WCA - current waiting time

ElsieC1

Having just sent off the ESA50 - and what a challenge it was to fit eveything into such a small postage-paid envelope - does anyone know the current average waiting time to hear something back from the Health Assessment Advisory Service ?

Thank you

bg844

It may take some time for the letter to get to the assessment provider due to the Royal Mail strikes. You may be waiting several months for an assessment if needed, please try and focus on something else at this time.

calcotti

No definite times but could be several months.

poppy123456

Too late now but you could have used a bigger envelope and just copied the address from the prepaid envelope and paid the difference in the cost of postage. 

ElsieC1

I should have done exactly that. Even though I had less pertinent evidence for the ESA50 than for the PIP daily-living activities, it was a struggle getting it all in the envelope.

Do you think the small envelope reflects the fact that an ESA claimant will unlikely have the same amount of directly relevant evidence to send in - given the narrowly defined work-related questions ?

I will put the matter out of my mind for now - Merry Christmas to you.

poppy123456

The size of the envelope they provide has nothing to do with the amount of evidence a person may or may not have. 

ElsieC1

I am not sure when you applied for ESA but the current ESA50 is not much larger than A5 - it was hard enough to fill in the ridiculously small boxes - adding extra sheets where necessary - let alone enclose stapled documents that are size A4.  Your point is taken though - size isn't everything. 

Thank you for your input

poppy123456

The ESA50 form hasn’t changed in all the years I’ve been claiming which is almost 10 years. I’ve had many work capability assessments in those years and filled out many of those forms.
Theres never enough of room on the form to include everything, same as PIP forms. I always have to use extra sheets of paper. 

JonnycJonny

I found PIP1 to have more than enough space - almost half a side of A4 for each activity. ESA50 has mostly tiny rectangular boxes to fill in - in block capital letters. We have clearly had different experiences - agreed on the need for extra sheets though. 

Best wishes