me & my various benefits

[shazajo]

Thanks for that info, and your right most reconsideration stay unchanged, so probably will end up at appeal, I wonder when we will receive any paper work telling us how much in payments we will receive while waiting for the appeal? as im dreading checking our bank account after the 28th march

[RaeUK]

shazajo, if you have sent in your appeal paperwork (G24?) and (un)fit note, you will continue to get the assessment rate every fortnight until the tribunal hearing - many many months away. Your only worry is to ensure you keep sending (un)fit notes in plenty of time ...

[MIKEY DABODEE]

what is the difference between sick note and fit note,

 

I have got myself up to speed with ESA and all its ins and out

but this no idea

help please

[antone]

what is the difference between sick note and fit note,

 

I have got myself up to speed with ESA and all its ins and out

but this no idea

help please

 

No real difference, Mikey. The govt changed the name because "Fit Note" sounds more positive and upbeat. There are some slight differences (such as a new option for the doc to say "May be fit subject to the following conditions") but they don't make any difference from an ESA point of view. As far as I know, ESA processors just sidestep the whole problem by referring to them simply as "certs". As in, "I've been on certs all week, I really need a pint"

[MIKEY DABODEE]

thanks Antone well explained

thought I had missed something lol

 

think will stick to certs then

[worried33]

how much is plenty of time? 2 weeks in advance?

[antone]

how much is plenty of time? 2 weeks in advance?

 

That would be reasonable. We used to advise 7-10 working days in advance of the expiry date of the last cert. There's no problem if your certs overlap.

[shazajo]

That would be reasonable. We used to advise 7-10 working days in advance of the expiry date of the last cert. There's no problem if your certs overlap.

 

Well this has me worried now because our gp gave us one from the 27th feb for one month and told us to come back 26th march to check hubby and another cert as it runs out 27th march, and we will be handing it in to be emailed over so I hope we dont get any gaps in payment?

[shazajo]

Just to add to the above, when we handed the fit note in on the 16th march the lady at the job centre said I have emailed it over to the right department and she showed me that she had sent it, so if we hand another fit note in on the 26th march surely this will be okay if they email that over aswell?

[frank_begbie]

Just to add to the above, when we handed the fit note in on the 16th march the lady at the job centre said I have emailed it over to the right department and she showed me that she had sent it, so if we hand another fit note in on the 26th march surely this will be okay if they email that over aswell?

 

It would be handy if your GP gave you a sick note for 3 months. Have you asked him/her?

 

My Doctor gives me one for 6 months. It saves you having to keep going to the Docs and it saves him/her having to see you every month.

[shazajo]

It would be handy if your GP gave you a sick note for 3 months. Have you asked him/her?

 

My Doctor gives me one for 6 months. It saves you having to keep going to the Docs and it saves him/her having to see you every month.

 

No when we first went it wasnt his normal gp he seen as he wasnt in that day but the gp who gave him it said come back and see your other gp, so hopefully when we go on the 26th he will give him a fit note for longer especially as the appeals are taking so long.

 

Honest to god this system stinks and the sooner Atos are sacked the better, it really upsets me to see them failing people like this and making people more ill

[antone]

Just to add to the above, when we handed the fit note in on the 16th march the lady at the job centre said I have emailed it over to the right department and she showed me that she had sent it, so if we hand another fit note in on the 26th march surely this will be okay if they email that over aswell?

 

It will probably be OK - the 7-10 days applies if you send them by post. Each office handles emailed certs differently. The one I worked in had what we called a "schedule" for those. The Job Centre staff would update a spreadsheet with the cert details, and each morning we'd go through the previous day's schedules from each of our attached Jobcentres and update all the certs on JSAPS (the payment computer system). But as I said, all offices handle this in different ways.

[poollie1]

No when we first went it wasnt his normal gp he seen as he wasnt in that day but the gp who gave him it said come back and see your other gp, so hopefully when we go on the 26th he will give him a fit note for longer especially as the appeals are taking so long.

 

Honest to god this system stinks and the sooner Atos are sacked the better, it really upsets me to see them failing people like this and making people more ill

 

I too wish Atos was sacked..but unfortunately they doing what the Goverment want, so that will never happen. My situation is this...placed in Wrag November 2011, asked for Recocideration to be placed into the Support Group, as of 16th March 2012 not heard anything from DWP until 17th March when another ESA 50 form arrived from Atos, I know people are being assessed more often.... but come on this is a joke, just started to relax from all last years stress...now it is all starting again....

