Calling ESA

bench

Wow , I am shocked at my experience of trying to get in contact with ESA today after a nearly 3 hour wait , I finally get answer at 10 to 5 explained my situation that I need paper proof ,that I have a extended time to send in my ESA50 , was answer by what I can only describe as a foreign accent African or Indian, definitely not English, really struggled to understand what she was saying, as she did me, again I ask for paper evidence of my extension ,she put me a hold , why she say she was going to have a look at it, after 10 minutes of hold was cut off, absolutely shocking, i dont trust that i have a extension, so i will send in my coffee stained original form, interested to hear other people's experience of the ESA phone line, thanks 🙏

poppy123456

They don't extend the time to return this form. It needs to be returned by the date in the letter. If you are late returning it then you will need to give your reasons on the form.

If you have a vulnerable marker on your file they can proceed with the assessment without the form being returned.

There's an ESA50 form available to download online, you can see that here.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66d8130bc52d5fb4c82dddec/esa50-form.pdf

The last time I rang ESA was at the start of the year and was able to get through within about 25 minutes. I usually find the best time to ring them is 8am when the open.