Not Sent ESA Assessment Letter

Thanks for all your help Gordon.

I sent off the SAR letter to Maximus, recorded delivery. I then asked a neighbour in another block on the estate if she had received any letters that weren't for her in the last two weeks. She told me that she did receive a letter about a medical appointment but because the address was unclear she took it over to a tenant in another block. I asked her to write a short note explaining this and she said she would drop it off at my flat. I hope I can contact the other tenant to retrieve the letter. I'm not sure if this will save the day but I hope this was the appointment letter that was delivered to the wrong address. Until I locate it I can't be 100% certain. At least there is evidence that letters do go astray on the estate.

I have a deadline to return the form explaining why I didn't attend the WCA. If I can't gather all the evidence in time should I tell them that on the form and send it to them later?

They are still waiting for me to send back the form explaining why I didn't attend the assessment so they haven't closed my claim yet. I have until next week to send it back. If I don't gather all the evidence by then can I send it after I return the form as long as I let them know I'm going to do this? How can they justify closing my claim if the letter was sent to the wrong address?

If the situation is as hopeless as you believe then even if the tenant does write a note explaining the mix up, the DWP will reject it. And if I do locate the letter and it's been sent to the wrong address, the DWP will find a way to blame me and close my claim.

Why aren't there specific warnings about this potential problem on the forum and in the guides? We're encouraged to send all letters by recorded delivery which I have done each time but what can we do to compensate for Maximus and DWP letters going missing? If I had known how serious this problem was then I would have asked someone to phone the DWP as soon as they received my ESA50 form and kept on phoning them everyday until I knew when the WCA appointment was booked. What's the point of relying on any written correspondence from Maximus or the DWP when one misdirected letter can end a claim?

It seems cruelly absurd that a mistake like this can ruin months of preparation for an assessment. Not just my own wasted effort but that of my GP, friends and the CAB.