Incapacity Benefit migration to ESA

A question about : Incapacity Benefit migration to ESA

Hi
I have been on Incapacity Benefit for around 8 years.
I was last reviewed with a medical assessment by ATOS in January 2011, and have a letter saying I will next be reviewed in 2014, which after the stress of a review was a big relief.

Now around 10 weeks later, I have just received a letter saying that my benefit is changing and I am to be assessed for ESA.
This is unbelievably stressful - as I am sure anyone who has been through the review will know!

My question is:

Does anyone know how the DWP is selecting claimants for the migration process to ESA?

Can I use the fact that they have just assessed my claim for IB and found me unfit for work and likely to remain so for at least 3 years (per their chosen review date), to ask that the review to ESA is delayed.

It seems very strange to spend lots of time/effort/money assessing someone only to do it again two months later.

Ok - sorry that was 2 questions - but I would be really interested to hear other peoples' experiences.

Many thanks
Pinklady21

Best answers:

• İm confused --i didnt think İB claimants were assessed by ATOS before this migration process started in March!-İf it was the normal DWP assessment then i thought the ESA were doing the new assessments in date order--according to people on here
• Ooh yes - ATOS have been supping at the Benefit Assessment trough for many years - and with a rather dubious reputation for finding people fit to work when their own doctor or consultant does not.
• Doesnt re-testing go against their policy to test in date order??--or once you have been looked at by ATOS are you in the endless testing spiral??
• De1amo - do you know if they have a policy of testing in date order?
  I have hunted round the DWP website to try and find out what their policy is - I can't find anything which says how they will be selecting people for review.
  And I do not believe it is random.
  Does anyone have any inside knowledge of how the DWP is operating the migration process?
• I heard from this board by someone that they'll be testing all IB claimants first and then income support due to illness claimants after? Does anyone know if this is true?
• As this exercise to reassess IB/IS/SDA claims has to be completed by Mar 2014, it would make sense for JCP to 'manage the referrals' to ATOS as smoothly as they can.
  This may mean that they have to smooth out the present 'peaks and troughs' in their systems, so that the reassessments can be done at X per week/month etc.
  It may mean that some people will be examined sooner, or later, than they were told after their last PCA examination, depending on the capacity of ATOS and JCP to do the work.
• According to the Benefits and Work website, it looks as if people may well be migrated when their next review is to take place. I've also read on there that PCA exempt people could well be migrated first. I don't think that anything is "set in stone" though and there seems to be a lot of mystery surrounding the whole process.
• Just to clarify something, all those on IB should be getting one of those letters I believe, to notify them of changes, so was it a general notice you got or did they send you the ESA50 forms for a formal reassessment?
• i havent read it anywhere apart from on this site!- i think it is being done in a way that causes as much uncertainty as possible -there have been lots of theories-anything from alphabetically to adhering to last 'given date' of reviewal!-
• I noticed that anyone reaching state pension age between Feb 11 and March 14 will NOT be migrated.
  Does this mean they will not be tested either?
  A relative is in this position and she`s very concerned.
• https://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/ib-reasse...ation-pack.pdf
• I receive DLA LRM and HRC so was exempt from the PCA. My DLA is next due for renewal in 2013. IS never gave me a review date so would I have been reviewed when my DLA was due for renewal or before, seeing as it's HRC that made me exempt from the PCA?
• OH's IB review date was Dec 2010 and surname begins "A" so thought we would be first - no letter yet...