ESA assessment

libertyuk

i have been in the support group for 6 years and was told I would not need an assessment again due to having long term illnesses that will only get worse. Now all of a sudden I have been sent a form for an assessment. I don’t know how to fill it in and have no one to help, I am housebound never see anyone except my son who gets my shopping for me. Can’t meet people due to ptsd I only get 30 pound top up to my pension a fortnight but it helps I am so scared and don’t know what to do. 

Benistmonk

It is easy to fill in, just put is your name & address, national insurance number and explain that you are housebound due to illness and will need a home assessment, then post it off within 28 days. That should do it, they probably won't bother you at all when they see you are housebound, and surely not for 15 quid a week.

libertyuk

When I had the one six years ago, I was in hospital having spinal surgery and they told me I had to come for the assessment straight after the op, which I couldn’t as it went wrong and left me unable to walk. They were horrible and I am so scared this time I don’t mix with people it’s a long story. The form is so big just don’t know how to do it, That little bit of money helps, I don’t claim anything else am too scared too in case they are horrible again. The women at the last one said if my late husband had provided for me properly I wouldn’t need to claim. So it was my own fault , he didn’t know he was going to die suddenly at 50 or he would have sorted money out. 

poppy123456

Hi,

When were you told you would not need another re-assessment? Mose people need to be re-assessed unless you're placed into the severe conditions group and very few people are placed into this group.

I would advise you to put as much information as possible on the form about how your conditions affect you. The more you put then less chance you have of needing another face to face assessment. Make sure you send evidence to support your claim because they rarely contact anyone for this.

Benistmonk

libertyuk said:

When I had the one six years ago, I was in hospital having spinal surgery and they told me I had to come for the assessment straight after the op, which I couldn’t as it went wrong and left me unable to walk. They were horrible and I am so scared this time I don’t mix with people it’s a long story. The form is so big just don’t know how to do it, That little bit of money helps, I don’t claim anything else am too scared too in case they are horrible again. The women at the last one said if my late husband had provided for me properly I wouldn’t need to claim. So it was my own fault , he didn’t know he was going to die suddenly at 50 or he would have sorted money out. 

To stop them from being horrible, you can have the assessment recorded, you need to do this a few days in advance so they have time to arrange it.

It takes them 4 days to get a tape recorder out of a cupboard. 

libertyuk

I am in the severe disability group, was told by the dwp I would not need another assessment and not had one for six years. I thought if in that group the government had said they wouldn’t do re assessments. I am not sure I could cope going through it all again 

poppy123456

libertyuk said:

I am in the severe disability group, was told by the dwp I would not need another assessment and not had one for six years. I thought if in that group the government had said they wouldn’t do re assessments. I am not sure I could cope going through it all again 

That can't be possible. The new rules for this were only introduced at the end of 2017. This means that you won't be in this group. If you are successfully placed into this group then the decision will be made after this re-assessment.

See link. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/3669-4-october-2017-update

BenefitsTrainingCo

libertyuk,
I'm afraid what Poppy says is correct. The policy whereby people in the support group were told after a reassessment whether or not they would be reassessed was brought in on 29.9.17. You should get this decision (whether or not you'll be reassessed again) after this assessment that is coming up now. Hopefully it will all be ok & you'll get the right decision, both putting you in the support group & stating you shouldn't be reassessed.

As others have said, you can ask for a home assessment, and you can have someone with you (for example, your son), if that would help. As regards filling out the form, you might want to check if there is a local advice agency which does home visits and could help you with this. The Scope helpline can check what local services exist in your area. 

Will

maggieomx

Hiya im moving to wales from manchester iv sold my home MIGHT have about £20.000 left in mank after all fees and removal fees and £6500 LEFT OFF MY MORTGAGE YAYYYY !!
Im on pip got a car and claim severe disability  and INCOME RELATED ESA  (I THINK)
i know il lose the SDP i know when i get down to £16000 in my account. I can claim UC ,
Do i claim when i get down to that amount or 5 weeks before ?? Im so confused with it all !?

CockneyRebel

Hi

You really need to get trained help from a local advice agency. This may not be straight forward. Do you need to spend some of your remaining capital on you new property ? Do you need to make adaptations and alterations ?

Some expenses are allowed under the disregard others could be deemed as unnecessary expenditure

I am sure there are members here better able to advise

poppy123456

I agree with @CockneyRebel expert advice is needed here so that you get the correct advice. If you're planning on paying off your mortgage with some of the money then this could be classed as deprivation of capital. As for any other expenses like adaptions then i would think only a decision maker can decide what's classed a deprivation of capital.

For these reasons this isn't something an internet forum can answer.

CockneyRebel

Thanks poppy, I couldn't remember the term deprivation of capital ( just deprivation of brain cells in my case )

poppy123456

CockneyRebel said:

Thanks poppy, I couldn't remember the term deprivation of capital ( just deprivation of brain cells in my case )

You're welcome... i had a brain freeze also and couldn't remember the name so i quickly googled it ...shhh

poppy123456

maggieomx said:

Hiya im moving to wales from manchester iv sold my home MIGHT have about £20.000 left in mank after all fees and removal fees and £6500 LEFT OFF MY MORTGAGE YAYYYY !!
Im on pip got a car and claim severe disability  and INCOME RELATED ESA  (I THINK)
i know il lose the SDP i know when i get down to £16000 in my account. I can claim UC ,
Do i claim when i get down to that amount or 5 weeks before ?? Im so confused with it all !?

Another thought. You should also get advice because you should be able to keep your ESA claim open for National Insurance credits only, towards your state pension. Doing this will mean that the same rules apply, if you were receiving payments and re-assessments will be needed.

Keeping the claim open, rather than closing it completely could mean that you could go back to receiving payments in the future. Providing the process to move people across to UC hasn't started. Of course it will also depend on how many more years you need for your state pension. Keeping a claim open for NI credits if it's not needed could be more trouble than it's worth.

Expert advice is most definitely needed in more ways than one. Good luck with the move.

maggieomx

If the stop my esa and won't give me any UC Till my money i make from the house sale   drops to £16000 the only money id have is my monthly pip an money from the sale of the house how else would i be able to pay the mortgage ??
So surley it would make sense to pay off the money off from the sale ??.

maggieomx

I may of made a mistake it might be contribution based ESA i get ???

maggieomx

Who is the best people to get advice from regarding m money and the sale of the house and stuff ??..
Deprivation  of money lol x

Benistmonk

You can laugh but if the DWP thinks you deliberately wasted your money on luxuries to get below the savings threshold to qualify for benefits, they won't give you a penny. 

maggieomx

Whos laughing ??

Benistmonk

You ya dafty with yer lol. 

maggieomx

I wasnt I was repeating the word that was forgot by the 2 people above who wer giving me advice!