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claiming carers and esa been told to go for atos assesment

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jerri28090
jerri28090

hi there i have a friend who suffers with anxiety bipolar and depression like me  she also claim carers for her mother as she has end stage copd they help eachoher with their illnesses but my friend told me this morning she gets esa support group for herself and theyve sent her an atos assesment form for review im not sure what to tell her as i thought if youd claim carers that she wouldnt need an assesment for herself with her esa any advice as i dont want to give her the wrong information

0 likes, 9 replies

9 Replies

  • les59996
    les59996 jerri28090

    Posted

    Fir a start having reviews of an ESA award is quite normal. The awards are generally all 'timed' awards.

    ?On the other hand there may be a problem by claiming CA AND being in the Support Group of ESA.

    ?The DWP may be not understanding how your friend is able to do both - care for her mum for over 35 hours a week (over 5 hours a day, 7 days a week as well as to be so sick and ill that she cannot do any type of work.

    ?They may want to understand how this is possible. 

  • Scally
    Scally jerri28090

    Posted

    Are you sure this assessment relates to ESA?  I thought ATOS were only doing PIP assessments now and maximus did ESA assessments.  Does your friend claim DLA or PIP at present?
    • jerri28090
      jerri28090 Scally

      Posted

      yes she gets lower rate dla 21 a week for carers and 21 a week for mob 
    • jerri28090
      jerri28090 Scally

      Posted

      yes its for esa they sent her a form not sure its with atos but i just thought it would be as they usually do the assesments like how her disability affects her 
    • Scally
      Scally jerri28090

      Posted

      Sorry, I thought the ATOS part was correct and therefore it might not be to do with ESA.
  • anthony97723
    anthony97723 jerri28090

    Posted

    Jerri what is happening is your friend receives ESA Support Group as her primary benefit and has an underlying entitlement to Carer Allowance for looking after her Mother.

    However, she would-not get payment of CA as both benefits cannot be paid at the same time. She is though entitled to a 'Carer Premium' which is paid on top of her ESA. It is means tested and is worth around £30pw provided she has no other income and no savings above £6000.

    Therefore she will be routinely reassessed just like all other ESA recipients at some stage. Like any other ESA assessment she will be assessed on her ability to ‘work’. With the little information you have posted it would appear that she is restricted from working because of her bipolar mental health disability.

    She would need to explain fully why she cannot attend a workplace due to any overwhelming psychological distress and back this up with medical evidence. The DWP may well enquire about her duties with regard to her Mother. This can be explained by stating (as appears to be the case) that your friend suffers with a MH disability not a physical one. Therefore she can care for her Mother within the family home as she trusts her Mother but is anxious about meeting people she doesn’t know and this disability stops her from gaining employment.

    • jerri28090
      jerri28090 anthony97723

      Posted

      she gets support group esa for herself 102 a week she gets lower rate of 21 and lower rate of mobility 21 a week she applied for carers for her mum and said in her forms she gets esa so not sure why theyd not say she wasnt entitled to it with her claiming esa she like me suffers with bipolar and looks after her mum physically 3 days a week but then her mum does the prmpting for her to shower pay her bills etc so its the blind leading the blind if you like then she recieved a form from esa to fill in for assesment but she also looks after her mum so its a tricky one not sure what to tell her to do
    • denise15811
      denise15811 jerri28090

      Posted

      She still needs to fill out the ESA50 form and return it. If she doesn't her ESA will stop. There should be a date on the letter that came with it stating when the form needs to be returned by. The reason she claims ESA is because she's unable to work. Citizens Advice Bureau are very good with the forms, they helped me. Tell her to give them a ring. She'll also need supporting evidence.

    • anthony97723
      anthony97723 jerri28090

      Posted

      Jerri please listen your friend has to fill in an ESA50 (if she has received one) and attend an assessment when called. Bening a carer for her Mother will not stop her being reassessed for ESA as you seem to think. As I said she needs to explain to the assessor why she can't work due to her bipolar mental health disability.

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