Is it hard to get ESA

jcbrown7574

Hi, I’ve just joined, nice to meet you all.
how difficult is it to get ESA?

I’ve got nerve damage in my neck and it can severely impact both arms with pins & needles and shocks, I’m always dropping hot cups of tea etc

I’m on pip for it and meniscus of the knee with ligaments & tendons damage needing an operation.
Im waiting on the questionnaire but I don’t know what it’s like!! Is it like the pip form where they’re all trick questions until you read the criteria and understand exactly what the questions mean?

Thank you

poppy123456

You can see the form here. There are no trick questions.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/654d58d1c0e06800101b2d1c/esa50-capability-for-work-questionnaire.pdf

You can fill in that form and print it off but please do not send it until you receive the form in the post. If you send it before receiving one then they will ignore it.

There's 2 groups for ESA.. Work Related Activity Group (WRAG) and Support Group. As it would be New style ESA you're claiming then this is only paid for 1 year unless placed into the Support Group. You can see the descriptors for that here.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/support-group-descriptors

Jimm_Scope

Hey @jcbrown7574, I hope Poppy has helped with your question! If you want to read up more about the ESA process you can read some of our advice pages here:

Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) | Disability charity Scope UK

Let us know how you get on with your application, ask away if you are unsure about anything 🙂