IR-ESA Support group to UC and needing to talk/see someone?

hughie1

@Chaoticmess please give us an update. Thanks.

Chaoticmess

So everything went super smooth, didn’t need to go visit the jobcentre, verified identity, got awarded the LCWRA element and received my first payment...and then I woke up which is when the male bovine stool sample that is reality and the DWP hit me full force again.

Tried to send my mum in my place to the job centre to verify ID but they refused her. She had my driving licence, original birth certificate, P60, bank statement, NHS Medical card and a photo of my face next to them all. She also took her own passport, driving licence and a signed note from me saying they had my explicit permission to do it on my behalf. Nope.

In the end had to arrange for a home visit which happened yesterday which took about 10 minutes for the lady to look at everything, mark it all down, check my bank account was the right one they pay the money into and then left.

A few hours after she left my journal got updated and told me I was getting my first UC payment. Only it has me receiving the standard payment and not the extra LCWR element because I’m in the ESA support group.

Made a journal entry about it, got a reply a short while later explaining that ESA needs to contact UC to work out what additional elements I need to be awarded.

Looks like an end might be in sight but nope. Get a telephone call today around 16:00. My parents are out so it doesn’t get answered. Phone rings again and an answer machine message is left. It’s someone from my local jobcentre wanting to talk to me about my ESA.

Check my journal and it seems that at around 13:00 today a telephone appointment was made for around 16:00 so I could agree to my new ESA commitments.

Unfortunately, in my journal we had stated my mom had permission to answer calls on my behalf and added her mobile number. The lady from the jobcentre rang her mobile after ringing the house phone and mom, being out in a crowded place, not able to fully focus on what was being said or what she was agreeing to made another appointment to do my ESA commitments next week.

The problem with all this?

We made it clear in my very first journal entry that phone conversations are not an option for me. I just had all this out with them when dealing with the home visit to verify ID for goodness sake.

So now I’m in the middle of writing another journal entry stating that the phone appointment next week isn’t an option for me and requesting something else be arranged.

Before I make it though I wanted to ask here what other options there are for me to agree to commitments if not over the phone and not going down to the jobcentre. Can they send me a form I can sign? Can I get another home visit by someone who witnesses me signing a form agreeing to the commitment? What’s stressing and worrying me is I tell them phone conversations aren’t an option for me and they come back and say there are no other options besides doing it in person at the jobcentre.

WhatThe

😖

It's not you as I'm sure you know. Your mum knows not to answer that number but to wait for a text or email about a message.

Accept your commitments in the journal after checking what they say. Don't accept them if you're not happy with them. Take screenshots.

💪

Chaoticmess

Hey, thanks for the reply.

This implies I should be able to request they cancel the phone appointment and instead let me agree to the commitments on the journal?

Thinking about it I already agreed to commitments when making the UC application. So I guess it would make sense I should be able to accept new ones for ESA via the journal as well? Is this what others have been able to do as well?

WhatThe

Ask on the journal what the phone appt is about. If it's important there will be an entry.

😏

Chaoticmess

But I already know what the appointments about. It’s to agree to my new ESA commitments. They have made it clear what the appointments about. Asking what it’s about would be silly?

The problem is they’ve made an appointment for me to agree to my new commitments over the phone. This isn’t an option for me. Going to a jobcentre isn’t an option either.

WhatThe

Accept your commitments in the journal. Ignore the calls.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1002675#Comment_1002675

New Style ESA is separate from Universal Credit. Contact cannot be made for ESA through the journal and as far as I've seen, ESA commitments cannot be confirmed through the journal either.

I am sorry for the OP, but currently the only options I've seen for this are a phone call or Job Centre visit. You might get lucky and they allow another home visit, but I really wouldn't rely on that being possible.

I am currently going through this process myself, and trying to find a way of getting it done online, but haven't been successful so far.

Chaoticmess

Sent a journal message last night saying that a phone appointment wasn’t an option and stated that the only viable options for me were to either commit to them in the journal, sign a form they send me in the post or arrange a home visit if someone needs to witness me signing something.

Got a message back in the journal this afternoon saying they will ask my local jobcentre to ‘consider’ sending out someone for a home visit to complete the ESA commitment appointment.

It’s an interesting use of wording there. Not that they will make an appointment but simply to ask them to consider it. The phone appointment for next week hasn’t been cancelled either.

Can only wait and see now what happens next.