ESA Decission Letter

MollieMoo

Hi.  I had an ESA Home Reassessment back in June and telephoned asking for a copy of the report.  DWP said they would send it as soon as it was available.  I have received a dreaded brown envelope this morning and not sure if it is the decision notice as it just refers to a recent change and from 2nd August my entitlement is...the same as it was.  Can anyone with a successful assessment tell me how their letter was worded please

Mare62

Hi MollieMoo, I received the ?ESA50 assessment form back in January which I filled in and returned with medical evidence but have not heard about a ftf assessment as yet unless they did my assessment based on paper.  It was 7 years ago when I was last assessed - What period of time elapsed from one assessment to another for you? Anyway, I received a letter similar to yours back in April which left me bewildered also, so maybe this relates to the recent medical info - who knows, they keep moving the goalposts!!  I have just requested all my esa medical details from the DWP under the FOI and hopefully I can see what they are up to.  I have used the FOI before and the information I received was far better than contacting the local office who were reluctant to forward anything.  I would not worry too much at this moment as they are still continuing with payment.  Just as a matter of interest, when did you receive your letter that you were being reassessed and on returning that form how long did you wait for your medical to take place?  

MollieMoo

I had a home assessment back in June which I waited 18 months for!  I think Standard award letters come out in April showing awards to that year.  The letter I received today is slightly different but doesn't state what the change is and whether its to do with the assessment and there is no award period either.

Mare62

Hi, my letter stated 'change' or something like that which I found bizarre as I have not reported anything to dwp that would trigger a change and therefore concluded it must be something linked to the esa 50 assessment which may have been resolved by reading medical evidence I provided - Who knows I'm still none the wiser and will await the details I requested under FOI.  Prior to your June assessment, what year was your last assessment?  Don't worry about the letter this may be the outcome from your assessment.

poppy123456

Hi,

They have a very strange way of wording ESA decision letters and they don't have a length of time on them either.

May i ask if you were  in group before the assessment took place? or were you on assessment rate?

Mare62

Hi Poppy, I have been in the WRAG group since migrating in 2012.  In January I received an esa50 which I returned but have not heard anything yet about a ftf. Around April-May I received a letter from the dwp about some permitted work I did and on the bottom of the letter it stated LCWRA which I presume is linked to SG. Just before that I further received a letter which sounds very much like the one MollieMoo received and all it stated was ?recent change and the amount of benefit I will receive which is the same as before. They keep moving the goalposts - we can't keep up with the suspense they throw at us!!

MollieMoo

I can't remember when my last assessment was but I know I was well outside of the awarded period and then waited 18 months for the home assessment prior to June.

After my initial assessment had to do an MR and was then awarded Support Group where I stay

poppy123456

Mare62 said:

Hi MollieMoo, I received the ?ESA50 assessment form back in January which I filled in and returned with medical evidence but have not heard about a ftf assessment as yet unless they did my assessment based on paper.  It was 7 years ago when I was last assessed - What period of time elapsed from one assessment to another for you? Anyway, I received a letter similar to yours back in April which left me bewildered also,

The letter you received in April would have been the usually up rating letter everyone receives every year around that time.

Mare62

Just to let you know that the last time I had a ftf was in 2012 and didn't hear anymore from the dwp until January this year - 7 years ago! - still waiting to see if they have a ftf planned for me in the near future.

poppy123456

MollieMoo said:

I can't remember when my last assessment was but I know I was well outside of the awarded period and then waited 18 months for the home assessment prior to June.

After my initial assessment had to do an MR and was then awarded Support Group where I stay

This is one reason why there's never a timescale on any ESA decision letter because they can re-assess you anytime from 3 months. If you ring DWP they will give you a timescale but that's a just a guide, some go under that time, so go over and others are assessed exactly to that time. I've been in the Support Group since 2013 and have always gone over time stated.

Best thing to do is ring ESA on Monday morning and ask if a decisions been made, if it has they will tell you.

MollieMoo

If this is the decision then it will be the first time I have had either an ESA or PIP that hasn't had to go to MR.  I'm not holding my breath at this stage that it is an award notice but sounds promising 

Mare62

I don't know if age has anything to do with reassessments but I'm in my 60's and also having to fight for my pension which has hiked from 60 to 62 to 65 to 66 which is when I will get it now despite being told at 15 that I would get my pension at 60.  Even worse, I was only informed of the change 2 years ago - bit late to make other arrangements.

Mare62

Hi Mollymoo,  I have just found my letter from ESA and it was dated 29 May 2019 and it states ' We have looked at your claim again following a recent change' which is the same wording in your letter.  Seems strange that we both have just be linked to esa reassessments so can only presume that my assessment has been decided on information sent? I will contact you again when I see what is in my medical reports. I would say that the letter you have received is off the back of you medical. I don't think they like assessing me as I demand it be recorded and will not attend until they confirm the recording equipment is available on the day.  When Atos wanted to assess me in 2012 and I requested a recorded ftf they kept fobbing me off to a point it took 12 months for it to take place.  They kept making appointments for me and when I arrived they had no recording equipment so I refused to participate.  They kept threatening to have my benefits stopped - never happened.  I was so fed up with it all that I threatened atos with legal action - they soon got the recoding equipment and the true facts were put on the paper. Don't be scared of these people - always fight back.

MollieMoo

I phoned the DWP on Monday and it is as a result of my home assessment.  On Tuesday I received a letter telling me what points I was awarded and waiting for a copy of the assessors report.  Still in Support Group for another 18 months

Chloe_Scope

Hi @MollieMoo, thank you for updating us!