No home visit a year after ESA claim - advice needed please

rosielouise2010

Hi I applied for esa may 2017 and was approved a home visit. I still have not had visit or been put in a group. I’m still having to send fit notes in . I have complex PTSD and am really struggling. I have phoned them and they say no doctors in area. But it’s been a year and 2 months ! Any advice would be appreciated thanks Louise.

Liam_Alumni

Hi @rosielouise2010,

Welcome to Scope's online community! It's great to have you here.

I'm sorry to hear about the problems you're having with your ESA claim. I've moved this over into our dedicated Employment and Support Allowance category, where other members of our community can share advice and support.

Hope this helps!  

poppy123456

Hi,

As you've already rang them then i'd advise contacting your local MP to see if they can help you with this. That length of time is rather long to be waiting for your assessment.

Find your local MP and contact details here. You'll be able to email them with all your details and tell them exactly what's happening.

https://www.parliament.uk/mps-lords-and-offices/mps/

April2018mom

Get in contact with your local MP. They might be able to help you. I’m shocked at how long you have been kept waiting for no reason. This is completely unprofessional and unnecessary. Also consider writing a letter to them as well. If that does not seem to do the trick think about getting the media involved too. Sell your story to them as a humans right/interest story. That will definitely grab their attention. And make them feel ashamed of their ridiculous behaviour. 

mikehughescq

I’m going to disagree with the advice re: your MP. It’s based on an assumption that you will definitely qualify. You may well but no-one here knows that for sure. It may be for example that had you had your medical at the 13 week point they could have found you fit for work and you’d have had no money unless you claimed JSA or got to the appeal stage. 

If your MP agrees that such a delay is unacceptable, and doubtless they will, what would you then do if the outcome of a suddenly arranged medical was that you were found fit? 

So, the other way of looking at this is that you have had 14 months to get advice on presenting your case but don’t appear to have done so. This is really the next thing you need to do. Get advice on which points you will score on etc. Once you’re confident you know what your case is; what your supporting evidence is and how to present it THEN kick off about the delay.

thara

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/Global/Migrated_Documents/adviceguide/pip-9-table-of-activities-descriptors-and-points.pdf This is a table of activities that are hard for disabled people to do. Have a look. 

Once you have looked and decided then the next step is to get advice from a benefits advisor. After that you need to present your case clearly including all the information. Also at this point you have to collect supporting evidence to back up your claim. When you are totally sure that there’s a case and you have al the supporting evidence to hand and what you have to say then you should contact your MP. Agreed the delay is ridiculous but you stand a higher chance of getting them to listen to you if you have all the necessary evidence. Good luck!! 

mikehughescq

mikehughescq said:

I’m going to disagree with the advice re: your MP. It’s based on an assumption that you will definitely qualify. You may well but no-one here knows that for sure. It may be for example that had you had your medical at the 13 week point they could have found you fit for work and you’d have had no money unless you claimed JSA or got to the appeal stage. 

If your MP agrees that such a delay is unacceptable, and doubtless they will, what would you then do if the outcome of a suddenly arranged medical was that you were found fit? 

So, the other way of looking at this is that you have had 14 months to get advice on presenting your case but don’t appear to have done so. This is really the next thing you need to do. Get advice on which points you will score on etc. Once you’re confident you know what your case is; what your supporting evidence is and how to present it THEN kick off about the delay.

Came across someone who’s been on assessment rate for 5 years today!

rosielouise2010

Thanks for your reply’s. I phoned them and apparently there’s only 3 doctors in the uk that deal with home visits. What gets me is they have acknowledged that I’m not well enough to receive a home visit as they approved this after a letter from my doctor .  So why do I need to send fit notes in? They see I’m not fit for work as I don’t leave the house. There’s enough evidence I have had trauma thearpy and now under mental health team for more thearpy . I also take peroxtine , diazepam and propananol because of the ptsd . It was caused by rape in October 2016 I just haven’t been well since. They know this too. I just find it all ridiculous . Ile phone them again next week. I really struggle with stuff so I don’t feel I even have the energy to contact mp  . I really feel this country is arfull at supporting people who genuinely need it. They think everyone is lying or being lazy🙈. I’m trying really hard and once I’ve finished with all the thearpy and tablets I hope one day I can return too work. But right now I need help x

mikehughescq

You need fit notes explicitly because you remain in the assessment period. I would suggest that your best tack here is a letter before action with a suggested outcome that you have a paper based assessment. That will at least get you out of the HV queue whilst they look at that and the letter before action will prompt them to act.