ESA form duplicates

This has been on my mind for a while.

I am thinking about filling out the new ESA form (the one that will be with us in the very near future), in advance, photocopying it and then submitting it every time a review is due/new form arrives. As long as the form has not changed in any way and my condition remains the same, do you think the DWP would accept this?

I can’t face filling in form after form every 12-24 weeks. If I just have the duplicate ready, it will help take the pressure off me.

I don't think that the DWP/Atos would accept a photocopy of an ESA50.

I am aware that they will not even accept a completed ESA50 form available online, but I cannot see any valid reason why this should be the case, as other forms downloaded from the internet are perfectly acceptable for completion by a claimant/appellant, for example, the GL24 appeal form.

Blanco wrote:

This has been on my mind for a while.

I am thinking about filling out the new ESA form (the one that will be with us in the very near future), in advance, photocopying it and then submitting it every time a review is due/new form arrives. As long as the form has not changed in any way and my condition remains the same, do you think the DWP would accept this?

I can’t face filling in form after form every 12-24 weeks. If I just have the duplicate ready, it will help take the pressure off me.

If the new form is in pdf format, even if the DWP lock the form there is ways of un locking the form so you could just copy and paste your old details .... mind you I think it might be open

Thanks.

Do you think it would be ok to copy (in pen), exactly what I had written in a previous ESA form word for word?

Yes, if your medical condition remains unchanged, there is no reason why you cannot quote exactly from previous ESA forms which you have completed.

Hi Blanco,

I find writing really hard because of pain and my inability to use my thumb properly, but typing is fine for me, so I downloaded the ESA50 in PDF and then edited it on my computer. When it was finished (did it over a number of weeks bit by bit), I simply printed it off, signed it and sent it.

When it came to the 2nd ESA50 six months later, I just updated the necessary parts of the original, saved the update, printed, signed and posted again.

Not only is it much easier doing it this way as you can go back and edit as many times as you like until you are happy with your responses and ready to print, but you can get a lot more detail into each of the boxes than you can if you write by hand.

At my recent medical the Assessor actually commented how much better it was for her to read a typed ESA50, so there is clearly no problem with doing this. (Of course the fact that she could read it still didn't mean she asked the right questions or did an accurate report on me... but that’s another story!)

Now of course the only drawback to all this is that you need to be computer literate enough to edit a PDF, have the relevant editable PDF software (I have Adobe Standard, but you can download various good free PDF programmes or try converting to another format) and have access to a printer, or know someone who can do all this for you. But if you are lucky enough to tick these requirements then this is by far the best way to handle routine ESA50s.

I agree that I don't think they'd accept a photocopy so this is really the only way to get around the problem of having to fill one in each time.