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Worried as I haven't had an assessment yet for Contribution Based ESA which runs out in November.

Hi All
I just wondered if anyone can offer any advice on my situation.
I applied for New Style (Contribution Based) ESA in January, and was awarded this backdated to November 2019. I am currently on the 'Assessment Rate'. I completed the ESA50 form and returned it before the date required (19th March). As it is the Contribution Based ESA then this will end on 3rd November 2020 unless I am put into the Support Group. As yet I haven't heard anything back from DWP about an assessment and am worried that it will just stop if I haven't had an assessment before then.
Should I try to contact DWP or has anyone got any better advice please?
Thanks in advance, Paul.
I just wondered if anyone can offer any advice on my situation.
I applied for New Style (Contribution Based) ESA in January, and was awarded this backdated to November 2019. I am currently on the 'Assessment Rate'. I completed the ESA50 form and returned it before the date required (19th March). As it is the Contribution Based ESA then this will end on 3rd November 2020 unless I am put into the Support Group. As yet I haven't heard anything back from DWP about an assessment and am worried that it will just stop if I haven't had an assessment before then.
Should I try to contact DWP or has anyone got any better advice please?
Thanks in advance, Paul.
Replies
It could be worth you giving the assessment company a call and double checking your form was received and asking if they're able to give you a rough ETA on assessment times. These are all being completed by phone or on paper at the moment.
I hope you hear something soon.
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I know you are worried your money will stop but it is over 3 months away so I would leave it a bit before chasing up with DWP, Thats only my advice
It's great that they've confirmed having your form and hopefully it won't be too much longer until they get to your assessment. Please keep us posted.
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However when I spoke to the DWP they said that I would stop receiving Contribution Based ESA even if I had not been assessed by the 365 day limit (3rd November 2020). I spoke with the Health Assessment people and they still couldn't give me any indication of when my assessment would be.
Does anyone know which answer is correct, as all of this uncertainty is really dragging me down and I don't know where else to turn.
One other question is that I have hearing loss (severe/profound) and want to know if I can request that if they want to do a telephone assessment that they do it via Relay UK using the NGT lite application?
Thank you all for listening and hopefully your advice.
I'll update once I hear more.
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Don't know if this will happen in your case, but it's what happened in mine.
Thanks for your response, @poppy123456 is right. I got back to the CAB and they had got their advice wrong in the first place. I've now sent a complaint into the DWP about unreasonable delay in assessing my claim, so will have to see if that progresses things now.
I don't know what the situation is if I haven't had an assessment before the 365 day limit. I won't qualify for Income Based ESA as we fortunately have some savings. I 'think' I can re-apply for Contribution/New Style ESA after 12 weeks (I had been working up until Oct 2019 and paying NI contributions, and have been receiving NI credits since then, so may qualify?) but don't know if my current claim is ended after the 365 day limit, or if I just wait for an assessment and if placed in the Support Group the award is back-dated to the 13th week of my original claim and then on-going if I remain in the Support Group.
Sorry to be asking all these questions, it's just that for someone who has been fortunate enough to never had to claim benefits before after working for over 30 years than it's so difficult to understand how it all works!
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I involved my MSP and MP as the Health Assessment Advisory Service say the reason they can't do an assessment is because I am severely/profoundly deaf and they can't therefore do a telephone assessment, despite me advising them I have a specialist streaming bluetooth streaming device which connects directly to my hearing aids to help with telephone calls, and that i also use NGT lite to enable me to use the phone.
I also contacted the DWP complaints resolution team to explain the situation and that I believe it is discriminatory that the HAAS are not utilising alternative methods to assess me. I have not had any response directly. The DWP spoke with my MP's office to state that I have to wait until I can have a face-to-face assessment. Which obviously they aren't doing for the foreseeable future.
I do wonder how many other people are being impacted this way if the HAAS say they can't do a telephone assessment for various reasons.
Thank you again for your concern.
I just wanted to update you on my ESA Claim. After much effort and back and forth with the DWP, the CAB managed to get hold of a senior DWP manager, who agreed to send my PIP assessment to the HAAS to be included in my ESA assessment. Other routes I attempted to get the HAAS/DWP to enable an assessment (through my MP and MSP) unfortunately came to nothing.
Anyway, to cut a very long and protracted story short, I have been informed today that my ESA assessment has been completed using the ESA50 form, and my PIP Assessment.
The result is that I have been placed in the Support Group and will be paid arrears dating back to the 14th week of my claim. Obviously I am delighted that this decision has been made, as I believe the award is the correct one for me based on my circumstances.
I also wanted to let anyone else who is struggling dealing with the DWP - or as in my case more specifically the HAAS, that it is worth keeping going, and not to give up. In my case it has taken months, and a great deal of effort from me and the CAB, but eventually things have been resolved.
Thank you to those who have given me support through this. Hopefully I will be able to repay that by helping others on the community in the future.
Thanks for the update
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If you have a few minutes to spare, we'd appreciate your feedback on our online community.