Do I have to give them a 'phone number?

Today the brown envelope arrived. They say they will call but they don't have my telephone number. Is it alright if I don't give it to them?

bitplayer wrote:

Today the brown envelope arrived. They say they will call but they don't have my telephone number. Is it alright if I don't give it to them?

Hi bt,

You do not have to provide your phone number to ATOS or The DWP, if you do not wish to.

The phone call that you may receive about a week after the migration letter is purely a courtesy call, and non essential.

They may also want your number, so that ATOS can ring you to make an appointment for a face to face assessment, if they decide that one is necessary. (So that is for ATOS's benefit, not yours)

The whole process can proceed with written correspondence only.

The only time that phone contact may be to your advantage is when the DWP DM is about to make a decision, (After a face to face if you have one)in that, if the DM is thinking of finding you "fit for work" he may ring you to see whether you have any further evidence to change his mind.

If you wished this scenario to be available you could provide your phone number after the face to face, as they can only find you fit for work if you have a face to face, and not on a paper assessment alone. So, in other words, there would be no advantage in providing your phone nember unless you had a face to face.

If you do not receive your ESA50 within the next 2 to 3 weeks, you should contact ATOS to ensure that it has not got lost in the post, especially with XMAS approaching.

As your migration process has now begun, you may wish to consider : Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

To ease time constraints.

Whilst referring to the relevant sections in our ESA Claims Guides for physical and mental health conditions, which are the 3rd and 4th links down this page :

ESA Guides

With respect to the ESA50, see :

How long do I have to complete the ESA50?

ESA50 too big for the envelope

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

You could also review :

ESA FAQ’s

IB, IS, SDA, Migration to ESA FAQ’s

If you have any further queries, please repost on this thread.

bro58

N.B. The DWP may have your phone number from some time in the past when you have provided it, but forgotten about it. (this has happened to some members) However, again you do not have to answer any calls from the DWP or ATOS, if you don't wish to.