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Review

alisha22

Hello, im abit confused regarding the reviews for esa. I'm currently in the support group for esa and have had a paper Based assessment and my review is in march, I know its a way out yet but this covid19 has got me confused. We cannot get hold of a gp and when we do eventually get a appointment its over the phone and a locum. So what will happen when my review is due, will they stil carry on with the paper Based assessment or speak over the phone which most of time im out of it with my medication, and cant see the doctors helping judging the way they are at the moment. This already has given me anxiety. Please advise.

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alisha22

All my appointments have been cancelled so will have no new evidence to produce either.

janer1967

Hi and welcome there is not set date for your ESA review the dates are just a guide and they can actually assess from anytime after 3 month.

You will still get payments until you are re-assessed and a decision made.

Dont worry too much about new evidence if there has been no change in your condition then there would not really be any new evidence, less is more and they will only want relevant evidence.

Currently there are only phone assessments or paper based no f2f but these will start up again , whether you get another paper based is mainly based on how much information is completed on your . Maybe have a look at your last one and see if there is additional info yo can add

alisha22

I've looked and nothing really has changed as my condition is exactly how it has been. My doctor usually writes the request letter for the paper Based assessment but I have this feeling I won't see my gp and locums are hopeless to be honest. This is why I get stressed out because I feel I am on my own.

alisha22

I had to fight for what I already have but with coronavirus I feel I will not be able to handle it again and thats when i get angry and my mental health takes its toll on me. They diagnosed me with something called adult personality disorder.

janer1967

There will be a large back log of re-assessments to get through so it may be a while before you hear anything anyway and by then the GP may be back up and running.

If you have had a letter before there may be a copy on your medical records and maybe you cold ask for the practice manager to organise a renewal of the letter, just a thought

March is a long way off and may be even later so I personally think you are worrying about it far too early

alisha22

Thankyou for your advice and honesty after reading your reply I feel alot better and yes march a way off. I will stop worrying now and will see what happens.
Thankyou for making me see sense as don't really have friends or family who I can discuss with.

janer1967

Your welcome just bear in mind as I said the date I'd just guideline so could be before or after March but there is nothing you can do till that brown envelope hits your door

Once it does re will be happy to advise on completing the form

Take care

alisha22

Thankyou

poppy123456

HI,

I'm sure i answered your question yesterday when you posted on another persons thread. March is quite a way off yet and review times for the work capability assessment is just a guide and nothing more. I would imagine the backlogs are quite large due to Covid19 and it maybe quite sometime before they get round to reviewing you.

Try putting it to the back of your mind for now, otherwise you'll make yourself even more stressed than you already are.

alisha22

Thankyou poppy for the reassurance, only ive been a worrier all my life and get anxious very quickly that leads to a whole lot of other issues. But I will put it at the back of my mind. And yes march is far off.

Tori_Scope

I'm glad you've found been given some useful information @alisha22, and that this has put your mind at rest a bit

If you feel yourself getting anxious about it again, feel free to post here or on the Mental Health bit of the community, as many of our members struggle with anxiety and will be able to offer you some advice and support. You're not on your own here

alisha22

Hello, can someone tell me if its true that DWP are putting back 6 months if your benefit has an end date. As I already mentioned in my previous posts that my review is not til march next year so does this mean this has been put back months. Please advise.

poppy123456

alisha22 said:

Hello, can someone tell me if its true that DWP are putting back 6 months if your benefit has an end date. As I already mentioned in my previous posts that my review is not til march next year so does this mean this has been put back months. Please advise.

I'm assuming you're talking about ESA and the work capability assessment? not sure what you mean by "putting back 6 months" for the work capability assessment they can reassess you anytime from 3 months. The timescale they give you is just a guide and the form can arrive anytime. As the reviews were suspended for 3 months during lockdown there's very likely a backlog.

All you can do is make sure you have evidence ready for when the form does arrive. Other than that there's really nothing at all you can do.

alisha22

When you say eveidence all I have is the eveidence I produced last time as due to coronavirus we have not been able to go to appointments as they were all cancelled and still are. So the only eveidence I have is what I gave with my last form. So how can they ask for new evidence when we haven't any.

alisha22

This is what i was talking about If your benefits have an end date, the DWP should move the end date back 6 months. For example, if your benefits were due to end in June, they would now end in December instead. The DWP should write to you to tell you the end date has changed.

Your benefits might have an end date if you get:

Personal Independence Payment (PIP)

Disability Living Allowance (DLA)

Attendance Allowance

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit (IIDB)

poppy123456

It makes no difference. My last work capability assessment was in March this year and all i sent was my prescription list and 2 other reports and i had a paper based assessment. Filling the form in with as much information as possible, with real life examples is always the answer. Medical evidence isn't really needed.

What you posted above doesn't apply to ESA.

poppy123456

I also see that you had a paper based assessment last time, so why would you want to send more evidence this time? That makes no sense, just send what you sent last time.

alisha22

I just thought each time they reviewed you new evidence should be given. I was getting worked up because all my appointments are being cancelled and I feel no one cares and I get angry. Apart from my daughter I don't have any support and health conditions getting worse aswell as my mental health. So I panic and start reading about reviews, assessments etc and get different views.

poppy123456

I'm sorry this is causing you so much stress. I've been claiming ESA since 2012/13 and i can tell you that you don't need to send in new evidence for every reassessment you have because many people just don't have that to send. Many people never have appointments because there's nothing more than anyone can do to help them, i'm one of those. I've been in the Support Group since 2012/13 and never had a problem staying there and i definitely don't send in new evidence each time.

You really should stop reading things on the internet because it doesn't help, all it does is make your anxiety a million times worse. When you do receive the form just send what you have and fill the form out with as much information as possible.... job done.

Please try to relax, i know it's difficult but right now there's nothing for you to do.

alisha22

Thankyou poppy and I will try to relax. I've been given Zopliclone to help with my sleep but sometimes I feel I am on too much medication already so only take it when I really need it. Anyway thank you for the kind advice as it helps a little.