ESA phone assessment this week - advice?

Aella

Just 3 months after my PIP reassessment appeal finally won, I'm now having an ESA phone reassessment. I'm worried about them giving me zero points and having to go through an appeal again. What can I do to give my assessment a greater chance of success? I have already sent them an envelope containing letters of support from my GP and mental health team, a letter from the legal secretary who has been helping me with this confirming that she does help me with daily things like admin relating to the claim.

But I'm worried about the phone assessment. They gave me 0 points on the pip reassessment because of things like "you sounded coherent and not anxious on the phone and communicate with the assessor clearly." Well I sound normal on the phone, that doesn't mean I'm not well.

poppy123456

If you kept a copy of the form you filled in then have a read of that to remind yourself of the things you wrote before the assessment. Part of the assessment will be for you to verify what you wrote in the form. The rest of it will be for them to find out exactly how your conditions affect you on a typical day.

For the Support Group it's not about scoring points, it's about satisfying at least one of the Support Group descriptors. You can see them here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/support-group-descriptors

There's also reg35 (substantial risk) you can see details here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/news/regulation-35-2-b-is-now-the-main-route-into-esa-support-group

The assessment can last anything from 15 - 120 minutes. It will be similar to the PIP assessment but with different criteria.