Still Waiting For My ESA Assessment

apoates

I was granted ESA back in Oct 2017, and was advised i will be having an assessment within 13 weeks or so, it's now coming into June 2018 and i'm still waiting, i have phoned a couple of times chasing up but all i get is there is a backlog and you will still be getting paid just keep sending the sick notes in.
I suffered a stroke (3 Strokes) back in Dec 2016 i'm 46 years and married, old and my life changed after that, i never got follow up physio which i'm still chasing up i cannot get any grants to adapt my home,.
My left arm is next to useless and my left leg is sort of functional but getting worse, so getting my sick notes every 3 months is a logistical nightmare for me I've been granted full PIP but that pays the rent along with 1 of my fortnightly ESA payments, so i live on £142 a month, and i still pay bills out of that.
What i'm getting at is how can i speed this up, is there a way, i'm new to all these benefits as I've worked since i was 16 including serving with HMF, and I've never been treated so bad in all my life, i lost my job last year and  nobody wants to employ me, i'm at my wits end.
Sorry for the lengthy cry for help, but that's exactly what it is, after i left the hospital 2 weeks after my stroke in 2016 i was basically left to fend for myself.
HELP.......

wilko

@apoates, hello and welcome, as you are claiming PIP have you tried claiming help from your council for housing benefit to pay your rent and get council tax relief. And your electric utility supplier may take part in the warm front scheme which you can apply for and get £140 off your electric bill in the spring. Details may be on your bill if no ring up to ask if they take part and if so registar with them. 

apoates

@wilko thanks for the reply, the council refused rent and council tax help due to my wife's earnings, they don't take into consideration she is now taking on my bills to keep us barely afloat, i'll look into the warm front scheme so thanks for that titbit, it's the ESA assessment i'm annoyed about...

poppy123456

HI,

As you are a couple then unfortunately your wife's salary is there for you both. As you're claiming contribution based ESA then your aim would be to get into the Support Group, if you're placed into the WRAG then payments would stop after 1 year. Payments will continue if you're placed into the Support Group.

Also if you were placed into the WRAG because of the changes that took places in April 2017 then you would get no extra money than you're currently claiming for ESA. This means there would be no back pay either.

If placed into the support group then they will back date you the extra money to week 14 of your claim. Contribution based ESA is £110.75 per week, so you would get the difference back dated.

To be placed into the Support Group isn't about scoring points, it's about satisfying at least one of the Support Group descriptors. See this link.

https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors

Evidence will be needed as they very rarely contact anyone for this.

There is no timescales for assessments, even though the assessment period is 13 weeks, people are very rarely assessed within this time period. Some are waiting up to 1 year.

As your wife works, then this is the reason why you aren't entitled to housing benefit. Also the warm home discount above may not apply to you because of your wife's earnings.

[Deleted User]

Hi apoates

Very glad that you have got in touch with us.

It might be worth saying that you can find out for sure whether there is any means-tested benefit available to you by doing a benefit check - this is available on our website. 

https://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/benefits/check

I'm thinking of tax credits, or universal credit, depending on where in the country you live. Any entitlement will depend upon a range of factors, like whether your wife has a disability benefit, whether you have dependent children, the level of any savings you might have. 

It's always  worth a look.

Gill_Scope