Thank you both so much, some good points there to look into. At the moment I'm thinking he is probably going to leave it as is. It's just frustrating to think how a man in identical circumstances from a family who had a low income would have gone into the work related group with no time limit. Something is better than nothing though I guess. I will look into things more closely tomorrow

I will be getting my sick note to continue ESA on Monday (this will then be my second sick note).

Would I'd like to know is, how long is it usually before I get called up for an interview to see which groups I am placed in to?

My oh was 17 weeks on assessment rate before he was called for his

Received letter yesterday stating that I have to attend a Work Focused Interview TODAY. Cutting it a bit close, but the letter states it was sent over a week ago but as always Royal Mail are rubbish so it took a bit of time to get to me. I have been to a couple of these before, one three years ago at which point they put me on the work programme with Ingeus (complete waste of time). The second being a year ago when my work programme stint had come to an end, which cemented that the work programme was a waste of time due to the fact they had sent over the wrong file (They sent a file belonging to a relative instead of myself.) So I had to give the lady doing the interview all of the right information.

Now both of these were pretty straight forward, and I was for the most part able to cope with them, other than being a little fidgety. This one however is different as the letter states "This will be a group session, if you would prefer a 1 on 1 meeting please give us a call." Obviously they will claim it is too late to rearrange for a 1 on 1, and to be honest I just want to get this over with.

I am hoping somebody can give me a little information before 2pm about how these group sessions work, how many people are usually involved, basically any information would be a great help. I have never heard of them doing this type of thing as a group session before so was never going to be prepared for it.

Thanks in advance for any information you might be able to give.

Just to update this was the most pointless piece of crap I have ever been to as it pertains to ESA. Was there for less than 15 minutes whilst they explained the rules to permitted work followed by "If you would like to talk to someone one on one then please ask now, otherwise you are free to leave." Why are they wasting time and money on this crap instead of actually choosing to be above board and helping the people they are screwing over every single day.

Tribunal evidence arrived today from courts, in two envelopes. Just need to wait for a court date now I guess.
I do have more evidence, does anyone know if it is worth sending it in at this point, or just save for the tribunal?

^ I'd send it to them as soon as possible. In my experience, if you send all your evidence in advance then the tribunal panel will be up to speed with everything once you go in and you'll hopefully be asked fewer questions.

An ESA50 arrived in my post box today I had to go through an extremely stressful appeal process after the last time I had to send in one of these. I understand they have to maintain their records but I have an incurable illness, why do I have to keep answering the same questions? Yes DWP, still got that incurable illness, not sure why you'd think I don't have it any more.

I got a new form to complete for my Autistic son, so I did a quick check on the internet to check if the condition has now found a cure.

I do believe the Government should organise trips to Lourdes as part of the support group programme as they do seem to believe in miracle cures.

Maybe you should send in a copy of the tribunal decision as supporting evidence. That might encourage them not to waste time and money calling you in for an assessment and then making a stupid and perverse decision.

*be really weary we recently moved nothing has changed in terms of "change of circumstances" My brothers money wasn't there when he rung they considered the move a change of Circumstances 40 minute interview over the phone they finally saw it really was just a move. And the money was there 4 hours later but stress that totally wasn't needed.

In addition to the excellent advice in post #660 above, there are some mental health resources here http://www.mind.org.uk/about-us/our-...can-find-help/ and some physical health resources here https://www.actionforme.org.uk/resou...-and-leaflets/ although they do cover specific circumstances.

Thanks for the advice That's a really great idea to send in a copy of my tribunal decision, I'll definitely do that.

Because my condition hasn't changed much, and also because it's often difficult for me to see a GP, there isn't much in my medical records that details all my limitations and so there's not much I can offer by way of supporting evidence. A GP can't say "I have observed the patient struggling to walk for 20 meters" because they don't make those kinds of observations. Despite the previous tribunal decision I fear I'm going to have to go through the entire process again.

