ESA: late form, rule change, claim scuppered?

Hi everyone,

I wouldn't normally post something so specific on a forum, but you're my last port of call - I can't get an appointment with a welfare rights adviser in my area until the end of the month, and I don't have the luxury of that much time to decide what to do! I'll try and keep it brief:

Received my dreaded letter about being transferred to ESA around Christmas time (have been claiming Incapacity for many years). The deadline I was given for returning my ESA50 to Atos was 9th January. However, I moved house around the same time, and the ESA50 was sent to my old address; luckily I'd set my mail to be redirected, otherwise I may not have received it at all!

To cut a long story short: basically I'm sitting here, the deadline date is a month ago tomorrow, I've been unable to obtain welfare rights assistance so I've had to work it out on my own, despite my increasingly severe health constraints, and... I still have the ESA50 sitting next to me.

It is just about completed, thank god, but I finished it just before I found out about the rule change on 28th January, which moved the goalposts quite a bit. I have had to go back and edit or remove some bits, and added others, but as you've probably grasped by now, I am very slow in doing these things, because of the day-to-day effects of my illness. I'm really not used to doing this sort of thing without a WRA's help - I feel like I'm floundering

If I'd managed to complete and return the form by the deadline of 9th Jan, I'd have dodged this bullet, but because my form was still out for completion on 28th January when the new rules took effect, I gather my claim will be assessed under the new rules.

I'm not sure how best to proceed. At the moment, my plan is just to finish the damn thing and send it in as quickly as possible, along with a letter (which I've already drafted) explaining why it's so late. However, while I'm doing that, would it be a good idea to write to DWP and ask for more time (retrospectively) to complete the questionnaire, or even just to start from scratch and send out a new one? I've had to spend a lot more time and effort on completing the form, which was difficult for me to begin with, because of the change. The DWP did not inform me of the rule change, so how was I supposed to know? I happen to be lucky enough to subscribe to the Benefits & Work newsletter, but otherwise, surely they've been negligent to a degree in not keeping claimants informed about how their claim will be assessed? So, wouldn't it would be reasonable to request more time? I can't guess how this would be likely to go down.

It would be great to get some more opinions on this predicament before I decide how to proceed - any thoughts?

starshaped wrote: Hi everyone,

I wouldn't normally post something so specific on a forum, but you're my last port of call - I can't get an appointment with a welfare rights adviser in my area until the end of the month, and I don't have the luxury of that much time to decide what to do! I'll try and keep it brief:

Received my dreaded letter about being transferred to ESA around Christmas time (have been claiming Incapacity for many years). The deadline I was given for returning my ESA50 to Atos was 9th January. However, I moved house around the same time, and the ESA50 was sent to my old address; luckily I'd set my mail to be redirected, otherwise I may not have received it at all!

To cut a long story short: basically I'm sitting here, the deadline date is a month ago tomorrow, I've been unable to obtain welfare rights assistance so I've had to work it out on my own, despite my increasingly severe health constraints, and... I still have the ESA50 sitting next to me.

It is just about completed, thank god, but I finished it just before I found out about the rule change on 28th January, which moved the goalposts quite a bit. I have had to go back and edit or remove some bits, and added others, but as you've probably grasped by now, I am very slow in doing these things, because of the day-to-day effects of my illness. I'm really not used to doing this sort of thing without a WRA's help - I feel like I'm floundering

If I'd managed to complete and return the form by the deadline of 9th Jan, I'd have dodged this bullet, but because my form was still out for completion on 28th January when the new rules took effect, I gather my claim will be assessed under the new rules.

I'm not sure how best to proceed. At the moment, my plan is just to finish the damn thing and send it in as quickly as possible, along with a letter (which I've already drafted) explaining why it's so late. However, while I'm doing that, would it be a good idea to write to DWP and ask for more time (retrospectively) to complete the questionnaire, or even just to start from scratch and send out a new one? I've had to spend a lot more time and effort on completing the form, which was difficult for me to begin with, because of the change. The DWP did not inform me of the rule change, so how was I supposed to know? I happen to be lucky enough to subscribe to the Benefits & Work newsletter, but otherwise, surely they've been negligent to a degree in not keeping claimants informed about how their claim will be assessed? So, wouldn't it would be reasonable to request more time? I can't guess how this would be likely to go down.

It would be great to get some more opinions on this predicament before I decide how to proceed - any thoughts?

Hi ss,

As it would seem that you have filled in The ESA50 03/11, this ESA Guide would apply :

" 'Old' ESA50 form, decision on or after 28 Jan 2013" on this page :

ESA Claims Guides

Even if you had returned it by 09/01/13, there is no guarantee that they would have made a decision by 28/01/13, therefore the above guide would still have been pertinent.

I am surprised that you have not received any correspondence from The DWP/ATOS regarding you not returning your ESA50 by the deadline.

Are you still receiving your usual amount of benefit ? ATOS generally return your file to the DWP if the ESA50 is not returned.

There is no legislation that allows for an extention to the 4 weeks allowed to return an ESA50, although they are supposed to make allowances for claimants with mental health problems, see :

How long do I have to complete the ESA50?

As you will read in the above FAQ, you should include a covering letter stating any mitigating cicumstances that may help to show that you have "Good Cause" for the late return.

My best advice would be to return the ESA50 ASAP, you can always forward any further evidence to the same address, if and when you obtain it.

See :

ESA50 too big for the envelope

&

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

The ammendments to the ESA Regs took everyone by surprise.

Please repost if you have any further questions, and keep us updated anyway.

bro58