Work capability assessment ESA support group

las213
las213 Online Community Member Posts: 2 Listener
edited August 2018 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
Hi,

My partner has been on ESA for a number of years in the support group for severe mental health problems. I am a joint claimant as I act as his carer when he is ill. We received a work capability assessment questionaire some months ago but when my partner spoke to Job centre plus he was informed that as he was in the support group he shouldn't have received the form and not to fill it in so we ignored it.

We recently received another copy and a follow up letter reminding us to send it back. Coming off the back of the last one which was only a few months ago it seems odd that we are now being asked to complete the same form we were told we didn't need to fill in initially. 

I was hoping that someone could advise me; are other people in the support group being sent for work capability assessments and is there any possibility of deferring the questionaire/assessment for a couple of months? We have been through a particularly traumatic year and have recently found out that we are being evicted and the additional stress is detrimental to my partners health. We have called the numbers listed on the questionaire but it seems that every time we speak to someone different we get a different response. Any advice would be appreciated. TIA

Comments

  • Chloe_Alumni
    Chloe_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 10,506 Championing
    Hi @las213 and a warm welcome to the community. Thank you for sharing this with us all. I hope someone in the community is able to support you with this. If you need anything else then please do not hesitate to be in touch :)
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 63,736 Championing
    Hi,
    The form needs to be filled in and returned and i'm not sure why you were told to ignore it. For ESA they can re-assess you at anytime. If the form isn't filled in and returned your money could stop and your partner risk being found fit for work.
  • maddyok
    maddyok Online Community Member Posts: 1 Listener
    How much do u get on work related group's and is anything else im ment to get ?
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 63,736 Championing
    maddyok said:
    How much do u get on work related group's and is anything else im ment to get ?
    It depends when your claim started.
    It depend son circumstances. With very little information it's impossible to answer your questions.
  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,761 Championing
    Welcome to the community @maddyok! If you'd like to tell us a little more, our community members will do their best to advise. 
  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Online Community Member Posts: 2,621 Trailblazing
    Hi @las213

    I think that you were incorrectly advised not to complete the form. 

    There was a relatively recent decision that not all Support Group claimants would have to complete ESA50's and be reassessed, however the vast majority (it seems you included) do.

    You should complete and return the form now. It won't count against him that it's on the reminder.

    Kind regards,
    Mary

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