Would really appreciate advice re ESA

Garlicbread

I'm in the assessment phase of contributions based ESA and I've not yet had a medical or work focused interview. I'm going away to France for two weeks from next Monday and thought I best let job centre plus know so they didn't invite me to attend whilst I'm away.


I rang the number at the top of my claim letter and couldn't get through for hours. I finally got through and was told I needed to ring my local JCP to let them know. My local JCP said I was through to the wrong center and they put me through to somewhere else, which turned out to be JSA at a different building. JSA then gave me the number for the personal advisers for ESA etc and the women on the phone was really unhelpful and quite rude actually. I'm a bit upset by it. She said 'I'm not a benefits advisor I'm a personal adviser I can't help you with this'. She said that my benefit will be stopped and then said she admitted she didn't actually know if it was the case but told me it is with JSA so it probably is with ESA. She then told me I need to speak to the first place I rang to inform them of the holiday which I have already done.

So after trying to do the right thing I am left more confused. I'm pretty sure the adviser wrote a note on the system to say not to invite me for interview for the dates given. But she was so hung up about the benefit being stopped which is not what I needed her to help me with.

Will ESA be stopped when I'm away?

Do you think I should put something in writting to the benefits people to let them know of my holiday? I've already told them by phone and they didn't seem interested?

Should the work capability test/medical come before the work focused health assessment or does the order not matter?

Sorry I don't know where to turn. I have Cystic Fibrosis and so much hospital treatment and effort has been put into getting me well enough to go on this holiday. I don't mind that the benefit will stop, I just want a break. And I want to make sure that I have follwed the right procedure before I go.

Thanks in advance.

NASA_2

Tell them again just to make sure.

The WFHRA should be done at the same time as the other parts of the 'medical'

ESA(CONT) AND ESA(IR) - TEMPORARY ABSENCE ABROAD
Short absence

15 A claimant will continue to be entitled to ESA(Cont) and ESA(IR) for the first four
weeks of any absence from GB if

1. the absence is temporary and
2. the absence is unlikely to exceed 52 weeks and
3. he continues to satisfy the other conditions of entitlement to ESA1.

1 ESA Regs, reg 152

Garlicbread

Thanks ESA, helpful as always and much appreciated.

Just to clarify I was talking about the work focused interview with a personal adviser in my last question - something I believe is seperate to the medical health related stuff done with a health professional. Sorry I wasn't very clear, I'm just getting used to all the terminology.

After searching the net it seems that the work focused interview with a personal adviser should come once it's decided which (if any) group I go into after the medical bit. Can I still have the interview with a PA without seeing the health professional?