ESA50 return time

Hi,

I'd appreciate some advice please, I'll be brief. I've recently been put on ESA with a note from my GP. On the 3rd March I received a reminder to send back the ESA50 form back by the 17th March. Unfortunately I had not received the ESA50 form and the reminder was the first I knew about it. I rang DWP and told them I hadn't received it and they sent out another form on the 7th March and I received it on the 11th March.

My support worker rang yesterday to ask for an extention on the return date. I had a return call saying I was granted an extention, the form was already overdue, to fill in the form and send it back. I asked several times for a return date but kept getting the same answer.

Can someone please advise me as to how long I should have with an extention. Surely they can't expect me to fill in a form about complex medical problems/issue in a week!!

Thank you in advance.

Hi Hunnybun

I'm afraid that we can't tell you how long you have actually got.

Ordinarily you should have six weeks from the date the form was sent out. But it does depend on the DWP accepting that you have good cause for late return and that the form is returned as promptly as possible after the deadline.

It is very unreasonable of them not to give you a date in writing.

In the end, if the DWP say that you returned your form late, that is an appealable decision and it would be up to a tribunal to decide whether you had good cause for the late return, but obviously that is a road best avoided.

Good luck,

Steve