ESA Decision maker is calling me on monday, should I be worried?

Hi, I had my ESA assessment December 19th. I got a call today asking me to ring the benefits office. They said they had make an appointment for the decision maker to call me. I willget a call on Monday between 9am - 1pm. Should I be worried about this? Thank you for any help/advice I get

[jellynpain]

Don't worry. I suspect they want some other information before a final decision, just guessing.

Hope all goes well for you x

[Hidden in reply to jellynpain]

Thank you

[Hidden in reply to jellynpain]

Thank you x

[rosewine]

First of all best of luck. Don't worry yourself, what will be will be as they say.

Phone calls from the decision maker can be just to explain how they have come to the decion or to contact you to try to get further information before reaching a decision. I've just copied some of this information from the Benefit and Works site for you as I am a member. Hope it proves useful.

If you do get one of these calls asking for more information you may want to ask the decision maker if they will put their questions in writing, but they may not be willing to do this.

Take notes yourself and consider recording it if you are able. You don’t

need permission to do this if the recording is for your own use. You can also ask the decision

maker if the call is being recorded and ask for a copy of the recording if it is. In addition, you

can ask for a copy of any notes made by the decision maker in the course of the

conversation. All of this may be valuable evidence if the decision goes against you and you want to appeal.

If you have listed health professionals in your form from whom you have not been able to get

evidence yourself, ask the decision maker if they have contacted them. If not, you may wish

to tell the decision maker you will be raising the issue as part of your appeal if they are not

contacted.(this happened to me with DLA when they initially refused my claim and said they had based their decision on my form and a report from my GP who had not in fact replied to their request as he had mislaid their letter as it had got caught up in other correspondence. They were then forced into asking him again and the decision went in my favour).

If your claim is unsuccessful you may receive a further call from the decision maker

explaining the decision and your options. Bear in mind that 40% of appeals against a

decision that a claimant is capable of work are successful, so lodging an appeal is a very

important option.

[Hidden in reply to rosewine]

Thanks Rose. The whole esa process has stressed me out. I got awarded pip ok. I got enhanced for both components. Thanks for the tips. I'll post back on Monday after my call.

[rosewine in reply to Hidden]

Great look forward to hearing hopefully the good news. If you have already managed to get enhanced PIP in both components I think that will go a long way to having a positive result.I will have everything crossed for you.x

[Hidden in reply to rosewine]

Thank you, fingers crossed xxx

[TheAuthor]

I just want to wish you all the best of luck with this, and please try not to worry too much as it is probably something simple like more information?

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken

[Hidden in reply to TheAuthor]

Thank you

[Hidden]

Hi

As others have said don't worry

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

thank you

[Offcut]

What has been said is all good advice. It may well be that they are just confirming a few things. Good luck.

[xtcdesigns]

I had an assessment in December last year which in my opinion was a shambles. The assessor was a nightmare. She didn't ask appropriate questions and was so rude to me.

A week or so later I received a call from the benefits office advising me that they required an additional telephone assessment, which unnerved me considerably. I had every right to be concerned, as the following day the benefits office rung me to say that the assessment that ATOS conducted was less than satisfactory as they scored me a total of "0" points. I was mortified and immediately started crying and I was shaking like a leaf.

However, the guy on the telephone was eventually very helpful and between us managed to restore all the "points" I'd been awarded in my very first ATOS assessment from two years ago.

I think the benefits office have cottoned onto the fact that ATOS are completely unprofessional and have to check that you are genuinely in need of financial assistance.

Hope my experience hasn't worried you, but people saying "oh you'll be fine" isn't always the best advice. Better to be forewarned of the possibility that ATOS have yet again mucked things up for decent, honest people.

Good luck on Monday. I truly hope all goes well for you.

[Hidden in reply to xtcdesigns]

Thank you very much x My thinking was how you have just explained your situation. I won't know until tomorrow though. Thank you for your reply. I will post back tomorrow to let you know what happened. I've had a migraine since Friday since I found out about my call. I can get through this

[Hidden]

Well I'm totally distraught. Got the call and was told i'd not passed the medical. I've been advised to apply for job seekers. I said how can I apply for jobs when I'm not well. My money will stop on Wednesday. I've called the Citizens advice. They said for me to wait till I get my letter and go and see them, they will help me. I've also called my doctor to ask for a letter to support me. He's off till next week. I will wait and see what Citizens advice say before applying for job seekers, this doesn't seem right to me.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Im going through the same, had my mandatory appeal refused as well

now off to citizens advice to appeal to court . Had my money stopped

5 weeks ago, but I've been told thats how they save money by

refusing claims but stick with it alot of appeals are won, it makes

me wonder why they mess people around knowing that they will

have to backdate your money when you win your appeal.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

Bless you Cindy xxx Good luck with Appeal x It's absolutely horrendous this ESA system and government. x thank you for replying xxx hugs xxx

[rosewine in reply to Hidden]

Sorry I haven't replied before but for some reason the bell at the top of the page is not notifying me of posts. So sorry to hear about the outcome of the phone call. Yes do get the help of the CAB with this. If you can't get the result overturned and you end up going to tribunal remember that many people win as I have evidenced myself. My husband got 0 points as well but we managed to pick the nurses assessment apart and went to tribunal and his 0 points decision was overturned by the tribunal and they gave him 18 points instead. Good luck with everything.x

[Hidden in reply to rosewine]

thank you x glad your hubby got his sorted. It's an awful process and needs to change x

[Maggiet]

You have my sympathy, this is just so wrong. I'm glad that you have contacted CAB. They were excellent when I applied for DLA and I finally got it awarded even though it took 16 months. I hope you get some good news soon xx

[Hidden]

thanks Maggie x

[Kayxx]

I rang to see if there had been a decision and they informed me that they ring you if they find you fit for work and if not they write to you. They could be wrong. Good luck x

[diamondwendie]

I had mine 6th Dec got call today to say I got 0 points and that I have to go job centre Monday morning