× Members

How to post direct to Decision Maker?

More
11 years 4 months ago - 11 years 4 months ago #94655 by Jean
I am in the process of being assessed for ESA after having been on Incapacity Benefit for some time. My ESA50 Questionnaire is due back by 10th December.

I have a question (as follows) that I would be grateful if someone could help me out with:-

Question: I would like to send the Endoscopy Report (from my Colonoscopy) to the Benefits Office at St Austells Jobcentre Plus, do I just address it to "The Decision Maker" followed by the rest of the address or do I have to find out actual names of the people who may be in that position? I ask because my DWP office won’t answer that question.
Last edit: 11 years 4 months ago by Gordon.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

More
11 years 4 months ago #94667 by Gordon
Replied by Gordon on topic Re:How to post direct to Decision Maker?
Jean wrote:

I am in the process of being assessed for ESA after having been on Incapacity Benefit for some time. My ESA50 Questionnaire is due back by 10th December.

I have a question (as follows) that I would be grateful if someone could help me out with:-

Question: I would like to send the Endoscopy Report (from my Colonoscopy) to the Benefits Office at St Austells Jobcentre Plus, do I just address it to "The Decision Maker" followed by the rest of the address or do I have to find out actual names of the people who may be in that position? I ask because my DWP office won’t answer that question.

I assume that is in addition to you including a copy with your ESA50!

You should be able to just mark it for the attention of the Decision Maker.

In addition see

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

Gordon

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

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Jim Allison BSc, Inst LE, MBIM; MA (Consumer Protection & Social Welfare Law)
  • Offline
More
11 years 4 months ago #94697 by Jim Allison BSc, Inst LE, MBIM; MA (Consumer Protection & Social Welfare Law)
Replied by Jim Allison BSc, Inst LE, MBIM; MA (Consumer Protection & Social Welfare Law) on topic Re:How to post direct to Decision Maker?
It is possible to mark a letter addressed to the Decision Maker, but there is no guarantee that they personally would receive it, even if their name was on the envelope.

PLEASE READ THE SPOTLIGHTS AREA OF THE FORUM REGULARLY, OTHERWISE YOU MAY MISS OUT ON IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • bro58
11 years 4 months ago - 11 years 4 months ago #94700 by bro58
Replied by bro58 on topic Re:How to post direct to Decision Maker?
Hi J,

I can understand why members get confused as to what address they should use when sending a copy of their ESA50 or other evidence to the Decision Maker.

When one is being transferred over to ESA from IB, the DM will be part of an Incapacity Benefit Reassessment Team, (IBR Team).

These have been set up at various locations across the country to deal only with claimants being migrated over to ESA.

Further confusion may be caused here, as even though it may be a Burnley IBR Team (for example) they would not necessarily be based in Burnley. I do know for a fact that the Burnley Team's postal address is in Preston, likewise the St Helens IBR Team's postal address is Chester.

They have also set up teams to deal with appeals, reviews and reconsiderations in various geographical locations, again not necessarily where you would expect them to be.

My best advice would be to think of the DM as an entity rather than an individual person, in that if you send something to the DM, it arrives on the desk of any one of a team of DM's.

I have personally dealt with this issue for 5 different friends and relatives, and as it was a case of migration over to ESA from IB, I told them to address the envelope to :

FAO The ESA Decision Maker, IBR Team, at the address that was at the head of the IB migration letter which they received at the start of the process (The Conversion Notice).

They put their full name and address on the back of the envelope also.

Even though I knew that the actual DWP office that they were posting the copy ESA50 to may not actually be the physical location of the relevant DM in the relevant IBR Team, their address and postcode would ensure that it was diverted to the correct DM IBR Team.

One should also remember to but your Name, NINO, and DOB, on every seperate page that you send.

The Idea of a particular building containing various DWP employees, dealing with separate aspects of the benefits system for claimants only in the surrounding geographical area, is not applicable any longer.

To prove the point, in the case of one of the relatives mentioned above, the copy ESA50 was addressed to Chester BDC,(Which was the address on the original migration letter) but was then sent on from Chester to Burnley IBR Team, who were physical based at Preston, it arrived at the desired location though.


I hope this helps to clarify any confusion suffered by members.

N.B. The subject matter above is only pertaining to sending a COPY of the ESA50 and extra evidence to the ESA DM. In all cases with respect to the main version of the ESA50 plus any extra evidence, it should be sent to the return address provided on the pre-paid envelope which accompanies the ESA50 when it is received through the post, by the deadline given.

bro58
Last edit: 11 years 4 months ago by bro58.

