ESA Assessment

Sarah1987

Hi everyone,

I had an ESA assessment about 2 weeks ago which I've been worrying about a lot after reading so many horror stories about them rejecting it and making you have to appeal while you have no money for months. I've not yet received a decision letter, but when my money was paid into my account a couple hours ago, I received £250.10 instead of the usual £146.20 I've been receiving.

After some googling, I found out that if you're in the support group then you receive £250.10 every 2 weeks, but I'm wondering if that means they've done my assessment and put me in that group or if they just pay that amount while they're making the decision? It's been really stressing me so if I could find out before they open on Monday it'd help relieve the stress a bit.

Also I've been receiving ESA since around January/February 2014 and I've only just been assessed recently. If they have put me in the support group and I'm receiving like over £100 more every fortnight, does that mean they will backdate it to the beginning of my claim? It's been close to 3 years on the standard rate so it'd likely be thousands of £ which would be really useful to get rid of my overdraft, pay off my credit cards and still have quite a lot left over to maybe treat myself a little..

Thanks for your help and advice!
Sarah

Diary

Based on the information you've given you will get back pay to the 13th week of your claim if you've finally been 'grouped'.

No one on here can hazard a guess at what the dwp are up to and you can't do anything til Monday - worrying will change nothing, so relax and take it easy, your wait might finally be over.

Bogalot

It does sound like you've been placed in the support group. The backpayment may take a few weeks to come through, especially as it is a higher amount it will need to be signed off. They won't deny you it, it's just an administrative formality.

For anyone waiting for their assessment, you should keep in mind that you only hear the horror stories because people don't generally post when everything goes to plan. When you think about how many thousands of claims there are, the number where things go wrong is actually pretty small. Plus where they do go wrong and the decision is changed at appeal, this is often because the claimant has provided additional evidence, so the assessment was based on an incomplete picture. It is always a good idea to provide supporting evidence with the ESA50 form.

Give the DWP a call on Monday, but it sounds like you've nothing to worry about now.

Tommo1980

You can be confident you have been found not capable for work, and allocated to support group.

I am very curious as to why it took so long for you to be assessed. Did DWP give you any indication?

Tom

Sarah1987

I phoned them this morning and found out I have been put in the support group so that's why I received a higher payment. They also told me that the backdated payment is £6,400 (i forgot the exact pounds and pennies) which is such a huge amount of money to me considering I've spent the last few years struggling to pay my bills and eat. Even after I've paid off my overdraft and credit cards I'll still have over £4000 left and with the extra money I'll be receiving now I'm finally not on the assessment rate anymore, it's definitely helped put me in a positive mood today knowing I wont be struggling as much anymore.

Also I don't know why it took so long for them to assess me. I just kept sending them sick notes and never really heard anything from them other than letters whenever a new sick note is due. I was really worried about the assessment after all the stuff I read online so didn't ask them about it until a few months ago after someone convinced me I should ask them because of how much the backdated amount would be (I wasn't expecting it to be anywhere near as much as they told me today though). After I asked them about it the woman on the phone at the time wasn't sure either and said she'd send an email about it and then a month or 2 later I got a letter for my assessment appointment.

Jim_Cooke

Sarah1987 wrote: »

After some googling, I found out that if you're in the support group then you receive £250.10 every 2 weeks,

I got; Support Group per week
Single person (any age) £109.30 Couple £151.05

Sarah1987

Jim_Cooke wrote: »

I got; Support Group per week
Single person (any age) £109.30 Couple £151.05

I read somewhere that if you're placed in the support group then you automatically get some other payment with it too called The Enhanced Disability Premium which is £15.75 per week so in total you actually get £125.05 per week

schrodie

Sarah1987 wrote: »

I read somewhere that if you're placed in the support group then you automatically get some other payment with it too called The Enhanced Disability Premium which is £15.75 per week so in total you actually get £125.05 per week

This is if you're claiming Income Related ESA. It does not apply to anyone claiming just Contribution Based ESA.

KxMx

Tommo I'd guess it was due to the backlog, ATOS threw in the towel & it took some time for Maximus to start.

In many, many areas across the country they likely still have a backlog. I was told last year in my local area the priority for assessments was new claimants.

My friend claimed ESA 18 months ago as a new claim and only very recently got an assessment date.