ESA assessment- Are they trying to trick me?

Overwhelmed1

I hope it’s ok to share this here. I’m feeling so frustrated and upset after a call from the ESA health assessment people. I’m wondering if the two calls I’ve just had from them are trying to trick me or are genuine so would be good to know if anyone else has had similar experiences and what they have done about it. Am I just being paranoid?!

My telephone assessment was arranged for this afternoon. About half an hour before they were due to call I got a call from a freephone number. I was in bed as I’m really struggling with pain at the moment and had set my alarm so I would be up in time for my appointment but answered it in case it was them as they’d said I needed to be ready in advance.

The person who called said she was checking I was ok for my appointment, which I confirmed I was. She then asked me if they could bring it forward and whilst not ideal (I told them I was in bed and a bit about my situation) I wanted to get this over with so said yes. She checked that I had asked for the call to be recorded and I confirmed I did (my health and disability means I can’t take notes at the moment and I read on here it’s a good idea).

My appointment time came and went and about 10/15 mins later the same person phoned me again. She apologised and said they would have to cancel my appointment today because the recording machine had broken. She asked if I could take a call at any time (I would not receive any advance warning of the call) if I wanted it to be done soon and I explained that I couldn’t do this, I need time to prepare and also, whilst I forgot to tell her this, I have a lot of medical appointments coming up so need to plan my appointment.

She then said it would be about 3 weeks before I would hear again.

I was obviously not happy about this as one minute the call was going to be earlier and then I’m told it will be several weeks away and I was completely overwhelmed by this whole situation. I’ve had a really bad year adjusting to many changes to my physical and mental health and this was just too much.
She said I could complain if I wanted and she told me I should call the number on the letter that I had about my original appointment.

Has anyone else had this experience? Did you complain? Do you think I’m being paranoid or was this a test to see if I could cope with change which I had said I couldn’t. Sorry to ramble on I’m just so tired and exhausted by this process it’s been going on for months.

Troppie

Hi, I haven't had this experience myself but I received a letter advising me I would need to attend a health assessment in person at a place 40 minutes away.The DWP are aware I suffer from severe depression and anxiety and am unable to leave my house alone and struggle with going out fullstop.

I'm afraid I'm sceptical like you and would probably think it's a test.These people seem oblivious to how their actions actually affect people.It's like a tick box exercise.

It is exhausting.I asked if I could find out what the health assessment would cover and was told to refer to the work capacity questionnaire I'd filled in.Because of my severe depression and s thoughts I was told I didn't need to complete it.

I hope your assessment goes well.

Overwhelmed1

thanks so much for sharing your experience @Troppie, I agree a degree of scepticism is healthy.

gemslover

don't they just love to hassle you…. grrrr!

OverlyAnxious

Sadly this is quite common, both with phone calls and face to face.

It's not a new thing either, this happened with my own face to face around 6 years ago. I'd told them I couldn't manage face to face without physical health consequences. They ignored that and forced me to one anyway. Then when I arrived they said it had been cancelled! The options were to phone for another appointment in several weeks time, or to return 2 hours later on the same day. I went home, lost more bodily fluids, returned in a hell of a state, and was then made to wait for another 10 minutes without any reason given. I was so drained that I just agreed with stuff that I shouldn't have. And ultimately scored 0 points.

I was told I could claim the second lot of fuel and parking costs back, which was also incorrect. I only ever received one lot, despite submitting both.

I'm fairly sure it's not a test though, it's just ignorance or incompetence. Sadly not rare in todays world and has happened with so many other things, not just benefits related. So many people seem to be oblivious to the detrimental impact they cause to other people through their actions.

Overwhelmed1

thanks for sharing, it really is appreciated. I suspect there’s an element of both. It’s very sad that either way they have created a culture of mistrust. I have not complained (they said I could) and I will think about it it because hopefully that way things will improve for everyone.