Reassessment of ESA - is this normal?

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coco1502
coco1502 Online Community Member Posts: 1 Listener
edited January 2018 in Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
I have been on ESA high rate for less than two years.I have now had to fill in the forms to be reassessed.Is the normal proceedings.As my Dr at the Pain Clinic sent a letter the first time i claimed that my illness would progress and my mobility would gradually get worse.Many thanks for any advice

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  • Sam_Alumni
    Sam_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 7,602 Championing
    Hi @coco1502
    Welcome to the community, we have lots of information here about ESA and it might be worth you checking about the ESA assessment support website here.

    The government did announce back in October that it is to abolish 'pointless' employment and support allowance (ESA) reassessments for those with lifelong, severe health conditions with no prospect of improvement. They went on to say that;

    'This change will apply to people who have already been placed in the ESA support group or universal credit limited capability for work and work related activity categories following a work capability assessment and who have the most severe health conditions and disabilities (defined as claimants with severe, lifelong, often progressive and incurable conditions, with minimally fluctuating care needs, who are unlikely to ever be able to move closer to the labour market and into work).'

    Our @BenefitsTrainingCo suggested on another similar post:

    I'd suggest complaining to the DWP about the reassessment (but still going along with it, because you don't want benefit to stop - the complaint is separate).

    Why not go to see your MP too? The paper you read is House of Commons Briefing Paper 07820, 19th June 2017, but you'll notice in that paper there are statements the government made much earlier, saying they would ensure people weren't reassessed unnecessarily. It's clear that this isn't happening, and your MP may be able to support you.

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