Here we go again.

On the 11 April this year I was visited at home by an Atos Doctor. A very nice man who was prepared to listen and spent over an hour & a half with me. He virtually wrote a book on my problems and in due course I retained my higher rate of Mobility & middle rate of care.

I have now received a letter from jobcentreplus informing me of the change to ESA a new benefit that helps people like me move into work. I won't go on and on about this as I am sure the reader knows the procedures. However, depending on my answers I may be offered a work focused interview and duly may have to be assessed by yet another Atos Doctor.

I rang jobcentreplus and spoke to a girl who sounded about 12 and explained that the Government had already spent a great deal of money trying to prove that I wasn't disabled and the DLA had a comprehensive report by Dr.***** on all my problems. So what? was her question. Well I asked if they could obtain the report form the DLA under the Data Protection Act 1998 if I gave them permission to do so. "Certainly not that is not our policy" So I will have to complete the new forms, attend a work focused interview, be assessed by Atos again in my home costing the Government more money and duly apply for work.

If I have to find a job fine but there is a big BUT. Will my new employer have to cater for my needs? Things like ramping all areas for my wheelchair, installing a Clos-o-mat toilet for my personal needs (this is a special toilet that washes and dries you after use) costing £5500. Also showering and changing facilities in case I have an accident. Under these circumstances would anyone employ me? The question may be asked if I could work from home, the simple answer is no because I live in sheltered accommodation and it is simply not allowed because of insurance issues etc. Dear Moderators, please try to help me on this one, I am so worried. I will be sending a copy of this to me MP.

Pincher wrote:

On the 11 April this year I was visited at home by an Atos Doctor. A very nice man who was prepared to listen and spent over an hour & a half with me. He virtually wrote a book on my problems and in due course I retained my higher rate of Mobility & middle rate of care.

I have now received a letter from jobcentreplus informing me of the change to ESA a new benefit that helps people like me move into work. I won't go on and on about this as I am sure the reader knows the procedures. However, depending on my answers I may be offered a work focused interview and duly may have to be assessed by yet another Atos Doctor.

I rang jobcentreplus and spoke to a girl who sounded about 12 and explained that the Government had already spent a great deal of money trying to prove that I wasn't disabled and the DLA had a comprehensive report by Dr.***** on all my problems. So what? was her question. Well I asked if they could obtain the report form the DLA under the Data Protection Act 1998 if I gave them permission to do so. "Certainly not that is not our policy" So I will have to complete the new forms, attend a work focused interview, be assessed by Atos again in my home costing the Government more money and duly apply for work.

If I have to find a job fine but there is a big BUT. Will my new employer have to cater for my needs? Things like ramping all areas for my wheelchair, installing a Clos-o-mat toilet for my personal needs (this is a special toilet that washes and dries you after use) costing £5500. Also showering and changing facilities in case I have an accident. Under these circumstances would anyone employ me? The question may be asked if I could work from home, the simple answer is no because I live in sheltered accommodation and it is simply not allowed because of insurance issues etc. Dear Moderators, please try to help me on this one, I am so worried. I will be sending a copy of this to me MP.

Hi Pincher,

Please try not to get too stressed,over this, although I understand how worrying it is.

Firstly even though you are in receipt of the DLA awards, this dosen't really count towards an ESA Assessment, however there may well be some limitation that you suffer which qualify you for the DLA award, that would also be pertinent to ESA.

Therefore it may help if you gained copy of your recent DLA assessment yourself to have a look.

Be aware however, that ATOS are using information from DLA assessments as evidence in assessing ESA, and viceaversa.

As for the ESA letter,I assume it is "The benefit you are receiving is changing" letter.

The next contact will be a phone call explaining the process, and then you will receive your ESA50 questionnaire.It's around a 10 week process in all, but can be sooner if you are put straight into a particular group.

Then you may or may not be asked to attend an ATOS assessment,or you may be put straight into the WRAG or Support group.

My initial advice would be to have a look at all the ESA guides in the members only section, (Orange on left), they are excellent.

Then if you have any queries, please come back to the forum, and we will do our best to help.

cheers

bro58

As you will be aware, you will in due course receive an ESA50 to complete and return.

When you receive the ESA50, you can obtain the EMP's report for DLA purposes yourself and forward a copy of the report with the form if you think it will assist with your work-capability assessment, but I should stress that as the DWP are in the process of migrating you to ESA, the burden of proof lies with the ESA decision maker to prove that you will either be placed in the WRAG, the support group or be found as fit for work. It is not the responsibility of the claimant to discharge the burden of proof where the DWP initiates the WCA, and as such it is up to the DWP to collect all the evidence pertinent to your claim in order to reach a decision on your entitlement.

Accordingly, you are perfectly entitled to request that the DWP/Atos obtain whatever evidence you believe to be necessary, contrary to what the Atos call centre operator told you. It is not a matter of policy as she may think, but it is part of the evidence-gathering procedure. In this respect, a claimant should never be put at a financial disadvantage in order to obtain medical evidence, when the Secretary of State initiates the work capability assessment of his own volition.

If the DWP/Atos refuse for whatever reason to obtain medical evidence following a claimant's request and it results in an adverse ESA entitlement decision, this can be included as a ground of appeal on the basis that the Secretary of State failed to fully discharge the burden of proof when terminating the IB award on transfer to ESA.

oh WOW now that is VERY good to know. I actually put in my ESA50 that they could get my medical report to see all the specialists etc I had seen and when for free where as I would have to pay!

lindaturner wrote:

oh WOW now that is VERY good to know. I actually put in my ESA50 that they could get my medical report to see all the specialists etc I had seen and when for free where as I would have to pay!

LT,

What CD says regarding the "Burden of Proof", is absolutely correct, I have even included this in my evidence to the DM.

However, we have the scenario again, of what the DWP "should do", and what they "can or are doing".

Therefore the Burden of Proof arguement would be very useful in being given an adverse decision, after the event, but relying on it to prevent an adverse decision will not always have the desired effect.

The decision as always, is yours.

cheers

bro58

There is no guarantee that medical evidence obtained by the claimant would be pertinent to the work capability assessment in relation to their functional ability, for example in mental health cases, and accepted as such by the ESA decision maker.

Obtaining medical evidence can be very expensive especially if you are on a very low income as has been already demonstrated recently in the forum, and what happens if you have spent in excess of £50 (if you can afford it) for medical evidence, and still end up with an adverse ESA decision?