my condition is spinal related caused by an accident. I dont really want to go into to much detail. I have experienced one medical, when Ifirst became sick, about 2 years ago. The whole proces was a lie, I had to go to tribunal. I refused to attend, but was awarded esa wrag. The thought of going through this process again fills me with horror, as I dont trust them. I have enough meidcal paperwork, which they have copies of. My appointment is forthe 20th october, i cant get anyone to go withme, as I have several hospital appointments in the same week. I havent rung atos yet, as i cant face it. I'm just so shocked as I thought atos had gone. Can I write to them with a current medical letter, explaining the current condition my spine & pelvis is in or do i have to attend this farce, to be told nil points because Ican use a phone!! Sorry for the rambling, but I'm nervous, confused & angry. Thanks in advance

Can anyone give me advice on what to do next? i was on esa for 12 months but just had it stopped after ATOS assessment gave me no points. I don't mind going back to work but I was ill after major surgery to my shoulder but my assessment only considers how i am now. what about all the recovery time it took and the extra benefit i lost because of THEIR long delays?. Please anyone who can help. I'm at the end of my tether getting deeper in debt and now suffering from depression and anxiety. Not sure I can take much more.

I have been on ESA since 2011. In 2012 I had a WCA with ATOS, failed the WCA and successfully won my appeal against them in 2013 with ESA re-instated and placed on support group. Earlier this year (January) I received a ESA50 form. This was not long after the DWP recently decided to defer routine repeat assessments until further notice. Anyway, I completed it, sent it back and called the DWP to clarify that repeat assessments were deferred, to which I was advised that they were and I shouldn't need to be re-assessed until at least 2015. However, imagine my surprise when I received a letter asking me to attend an ATOS medical in late August. This despite no sudden change in my condition (DWP still refer cases where there has been a reported change in condition, typically where someone’s condition worsens.) and also being told by an advisor at the DWP I wouldn't be re-assessed. Where do I stand on this? Should I be re-assessed despite it being widely reported that ATOS have decided to defer routine repeat assessments and also being told by the DWP telling me I wouldn't be re-assessed? What is my next plan of action or what should I do now? Also, My first appointment for the WCA I had to re-arrange due to a prior appointment with my support group. It was then re-arranged for yesterday morning (29/08/2014). However, I succumbed to food poisoning and was in no position to go anywhere. The food poisoning had an adverse effect on my diabetes. I called to re-arrange bang on 9am, but was told I was only allowed to do this once. The trap being, it fails to mention this on the appointment letter. So now, this is going to go back to the Decision Maker at the DWP. I am to believe they will send out a BF223 form. Would I be wise in calling the DWP first thing tomorrow and trying to appeal to their better nature and explain the situation whilst apologising? Thanks in advance