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What changes were put into place in march 2017 on esa points system?

bluefish88

What changes were put into place in march 2017 on esa points system.
I was put into the support group in aug 2016 no interview for 12 months .
Waiting for assesment that is overdue .

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Sam_Alumni

Hi @bluefish88 welcome to the community, I have moved your post to the ask a benefits advisor who may be able to help.

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi @bluefish88

I'm not aware of any changes to the points system, however a change was made regarding the frequency of assessment for some support group claimants.

The change was that some claimants with severe and permanent conditions will no longer need to be continually reassessed. If your last assessment was last year however then this will not have been applied to you at this point, as it only came in this year...

https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2017/september/changes-work-capability-assessment-reassessment-criteria

Hope this helps.

Kind regards,

Mary

bluefish88

Hi Mary
I have epilepsy started fitting again 2014 this changed my whole life also became very sick needed fess surgery as face became diseased and looked very ill like face wasted away. I lost My job as I looked very ill and fitting my weight went to 7stone should weigh 9stone. In 2015 I had a mild stroke affecting my right hand side . The benefits office have been very good. I was put into reassume this In aug 2016 no interview but hearing stories that I will no longer qualify for support group only the work group as of changes

BenefitsTrainingCo

Hi bluefish88 - I'm not quite sure what's happening to your benefits, but from what you've said it sounds as though you are in the support group at the moment, but anticipating being moved to the work group because of changes to ESA in March this year. Have I got that right? As Mary says, the only changes for support group claimants have been that the DWP has said that some people with severe and permanent conditions will no longer have to be reassessed, and the people that this applies to will be told.
The only points changes that occurred in March this year were for people claiming PIP on the grounds of anxiety - the DWP announced that it would basically be more difficult to claim the 'planning and following a journey' mobility component of PIP because of anxiety, unless the condition was extremely severe. That's the only thing I can think of. So - if you are in the ESA support group, and nothing has happened to affect your benefits, and you haven't been called for a reassessment, then I'm sure everything is fine and you don't need to worry. Get back in touch with us if the DWP have told you anything different.
Hope this helps,

Jayne

bluefish88

Hi
I was put in the support group in aug 2016 for 12 months with on interview.I am waiting to be reasessed at the moment but have heard epilepsy no longer applies and is work related only group. I have mental health issues had to see a psychiatrist at e
the crisis centre . Have the changes affected any of thes issues.

MARGARETONEIL

Why when I was on income support and disability benefit council tax benefit. I was changed to esa and now have to pay for dentist also glasses

BenefitsTrainingCo

bluefish88,

There is no change which says that people with epilepsy go into the work-related activity group. That is just not the case - you have the same chance of getting into the support group that you did before. Your mental health issues should be taken into account too.

MARGARETONEIL, it sounds as if you've been moved from income support & incapacity benefit to esa, and your esa doesn't have an income-related bit. We know that the DWP have made quite a few mistakes with this so I would see if you can get someone (eg Citizens Advice) to look at your decision letter. If you are entitled to any income-related ESA you should be able to get the same help with health costs that you did before.

Everyone who got income support for disability is eventually being moved to ESA. It's very important to see if you can get income-related ESA - without it, as you've found out, your other help is affected. You don't get the same sorts of help if you only get contribution-based ESA. Unfortunately I can't tell from your post whether the decision is right or wrong, so I hope you can get it looked at locally - the adviser will need to ask you lots of other questions too, but it is possible that you should be getting some income-related ESA, and the DWP hae somehow missed this.

Council tax support depends on your local authority, but make sure they know exactly what benefits you are on, and if you get your ESA changed so that it includes any income-related ESA, make sure you tell them.

Will