Health Assessment Report lost by Dwp

KatieTatie1

Hi everyone, I’m new o this group and have found your stories and the advice given very useful

i need some advice from you all. I am I receipt of PiP which was awarded to me i Dec 2018 after having a health assessment in my home. I suffer from clinical depression after suffering a severe nervous breakdown 2 years ago which forced me to take early retirement after 41 yrs of working To cut along story short, I have been claiming contribution based esa size August 2018 and I’m still in the assessment phase!
I had a home based health assessment  on 1st March 2019. I have been chasing the Dow for my decision as to which group they had decided t put me I since May 2018. I have been continually passed from esa to Universal credit staff as neither department would take responsibility fr my questions. (I don’t claim UC).After weeks of telephone calls I received a call from esa dap today to advise me that they have lost my health  assess report. The have apologised profusely about this as advised me that this has never happened before. 
However, in order to progress any claim further (my continuous year ends 7Aug 2019) they have told me that I will have to have another home assessment undertaken within 2-3 weeks. My report will then be fast tracked and back dated if  am put into the ppt group.
i am utterly devastated beyond words. This whole process has had such a detrimental effect on my mental state that I feel that I just want to give up. I only et £80 as it is as I get a small private pension.
has this happened to anyone else and if so what did you do?

poppy123456

Hi,

I'm sorry to hear this. I've not heard of this happening with ESA but i've heard of it happening with a PIP claim. If the report can't be found then there's really no other option but to have to go through another face to face assessment. Hopefully this will happen very soon and this time they report won't be lost.

I'm sorry i don't have any other advice to offer, maybe someone else has experienced this and will be able to advise you further. Good luck.

April2018mom

Welcome

Get in contact with them. Find out what happened to the report and also ask for another face to face assessment. Good luck. Keep us updated. No experience unfortunately. But I have read inaccurate information on my son’s assessment reports. It makes me think they don’t pay attention. 

Adrian_Scope

Hello @KatieTatie1.

I'm so sorry to hear they lost your report, I can't imagine how stressful that must be. As Poppy said, I've heard of it happening with PIP reports but not so much with ESA. Sadly it does sound as if you'll need another assessment. Are you thinking of filing a complaint? 

KatieTatie1

Thank you all for your comments. Yes it is very stressful. I’ve never claimed anything in my life so I wasn’t sure what to expect. I think I will be making a complaint. The DWP spokesperson even said I had every right to complain. I just don’t want anyone else to have to suffer like I have. 

Waylay

Complaints are often casually answered the first time, but keep going. You can send it on to the ICO if you want. I'd ask for compensation, too!