ESA50 received today??

[raec.1]

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

I made a claim for ESA on the 9th August on the telephone and received a letter requesting me to send off the sick note.

 

Today I have received the ESA50 to complete which quite surprised me as I have not yet received notification of my ESA award.

 

Are ESA50's now coming through this quick?

[ANDYANDFLO]

Gosh that is quick!!

 

Make sure you tick the boxes where you think they relate to you and return the form by the due date.

 

There is some argument at the moment as to whether you should send anything back with the form - doctors letters. hospital reports etc etc. The form actually tells you that you should not return anything except the form. Some do send in the additional evidence, but whether it is looked at before, during or after the medical is anybody's guess.

 

At my medical he wouldn't look at anything and that included the ESA50 which was in the file on his desk. He told me to answer the questions from memory - drugs, dosage etc etc.

If I refused he said he would stop the assessment and treat it as non-co-operation!

 

Let's just hope you get a pass without having to have a medical!!

[raec.1]

Yes, I agree. As I am only signed off for a month and then going back onto JSA, I am quite shocked at the length of the form and the red tape involved. I shall have finished claiming ESA by the final date of return of the form 4th October 2010.

 

Therefore I am unsure whether to cancel the claim and not bother as it seems hardly worth the hassle.

[loan_ranger]

Hi raec.1 and many thanks for your post. Our good friend "ANDYANDFLO" (A&F) gave you the best advice based upon what you said in your first post, subsequently you've added more insight to your individual situation (i.e. that JSA regulations are in fact the reason for your ESA claim - two weeks or more on the sick and you get told to claim ESA as an income replacement).

In the light of this new information, and knowing that you won't ever have to attend a medical (because these are taking 13 weeks before they happen and you'll be back on JSA in maybe 4 weeks), A&F is right to say that you should continue to send in the G.P.'s (un)fit-notes, if someone can scan or digitally photo these it is worth it because the DWP/JCP lose these frequently and the hassle of getting a back-dated one from your G.P. should be avoided.

You must return the completed ESA50 within the time allowed and deduct a few days for the post. If you would like some help filling in the ESA50 - I for one will be happy to do this for you, the important thing is that the state and their system has to be complied with, otherwise you could lose your entitlement to the JSA and/or ESA and also have to re-apply, furthermore this has the knock-on effect of obliging you to re-apply for HB/LHA and CTB as a consequence. I don't mean to scare you - I just want to see that the system doesn't disadvantage you through your lack of knowledge and innocence regarding how the benefits and social security laws treat everyone a a guilty fraudster unless you can prove otherwise in a limited time scale (backdates get refused - there are rules).

 

If you need some help, then please tell us - we are the CAG ESA club,

kindest regards, Paul (LR).

[raec.1]

Thanks for your reply. My sick note was for 4 weeks dated the 9th August. My doctor has stated that she will not give another (reason being, I desperately need a rest from going every week to the Job Centre Plus).

 

The Advisor I had each week was the most horrendous individual I have every met and just stated over and over again that I was not trying hard enough to get a job. I find myself absolutely exhausted running round attending interviews and the negativity of the feedback from interviews. I have attended 150 interviews since the 1st March, from everything to Cleaner, Kitchen Assistant, Packer and Office based work.

 

During my period of sickness I shall be still looking for employment but avoiding the depressing weekly visit to the JCP. The appointment lasts for 10 minutes and leaves me severely depressed for the remainder of the day. I have never spoken out of place to this woman but obviously have done something out of place to be spoken to like this.

 

Luckily my doctors appointment was straight after signing on, hence the sick note for 4 weeks only. Therefore the pressure is really on to find employment before the 8th September.