ESA assesment - what to expect

ska_lover

Good morning all,


Recently assisted my ill son to apply for ESA


As far as I am aware all new ESA claimants are to have an assessment within 13 weeks...and his is coming up within the next couple of weeks


What can he expect?


He is extremely anxious about it


Thanks in advance

poppy12345

ska_lover wrote: »

Good morning all,


Recently assisted my ill son to apply for ESA


As far as I am aware all new ESA claimants are to have an assessment within 13 weeks...and his is coming up within the next couple of weeks


What can he expect?


He is extremely anxious about it


Thanks in advance

Within 13 weeks isn't always the case. There's backlogs in a lot of areas and this means lots of people are waiting several months for an assessment. Yes most people do have them as it's rare to have a paper based assessment.
If the assessment doesn't happen within those 13 weeks and he has to wait longer if he's placed in the Support Group once a decision is made then he'll be back dated the money he's owed to week 14 of his claim.

Firstly, has he sent relevant evidence to support his claim? They very rarely contact anyone for this and the onus is on the claimant to make sure it's sent.

During the assessment he'll be asked how his condition affects him daily and questions will also be based on his ability to do any type of work. He should answer those questions with as much detail as possible and avoid answering with just a yes or no. I'd advise someone to go with him for the assessment. Good luck.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/help-with-your-esa-claim/esa-medical-assessment/

pmlindyloo

ska_lover wrote: »

Good morning all,


Recently assisted my ill son to apply for ESA


As far as I am aware all new ESA claimants are to have an assessment within 13 weeks...and his is coming up within the next couple of weeks


What can he expect?


He is extremely anxious about it


Thanks in advance

The assessment may be within 13 weeks but often is longer. It varies according to which area you live in.

The assessment period actually refers to the time your award for ESA i.e which group you are placed in - WRAG or Support group - is backdated. If your son is placed in the support group then there is a component (more money) which would then be backdated to the 14th week of the claim. For the WRAG there is now no extra component.

There is a useful guide here about claiming ESA including preparing for your assessment. Just click on the links.

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/

BusyBunny

My son recently had one of these and it was very quick (25 mins) and !!!8216;efficient!!!8217;. He was asked specific questions, mostly yes or no in answers and nothing was elaborated on. I provide a large amount of daily support and although I was there I wasn!!!8217;t asked questions or to contribute. Just be aware of being thorough with your answers at the time. We were refused ESA at the time but have recently had this overturned.

Good luck with it, hope it goes well.

kingfisherblue

I'm my son's appointee, and applied for ESA for him in April. Despite well documented, severe disabilities, and plenty of evidence sent in, his GP was asked to fill in a form. My son also had to attend a face to face assessment, which was held in our hometown, although I understand that some people have to travel further afield.



Overall, the process was reasonably easy. At the F2F, the assessor stated that she would ask my son some questions. I pointed out that not only was he unlikely to understand or answer, but also I am his appointee. As it happens, my son did not like the assessor (no idea why - he usually loves a pretty face!), and would not engage with her at all.


The assessor told me that she would only ask about his Down's Syndrome and nothing else. We were in there for twenty minutes (her report said 37 minutes, but she had altered the starting and finishing times). There were a couple of discrepancies - how would she know that my son's speech is incoherent when he only said 'hello' and 'bye' (both are clear pronunciations, although being honest, the remainder of his speech can be very difficult to understand!).



My son was awarded the Support Group, with no end date. He will receive £110.75, plus the enhanced disability premium £16.40, giving a total of £127.15 a week, paid fortnightly. The first payment at this amount is due today.



The whole process took 93 days, from my initial phone call through to the decision. I believe that the aim is 92 days.

ska_lover

Thank you all,

a lot of useful info there

Do we need to take anything with us?

Ames

ska_lover wrote: »

Thank you all,

a lot of useful info there

Do we need to take anything with us?

It'll all be in the appointment letter, but you'll need ID.

Don't plan on giving any written evidence at the assessment, they don't usually accept it.

Nooney123456789

Ames wrote: »

It'll all be in the appointment letter, but you'll need ID.

Don't plan on giving any written evidence at the assessment, they don't usually accept it.

The nurse at my assessment accepted mine it's just as well she did because she lied and gave me 0 points but after the decision maker read it he put me back in support group.I had already sent the same evidence but it didn't sound like the decision maker had been given it.