Question regarding ESA re assessment process

Mick442504 · 20 September 2017 at 4:44PM

Hi

Just looking for some info regarding ESA reassessment. My son is in the SG and we was unsure on his award end date, we just rung the DWP and they informed us they the decision maker gave him a 2 year award which run out in May 2017, and he is due re assessment anytime. I was just wondering if the re assessment process is the same as the initial process, by that i mean do they send you a ESA50 questionnaire first and them decide from them responses whether to give you a face to face assessment?

The reason we ask is we may be away from home for a few days in a few weeks time and was thought if they did send that esa50 that would be ideal as i would have 28 days to return it (if im right)?

poppy12345 · 20 September 2017 at 4:46PM

yes the process is exactly the same as the first time. ESA50 form first then possible assessment after.

Mick442504 · 20 September 2017 at 5:06PM

Thank you for your quick response. Is the ESA50 form still same as before where you get 28 days to return it?

poppy12345 · 20 September 2017 at 5:49PM

Mick442504 wrote: »

Thank you for your quick response. Is the ESA50 form still same as before where you get 28 days to return it?

No problem. Yes, unless he's claiming for Mental health reasons then the 28 days doesn't apply.

Mick442504 · 20 September 2017 at 7:14PM

He does suffer from mental illness, what is different ? Is the return date shorter than 28 days?

poppy12345 · 20 September 2017 at 7:51PM

Mick442504 wrote: »

He does suffer from mental illness, what is different ? Is the return date shorter than 28 days?

If Mental health is the reason he's in the Support Group then there's no time given time in which to return the ESA50 form.

epitome · 20 September 2017 at 8:10PM

As I said on your other thread
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?p=73143688#post73143688

It is also possible that his re-assessment has already begun, maybe a couple of months ago in May 2017, they would have sent out an ESA50... Does he remember returning an ESA50 ?
Even if he did not return an ESA50...It is still possible to have begun and the ESA50 was sent but never received by him....therefore he does not know that he is currently under reassessment....

You wouldn't want to be away and have a letter come asking to attend a WCA... because if you miss a WCA, your ESA claim will be closed.

The solution,
Phone CHDA 0800 2888777 now and ask them:
"Is there a live referral for ESA for me/my son?"
If they say no...then fine...there is no live referral...
If they say yes.. ask them
When was the ESA50 sent out?
When was the ESA50 returned?
Is there to be a face to face WCA appointent?

I also added another relevant reply to that other thread.

If it is mental health the ESA50 still has a 28 day return time, but they will not close the claim if it is late.

It sounds to me that the ESA50 was sent in May to be returned by June...they may or may not have received the ESA50 because your son may or may not have returned it.
In the meantime they will have written to his doctor aswell, and you could also ask are they still waiting for doctors evidence?

You're lucky to have found out, let me know what they say.

Mick442504 · 20 September 2017 at 9:45PM

poppy12345 - Thanks for the information i wasn't aware of that.

Epitome - He has not received any ESA50 form, he lives with me and i monitor his post for stuff like this, he was placed in the support group in 2015 after a face to face assessment, we will be away for a week in October as mentioned and did not want to miss any letters. I rung the DWP today and they informed me that his award was for 2 years after May 2015, they said that the end date was 2019 but she believes that is a error as no one has ever been awarded 4 years and she then checked a couple more systems and found that the award was for 2 years after May 2015 and she also checked to see if any letters are on their way to which the answer was no, she said to expect re assessment forms at anytime as the award was up, which bought me to my question today, does the ESA50 questionnaire get sent out first and if so is the time still given to send it back 28 days? As we are going away in early October and i then thought if any forms come through soon i will be back before they need to be completed and sent back, i was just looking for advice as to whether the ESA50 is sent first.

Sorry for the long post. Hopefully i have made my situation a bit more clear.

KxMx · 21 September 2017 at 1:29PM

The end date might not be an error.

When ATOS quit it caused a massive backlog by the time Maximus took over 12-18 months later.

Subsequently some claimants had their re-assessment dates extended.

This could fit with you being given a date of end 2019 from an original 2 year award in May 2015.

epitome · 21 September 2017 at 9:08PM

The person you spoke to, does not seem to have much of a clue.

You need to do the following:

1) Phone CHDA 0800 2888777 and ask them:
"Is there a live referral for ESA for me/my son?"
If they say no...then fine...there is no live referral...

If they say yes.. ask them:
When was the ESA50 sent out?
When was the ESA50 returned?
Has the decision been made yet..... for there to be a face to face WCA appointent?

What you don't seem to realise is that thousands upon thousands of ESA claimants have to phone ESA every year .... to give their reasons for not returning the ESA50 on time, and in every case, CHDA records (called MSRS), say that the ESA50 was posted....but the thousands of ESA claimants are adamant that they did not receive it (just as you are).

2) If CHDA have confirmed there is a live referral for ESA, you will now have all the answers to the questions, which you can relay to me. And there is no need to phone ESA again just yet...

However, if CHDA have confirmed there is no live referral, then you could phone ESA back and ask the following: You could say you already know this because of what that girl told you, but your description of her suggests to me that she has no clue what she is talking about, and therefore, I cannot trust anything she said - and neither should you.

I would phone ESA again and ask....

"Please look in screen JA791 and tell me what is showing....on the top decision line"
Is it showing a "from date" and a "to date" (what are the dates) or is the top line just showing a "from date" and the "to date" is left blank and what is the "from date" that is there?

Let me explain. ....
A "from date" and a "to date" would be a closed referral and it will NOT open again until the "to date" has been reached.

If there is only a "from date"...then that date will be relatively recent and it is an open referral, and there should therefore be a "live referral" in MSRS (but there isn't always, so I tell you to phone CHDA first, and CHDA is freephone and they answer the phones quicker than ESA)

If the top line shows a "from" and a "to" then it would probably say something like May 2015 - April 2019 (based on what you said in this thread)

But if the top line has the "to" left as blank then it will show something like
From May 2017 .....................

The reason she has not got a clue is,.... If it is closed with May 2019 as the "to date" there isn't any possibility that it will be opened any time soon....and you should therefore not expect an ESA50 until May 2019, and she should not be telling you that "he is due reassessment anytime now and to expect an ESA50 soon"

P.S. I cannot remember the exact term used on the screen it could be
from and to or it could equally be
start and end

Question regarding ESA re assessment process

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