atos report incorrect used incorrect

Sandra

You do not say where you are in the Appeal process.

If you have not yet lodged your appeal then you need to be aware of the following.

How long do I have to appeal?

How to submit an appeal

Our ESA Appeal guide is on the following link

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa

If you have lodged an appeal, but the DWP have not yet completed the Reconsideration process, then there may be an advantage to your notifying the DWP of the incorrect diagnosis. The standard DWP position is that the medical report is to be accepted verbatim, but it is possible to overturn this view if the report can be shown to have fundamental flaws, making a complaint to ATOS about the report is the first stage to doing this.

Please remember that invalidating the report will not result in you being awarded ESA, it may simply result in a new assessment being required. So you also need to go back over your ESA50 and the medical report with the view of showing that you meet the ESA descriptors that you believe apply to you.

I would strongly recommend that you get face to face advice if possible, if nothing else it may significantly shorten the process.

Gordon

sandra wrote:

Thank you,I have appealed but at time I sent it in I had not received the medical report so I was unable ro go into any detail so now i have been through it thoroughly would it be better to send another letter or ring them up and explain the situation now

It is very unlikely, if you call the DWP, that you will be able to speak to the Decision Maker dealing with your claim, also whilst calls should be recorded, it can be a problem getting a copy, should you need to, so I would recommend that any further contact is done in writing by Recorded Delivery.

Forgive me for repeating myself, but if you can find an advisor, it will be of significant value to you in the short term as well as the long term, if that proves necessary.

It sounds like you are still in the Reconsideration phase, if you have only lodged your appeal in the last couple of weeks. As you have not made detailed comments regarding why you think the Decision is incorrect, it may be sensible to notify the Decision Maker of the fundamental failures in the report.

Whilst a specific diagnosis will not result in an award for ESA, it does go to supporting your stated, day to day limitations in terms of the ESA descriptors. An incorrect diagnosis may lead to incorrect assumptions on your capabilities, and it is important that this is pointed out to the DM.

Having placed a stake in the ground, so to speak, you can then follow up with your reasons as to why you meet the criteria. You do not have unlimited time to do this, Reconsiderations have been varying from 5-6 weeks to 5-6 months, so you should aim to have any evidence with the DWP in the short term, and make use of any additional time as it becomes available.

Gordon