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New Style ESA - telephone call to accept claimant commitment

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1 day 14 hours ago #303349 by olly349
Hi everyone, I recently migrated from ESA and Housing Benefit to Universal Credit. My ESA letters were clear in stating that I was receiving income based ESA but I later found out (via a message in my universal credit account) that I had a contribution based component as well. I phoned ESA and was told that I have a dual claim. I have received my first payments of UC and new style ESA and everything seems to be correct with the payments.

I then had a text from DWP to say that I must take part in a telephone appointment next week to accept my claimant commitment for new style ESA. I thought this seemed ok but then I received a letter saying that this appointment would be conducted by a work coach and during this appointment i would have to explain how my illness/disability affects my ability to work. This seems like more than just accepting a commitment and has caused me a lot of worry. I get very flustered on the phone. I prefer being able to take my time and type out information like with my UC claim. I can check and double check to make sure I have included everything.

I am in the LCWRA for UC and I was in the support group for ESA. I was assessed for ESA and explained in great depth how my conditions affect my daily life in a written form. I don't feel I could do justice to this in a short phone call. Has anyone else had this claimant commitment phone call recently? I feel that if I knew the questions in advance I could then prepare my responses rather than being flustered and stumbling over my words. Is there a way in which I could perhaps type my responses rather than speaking on the phone? I've had a stress related eye condition for the last 10 weeks which has been very challenging and I am concerned that worry over this will exacerbate things. Any advice or reassurance would be very welcome.

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1 day 14 hours ago #303353 by David
Hi olly349

One of the failings of the DWP is that when staff send a text it is automated with a preset script. So the staff cannot alter it for Support Group claimants. This is a by product of pushing forward all Migration from 2028 to 2025.
Do not worry other Forum members have related their experiences of this and said it is a simple phone call lasting 10 minutes at most.
Let me know how you get on.

David

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

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