Esa assessment

fedupfemale

Hi all.
just wondering if anyone can help me. 

I had my Esa assessment on 17/02/2020  I had a home assessment.
I thought I would of heard something by now ,my payments are still going in which is a good thing. I won’t ring up DWP as I’m to scared and I have nobody else to ask.
Does anybody know if they aren’t making decisions during this time. 

My anxiety and stress levels are through the roof. Any help to put my mind at ease would be brilliant.
thank you 

janer1967

HI @fedupfemale Welcome to the community.

As far as I am aware if an assessment has taken place they are making decisions, however bear in mind they are dealing with increased demand on claims and reduced staffing levels so people are experiencing long delays in claims.

At least you are still getting paid but the only way to find out is to contact them, could your GP surgery help make contact for you or maybe citizens advice, if you are not able to yourself 

fedupfemale

Hi @janer1967 thanks for getting back to me. 

I don’t have a good relationship with my doctors and I’m in the middle of waiting for a new support worker but due to the pandemic that’s on hold. My local cab is closed apparently probably due to staff shortages. 

I’m overthinking everything as always but it’s not doing my mental health any good. 

Chloe_Scope

Hi @fedupfemale, how are you today?

I imagine the unknown about when support will be put into place is worrying. MIND have a page which has specific mental health support for people during the pandemic.

Have you been able to talk to someone about how you are feeling at the moment? Just want to make sure you're safe..

Please do let us know how you get on and if there is anything else we can do to help.

fedupfemale

@Chloe_Scope thank you for asking. No I haven’t been able to talk to anyone about anything. My daughter contacted Cab but the man just said that they was probably busy. The unknown is the worst because it gets you thinking all sorts of things ? Today I received a letter about my Pip being extended till March 2021,it went on to say however we may look at your review earlier so now I’m worried about that benefit aswell as my Esa. 

Chloe_Scope

Hi @fedupfemale, I'm glad to hear your PIP claim has been extended. Have you heard anything about your ESA?

PIPPERMAN

The PIP letter seems to be standard. People are reporting the same thing across a number of groups. The likelihood of reducing the extension would have to depend on an unexpected improvement in the Covid19 status and right now second outbreaks have happened in China and Germany linked to the meat industry.

If may be stressful but really no news is good news, as long as you are getting your payments.
If you are stressed and just need to talk to someone you can always call the Samaritans. It's not just for people who are in crisis and having dark thoughts. 

fedupfemale

@Chloe_Scope no I’ve still not heard anything about my Esa, like @PIPPERMAN said no news is good news but the stress of it all is really getting to me because when I’m stressed my tremors kick off which brings on muscle tension which affects my arthritis and also my IBS. I just feel so alone right now. 

Chloe_Scope

It must be really isolating @fedupfemale. I'm sorry it's affecting your health. Just wanted to check in to see how you are doing.

fedupfemale

I’ve still not heard anything about my ESA decision and the unknown has made my mental health take a nose dive. Does anyone know anything?. 

poppy123456

fedupfemale said:

I’ve still not heard anything about my ESA decision and the unknown has made my mental health take a nose dive. Does anyone know anything?. 

Hi,

I'm sorry your condition has got worse. You have been waiting rather a long time. Decision's are being made. Unfortunately, we can only guess what's happened. I'm assuming your payments have continued, which is a good thing.

I'm afraid you'll need to ring DWP to ask what's going on because they are the only one's that can give you more information.

fedupfemale

@poppy123456 Yes my payments are still being made which is a good thing. I noticed on different forums one or two people had asked the same question about not hearing anything,hence me asking. 

Floydiee1995

fedupfemale said:

Hi all.
just wondering if anyone can help me. 

I had my Esa assessment on 17/02/2020  I had a home assessment.
I thought I would of heard something by now ,my payments are still going in which is a good thing. I won’t ring up DWP as I’m to scared and I have nobody else to ask.
Does anybody know if they aren’t making decisions during this time. 

My anxiety and stress levels are through the roof. Any help to put my mind at ease would be brilliant.
thank you 

Hi, 

I have had my assessment (telephone based) this morning and they told me that I will still receive payment until I recieve my letter which can take up to 14-19 weeks at the moment. Seems you have waited rather a long time though. Hope you have headed something by now x

poppy123456

Floydiee1995 said:

Hi, 

I have had my assessment (telephone based) this morning and they told me that I will still receive payment until I recieve my letter which can take up to 14-19 weeks at the moment. Seems you have waited rather a long time though. Hope you have headed something by now x

Hi and welcome,

If you live in the UK, wait a week and ring DWP to request a copy of the assessment report to be sent to you. When you receive this you'll be able to have some idea what the decision is likely to be.

There's no timescales for any decision and what you've been told is just a guide. The HCP that did your assessment on the phone would have no idea about timescales. Under normal times it can be 2-8 weeks sometimes longer.

Good luck and hopefully you're not waiting too long.

Floydiee1995

poppy123456 said:

Floydiee1995 said:

Hi, 

I have had my assessment (telephone based) this morning and they told me that I will still receive payment until I recieve my letter which can take up to 14-19 weeks at the moment. Seems you have waited rather a long time though. Hope you have headed something by now x

Hi and welcome,

If you live in the UK, wait a week and ring DWP to request a copy of the assessment report to be sent to you. When you receive this you'll be able to have some idea what the decision is likely to be.

There's no timescales for any decision and what you've been told is just a guide. The HCP that did your assessment on the phone would have no idea about timescales. Under normal times it can be 2-8 weeks sometimes longer.

Good luck and hopefully you're not waiting too long.

Hi Poppy, 

thank you! I thought the same to be honest. I have had an absolute nightmare with the whole experience. I applied for PIP also and got rejected scoring no points on every assessment. But it’s a physical condition and I had a telephone consultation the same as this morning. I’m a bit confused with the whole lot. I have been told
I am entitles today PIP and ESA but keep getting rejected from everything. Mentally this is emotionally draining as I’m being stripped of UC as well now as I’m £16 over the cap a week which is frustrating in itself. I’m getting so down about it and no one really that I know personally has ever been through what I’m going through and have no one to turn too. Thanks for the positivity though x

fedupfemale

Hi @Floydiee1995 I managed to get a friend to ring up for me as I have difficulty speaking on the phone and she told the man I had been waiting since February,he was shocked I hadn’t received my decision letter and told her I had been kept in the support group and my next assessment is in may 2022. She also asked for him to send a copy of my assessment report and he said it wasn’t on the system as it was a f2f so he would have to email another department and request it,he said to give it 9 working days and he’d resend my decision letter out aswell. Them 9 days where up yesterday and it’s still not arrived. I don’t want her to ring up again because I’m afraid it could trigger another assessment off and I certainly don’t want another one not when I’ve got my pip renewal to complete. I hope you receive good news. 

poppy123456

Ringing them again will not prompt another assessment, that's a fact. Also the timescale you were given is just a guide, you can be reassessed anytime from 3 months. Although the backlogs will have very likely increased quite a bit since lockdown because of the reviews being suspended for 3 months.

fedupfemale

@poppy123456 how long does it usually take for the assessment report to turn up? He told her if it was paper based or a telephone assessment it would of been on the system but because it was f2f it was another department,is that right?. I hate having to ask my friend to contact them. Thanks

poppy123456

It depends, sometimes it can take as long as 10 days. It doesn't matter whether it's paper based or F2F it will still be on the same computer system and all they need to do is print it off and send you a copy.

fedupfemale

@poppy123456 Yeah I thought that,he’s obviously told my friend a tale then by saying he’d email the other department. 

poppy123456

Sounds like he did lol.