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Atos Medicals - Questions, Answers and Support

well they say i have to go to tribunal there is no second chance
with phone interviews even if its there fault :confused: (i wont take that lying down) it
takes from
3-6 months to appeal ,paper work in the post.
 
I'm dreading Wednesday, what's the chances of these despicable twats reducing payments for those on ESA but not in the 'support group' to a rediculous £73 a week?
 
nice to hear can`t understand why the dwp are being so vile and nasty
it really starts to make me miss trust them, thank god for Violentpandas
e mail, i would really have lost heart, plus the support on here :)
Because sadly many of the staff, not all- some are some good people trying to do their best still - have bought into the lies that people on benefits are scroungers, or are afraid for their own jobs.
 
I'm dreading Wednesday, what's the chances of these despicable twats reducing payments for those on ESA but not in the 'support group' to a rediculous £73 a week?
You qualified for support group before - and from what you have said that hasn't changed. Please hold on to that.
Have you got all the same sort of evidence as last time?
Plus now of course there has the stress of your partners illness, death and your bereavement - has this affected your health? Have to seen the doctor about this - if so take details of appointments, changes to meds or whatever. Be sure to take proof of your husbands death, too.

I'm wishing you well, please let us know how it goes. x
 
well they say i have to go to tribunal there is no second chance
with phone interviews even if its there fault :confused: (i wont take that lying down) it
takes from
3-6 months to appeal ,paper work in the post.

assuming the appeal will be similar in nature to the DLA appeal I attended, they will want to be quite focussed. they will have very little interest in listening to anyhting about how the interview you just had was bollocks, their focus will be on whether you meet the criteria for the benefit, and that will be your condition right now, not at the time of the hearing.

get some help going through your paperwork again. cause you've probably missed stuff, cause you're used to it. do a diary thing for a week or so- what you did, what you tried and couldn't do, pain levels, other symptoms, side effects. evidence a 'typical day'
 
I can't remember whether I have to send original documents or not! And if I do will they send them back?
 
nice to hear can`t understand why the dwp are being so vile and nasty
it really starts to make me miss trust them, thank god for Violentpandas
e mail, i would really have lost heart, plus the support on here :)

Without being *too much* of a cynic, I suspect that part of this (DWP/staff attitude) is trying to make claiming/appealing so stressful and downright difficult that people just give up.
"Look. less claims, so we're spending less and those people who stopped claiming must have been scrounging/didn't really need the benefit"
The answer for that is NOT to give up !!
 
nice to hear can`t understand why the dwp are being so vile and nasty

Back in the day (we're talking the '90s here), the "decision maker" had discretion. They could give your case another listen, and class it as a reconsideration.
Now the system is tightened up so decision-makers have no discretion, so claimants are forced to this "mandatory reconsideration" route that ends up more often than not with a tribunal, and about two-thirds of the time with a tribunal win. It's madness, and very expensive madness, at that.
 
just got a letter from Doctors asking to list my daily living
activitys and how my health affects me from atos :confused: but i am
going to tribunal ?
 
just got a letter from Doctors asking to list my daily living
activitys and how my health affects me from atos :confused: but i am
going to tribunal ?
The DWP has probably asked your Dr about you and, seeing as they don't see you all of every day, want you to answer the question, instead of them doing it amd getting it very wrong indeed.
 
atos sent the letter the day before the DWP had made there
decision I remember thinking thats odd, did not take any notice
but today got another letter from the doctors, prompting me to
reply i would ring atos but have very little phone credit its turning
into an agathar christe novel.
 
atos sent the letter the day before the DWP had made there
decision I remember thinking thats odd, did not take any notice
but today got another letter from the doctors, prompting me to
reply i would ring atos but have very little phone credit its turning
into an agathar christe novel.
ViolentPanda? Come in please, when you've woken up again. :)
 
just got a letter from Doctors asking to list my daily living
activitys and how my health affects me from atos :confused: but i am
going to tribunal ?

Worth listing out how your health affects your daily living activities, and include everything, especially the embarrassing stuff about how hard it is to manoeuvre with your bad leg even in a large bathroom or toilet etc, etc, and how the pain knackers you so bad that you find yourself falling asleep at the drop of a hat, how you can't stand or sit comfortably for long - all of that.
If your doctor says "well you haven't reported that to me", just use the old comeback "if I reported every problem it caused me to you, I'd be seeing you at least once a week, and you'd be getting pissed off with me".
 