[RaeUK]

... It saves you having to keep going to the Docs and it saves him/her having to see you every month.

 

Whilst your GP may want to see you a couple of times, there is no longer a requirement for your GP to see you solely to write out an (un)fit note. You can phone up and collect from reception. That said, I see my GP frequently for various things and try to tie up getting a note at the same time. If not, no problems just collecting one from the reception ...

[worried33]

That would be reasonable. We used to advise 7-10 working days in advance of the expiry date of the last cert. There's no problem if your certs overlap.

 

thanks for the answer although I find it very unreasonable that the DWP need 2 weeks to process a sick note.

 

They need to get into the 21st century. My council allows people to scan and email documents in for housing benefit, as well as fax. The CLA charity allows the same. Yet the DWP rely on ancient royal mail or have to goto a job centre to get it faxed over. Is 2 weeks still needed if a job centre faxes it?

[antone]

thanks for the answer although I find it very unreasonable that the DWP need 2 weeks to process a sick note.

 

They need to get into the 21st century. My council allows people to scan and email documents in for housing benefit, as well as fax. The CLA charity allows the same. Yet the DWP rely on ancient royal mail or have to goto a job centre to get it faxed over. Is 2 weeks still needed if a job centre faxes it?

 

Two weeks shouldn't be needed if it's sent via a Jobcentre, no. That depends on local procedure, but normally a couple of days will be OK - different offices handle these things in different ways.

 

As to why the DWP is the way it is, well, it's a huge, monolithic government department. Change takes time, money is tight, we're governed by...well, I'll stay out of that. But basically, nothing happens easily in any government department, and most of the public just see the DWP as a massive money sink. So they're not about to get a big cash injection to update their procedures.

[shazajo]

Hi does anyone know what FME means from GP? As we recieved the ESA85 report today and it states the above was optained from GP, also the report does not contain many of the things my hubby told the examiner, just lies

[RaeUK]

My guess at FME would be Further Medical Evidence. With regard to the ATOSH 'medical' being full of horse manure, why are you surprised? It's what they do and what the computer software is designed for! Just get all your evidence together to refute it...

[worried33]

Two weeks shouldn't be needed if it's sent via a Jobcentre, no. That depends on local procedure, but normally a couple of days will be OK - different offices handle these things in different ways.

 

As to why the DWP is the way it is, well, it's a huge, monolithic government department. Change takes time, money is tight, we're governed by...well, I'll stay out of that. But basically, nothing happens easily in any government department, and most of the public just see the DWP as a massive money sink. So they're not about to get a big cash injection to update their procedures.

 

Well the 2 weeks would be forgiveable if they werent so keen on stopping peoples money when documents are late. As they remain efficient at suspending/stopping benefits.

[RaeUK]

worried33, it is your responsibility to make sure you send an (un)fit note in plenty of time. In over three years of sending them in I have had payments a day late about twice. And I usually only post them the week before...

[shazajo]

What happens after you have sent in your appeal form? Do we get any confirmation that they have recieved it?

[feelingsad]

You should have sent your appeal form recorded or special delivery so you know it arrived. They usually write saying what the next stage is though.

[shazajo]

You should have sent your appeal form recorded or special delivery so you know it arrived. They usually write saying what the next stage is though.

 

I handed it in, and the lady at the jobcentre emailed the fit note over and said the appeal form would be picked up that day by there courier

[RaeUK]

shazajo, you should recieve notification in due course. Once an appeal request is recieved, the case goes to a Decision Maker to see if they can overturn the original decision. If not, it gets sent to the Tribunal and you recieve a big pack of forms. These will include a copy of your ESA50, a full copy of the ATOS report - as opposed to the small one they initially send out, copies of the DWP side of things and a few pages of legal sounding gumpf. You won't miss it thudding through your letter box! If you're concerned as to what is happening in the mean time, simply call your usual DWP BDC and they can advise you ...

[shazajo]

Thanks Kelcou, its good to know what will happen next , just hope we can get through this appeal