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • Jim Allison BSc, Inst LE, MBIM; MA (Consumer Protection & Social Welfare Law)
  • Offline
More
11 years 4 months ago #94746 by Jim Allison BSc, Inst LE, MBIM; MA (Consumer Protection & Social Welfare Law)
Replied by Jim Allison BSc, Inst LE, MBIM; MA (Consumer Protection & Social Welfare Law) on topic Re:How to post direct to Decision Maker?
Jim Allison wrote:

It is possible to mark a letter addressed to the Decision Maker, but there is no guarantee that they personally would receive it, even if their name was on the envelope.


Although Crazydiamond is on long term sick leave, I still keep in touch with him by 'phone.

He is a former DSS Adjudication Officer ( now called Decision Makers) and he tells me me that all DWP mail is opened in a central post room before being directed to the appropriate section.

So no guarantee that mail addressed to a Decision Maker, will reach a particular DM, even if it addressed to them by name.

PLEASE READ THE SPOTLIGHTS AREA OF THE FORUM REGULARLY, OTHERWISE YOU MAY MISS OUT ON IMPORTANT INFORMATION. Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

  • bro58
11 years 4 months ago #94754 by bro58
Replied by bro58 on topic Re:How to post direct to Decision Maker?
bro58 wrote:

Hi J,

I can understand why members get confused as to what address they should use when sending a copy of their ESA50 or other evidence to the Decision Maker.

When one is being transferred over to ESA from IB, the DM will be part of an Incapacity Benefit Reassessment Team, (IBR Team).

These have been set up at various locations across the country to deal only with claimants being migrated over to ESA.

Further confusion may be caused here, as even though it may be a Burnley IBR Team (for example) they would not necessarily be based in Burnley. I do know for a fact that the Burnley Team's postal address is in Preston, likewise the St Helens IBR Team's postal address is Chester.

They have also set up teams to deal with appeals, reviews and reconsiderations in various geographical locations, again not necessarily where you would expect them to be.

My best advice would be to think of the DM as an entity rather than an individual person, in that if you send something to the DM, it arrives on the desk of any one of a team of DM's.

I have personally dealt with this issue for 5 different friends and relatives, and as it was a case of migration over to ESA from IB, I told them to address the envelope to :

FAO The ESA Decision Maker, IBR Team, at the address that was at the head of the IB migration letter which they received at the start of the process (The Conversion Notice).

They put their full name and address on the back of the envelope also.

Even though I knew that the actual DWP office that they were posting the copy ESA50 to may not actually be the physical location of the relevant DM in the relevant IBR Team, their address and postcode would ensure that it was diverted to the correct DM IBR Team.

One should also remember to but your Name, NINO, and DOB, on every seperate page that you send.

The Idea of a particular building containing various DWP employees, dealing with separate aspects of the benefits system for claimants only in the surrounding geographical area, is not applicable any longer.

To prove the point, in the case of one of the relatives mentioned above, the copy ESA50 was addressed to Chester BDC,(Which was the address on the original migration letter) but was then sent on from Chester to Burnley IBR Team, who were physical based at Preston, it arrived at the desired location though.


I hope this helps to clarify any confusion suffered by members.

N.B. The subject matter above is only pertaining to sending a COPY of the ESA50 and extra evidence to the ESA DM. In all cases with respect to the main version of the ESA50 plus any extra evidence, it should be sent to the return address provided on the pre-paid envelope which accompanies the ESA50 when it is received through the post, by the deadline given.

bro58


With respect to sending a “shadow copy” of one’s ESA50 and any extra evidence to The ESA Decision Maker, this extract :

“As an aside, I have experienced some trouble with ATOS not forwarding medical evidence submitted with ESA 50s onto DWP decision makers, also feedback from clients that some HCPs have not looked at supporting medical evidence during medical examinations (even evidence which is relevant to descriptors or exceptional circs). But then nothing awful about ATOS should be any surprise.”

From this rightsnet post :

www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewreply/16251/

“May” strengthen the argument for doing so. Of course, this option is purely discretionary and not obligatory.

bro58

Please Log in or Create an account to join the conversation.

Moderators: bro58GordonGaryBISCatherineWendyKellygreekqueenpeterKatherineSuper UserjimmckChris
We use cookies

We use cookies on our website. Some of them are essential for the operation of the site, while others help us to improve this site and the user experience (tracking cookies). You can decide for yourself whether you want to allow cookies or not. Please note that if you reject them, you may not be able to use all the functionalities of the site.