Incredible how the arrival of just one envelope can turn your life upside down.

I've received an appointment for a WCA assessment with a "healthcare professional" on Monday 17th August. I haven't asked for either a new ESA50 or a PIP form, as discussed upthread I was going to apply for PIP reasoning that it would support my claim for ESA but I didn't because I hate the form filling so much. It's the having to confront my own "frailties" that makes me die a little death, that and the pain involved in the writing.

Can I put these fuckers off on the grounds that I haven't completed an ESA50 for years and that my symptoms are now different since I finished treatment and that it's the treatment itself that has exacerbated my conditions?
I have supporting evidence from a Rheumatoligist and a Podiatrist but not of my depression. I had an initial appointment with our local Psych services, Outlook South West, it was a sort of triage appointment but I've heard nothing back about an appt. to see a counsellor and it's been five weeks.

Here's a link to my latest moan a couple of pages back:

Thanks both. I've calmed down a bit now.:) My cortisol levels must have gone through the roof, I'll pay for that later eh ViolentPanda? I've try to stay clear of the DWP because any contact with them enrages me so much.
I've never appealed my WRAG decision because I thought that they might stick me on JSA and my last DLA award has lapsed because I was too ill to handle filling out another form. DWP win win eh? Cunts.

My claim is not about the money, we're used to not having any. I just want them to leave me alone especially now as we're engaged in a major battle with Children's Services over their lack of support regarding a two year old that we've given a home to under a Special Guardianship Order. :( I just can't fight on too many fronts.

I've got a letter from the Rheumatologist confirming my diagnosis for the diseases outlined above and a letter from the Podiatrist confirming that I have an inoperable broken Navicular in my left foot, an old tree surgery injury which makes walking incredibly painful. My left hand, I'm left-handed, is fucked through arthritis and so writing is nigh on impossible and I've had an arthroscopy on my right knee though both my knees are fucked. I've got arthritis in both hands and all my major joints are riddled with it really.
I can't get any pain relief because I've got Stevens-Johnson Syndrome and I'm allergic to NSAIDs. Co-Codamol in the quantity that I'd need to take gives me constipation.(Too much information.)

Any part of my body that isn't suffering with arthritis is generally useless due to the ME and if that isn't affecting me then the Fibromyalgia gets the rest. Tbh it's impossible for me to tell where one condition stops and the next starts. Then there's the depression, symptomatic and inherent in the diseases, constant exhaustion, lack of sleep, memory lapses and problems with vision, hearing and concentration.

Should I be/am I likely to be put in the Support Group? I seriously doubt it, these are all somatic manifestations so far as the DWP are concerned aren't they? I reckon we're fucked and we'll have problems paying the rent soon let alone anything else. Angry? You bet your fucking life I'm angry.
 
Somebody somewhere else has told me:

"They cannot do that. HCP must have an up to date ESA 50 and the responsibility to send one out is Maxiumus/ATOS and not DWP. Up to you to get the appointment cancelled until they send out the ESA 50."

Is this correct? Considering that the scheduled WCA is in two weeks when is the latest that I can cancel the appt? We can't afford to get sanctioned for this, it would destroy everything, we don't have any money for emergencies or anything. I'm really shitting this.
 
I don't know, but happy to ask somewhere like Fightback on facebook (they're pretty good with all this) on your behalf if you're not on there.
 
paging ViolentPanda

It does seem rather odd Libertad normally they're not so reticent in sending out forms, and anecdotally people have been waiting months after sending back forms for the appointments.

First, I'd double-check that the correct information is on the letter I.e. It's definitely your ni number, date of birth, even name. If it's wrong, go ballistic at them on data protection grounds. If it makes any reference to information received, phone immediately and ask when this information was received.

If it's more than 12 months since you were placed in WRAG And your DLA Has lapsed somebody somewhere might have made the assumption that you are better and they're looking to sign you off.

I'd be asking them if/when they last sent the form out. Certainly they don't seem to be following their own process.

Will do some digging and report back.
 
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