I have my medical on Saturday I am absolutely terrified. I have thought about nothing else for 12 day since the appointment letter came.
My doctors surgery is crap. It is nigh on impossible to ever get an appointment. And needless to say they have messed me around since I asked for a personal letter from the docror.
I have very little medical evidence except my prescription historuy that I am in chroniic pain with back and hip problems and very bad depression. I am on Fentalyn for the pain and mirtrazapine fro the depression. I have had a couple of exploratory tests for my anemia, a colonoscopy which I made them stop halfway through because of the pain. One of the locums at our surgery threatened me with social services if I refused to the colonoscopy as she said I wasnt making good decisiona about myself and therefore our daughter was at risk! Needless to say I will never be candid with a GP again.
If they sstopped my money or forced me into work I would fall apart. I just cant do it.
Any takers out there with some advice/

Do you have anyone who can come with you? You have to act as you normally act and don't make an effort. Remember, they want to see how you normally are, it's not a job interview! Only say "yes" if you can absolutely do something which you can repeat with absolutely no issue at all. For example, if I am asked if I can walk 100 meters, my answer is yes because I've go no issues at all with walking. But if I am asked if I can read font size 16, my answer is no, because I can only read for a few minutes aided before my eyes get tired and to me, font size 16 is tiny. I am not able to repeat the task either.

In 2006 I had to go through the appeals process and finally won. My health has deteriorated since then, would it be helpful to show them the tribunals result as evidence or not?

It's impossible to send them too much evidence.

Better to send too much than too little.

Not too sure on that, for my Pip I sent in 17 pieces of evidence. And I got 0 points for both (did have 16 care and 8 mobility before a Capita lied on my report)
They called me a liar and said the medication I was on was unneeded.
I have OA, tendinitis in both shoulders, OA in neck, depression, anxiety , obesity, Ibs, Urinary frequency, and a few minor ailments.
Nice to know that my GP and hospital specialists are liars heh...

Pip is based on the care and mobility needs you have. Not the names of the conditions.

Yes I agree but the evidence I provided was from physio, pain clinic, my gp and from surgeon. All showing the problems and why I can't do the things for the Pip descriptors. As I said they called me a liar. I can't wait for the tribunal

See this said a lot and what actually struck me filling in the forms was, how it wasn't really so different to DLA forms and in fact they're not really interested in the conditions' name or its effect on you and your needs - just whether you fulfil some very narrow, limited descriptors.

People say this as if implying somehow DLA was less rigorous - in fact, I always found it to be far more rigorous. It's just government spin, pretending they've created a superior system to the old, 'faulty' one.

It makes my blood boil.
did you see that C5 show last night? that guy on DLA spending it on Betting and rubbish.
with the likes of C5/4 daily mail and sun. They propagate this myth everyone on Benefits is just a con artist and all the reforms are vital.

I went through utter hell with ATOS years ago, even will all the doctors supporting me

In so far as it is practically possible, please try to remain calm. A few weeks/couple of months after the assessment, a written decision will be issued. If you disagree with that decision the next things to do are request a copy of the medical inspection and the decision maker's verdict and straight away seek help from any one of the nearest Citizens Advice Bureau (see https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/ab...advice/advice/), local council benefits advice unit or community law centre because getting expert help effectively doubles the appeal success rate. Please note that any benefit decision has to be appealed within one month of the date on the decision letter (not the date of receipt) and the DWP has to to be asked to do an internal administrative reconsideration first before the case proceeds to an external appeal system.


The New Labour, coalition and Tory governments have all been tacitly cooperating with, and egging on, newpapers and production companies to present all benefit claimants (no matter how genuine) as lying, cheating, thieving scum in order to reduce public resistance to harsh benefit reforms. It also has the unfortunate effect of increasing hate attacks against disabled people but the politicians don't care.

What really gets me is that there are many more benefit investigators going after £1 billion of benefit fraud than there are HMRC tax inspectors going after £40 billion of tax avoidance and evasion money because the politicians want their wealthy mates and party donors left alone. Our French friends would be vigorously protesting in the streets about such an unfair situation but the Brits just sit back and take it.

Okay. Hoping someone might be able to help. I filled in a ESA50 renewal a couple of months ago. I have been on ESA for a few years. The last time I didn't have to attend a medical as I had a letter from my CPN which might have made a difference. I got a letter on Wednesday for a face to face appointment in a couple of weeks down my local centre where these things happen. My condition has gotten a lot worse since last time and my relationship has broken down with the mental health team. I haven't left the house for over a year. Basically I wondered how easy it is to get a face to face home assessment visit. I know I have to have a fax from my GP to send to the DWP to justify why I need a home visit. I have a phone call arranged with my GP for next week. I don't know what to say. Will my GP know about home visits for assessments and also what is the likelihood of being granted one?. I could go to the FTF but basically I would have to have a shedload to drink beforehand because my anxiety is so acute. If anyone has any advice I would be grateful and thank you in advance.

When you filled out your form, didn't you put in the bit about seeing people and socialising that you can't face going out and haven't been out for over a year? They may wonder why you didn't mention it at the time.
Sorry I don't know if they are likely to change it to a home visit now at such short notice.