Income-related ESA - is health reassessment a good idea?

earthsoul00

Hi, I'm hoping for a bit of advice if anyone can help :

I have been receiving IR-ESA, in WRAG, for the last 4 years. Over the past year or so, what with losing my little part time job thanks to Covid, the cost of living rocketing and now major debt due to hugely inflated service charges in the outdated leasehold system I'm stuck in, my mental and physical health [medically diagnosed generalised anxiety disorder & depression plus sacroiliac joint disorder/hypomobility and stuck thoracic spine/rib joints] have worsened and I've attempted suicide twice to date 😢 I had an appointment with a work coach earlier who told me that, in my current state, I was nowhere near being able to look for work let alone hold a job and that, in his opinion, I would be better off in the Support Group. He said I should ring the DWP and ask for a 'health reassessment' to be carried out... which may or may not be successful in a change.

My main concerns are :

1) If I get a reassessment and do get moved - will I lose the small monthly amount of money I get that helps towards paying my service charges and could I end up worse off?

2) If I get a reassessment and am found not bad enough to be moved - will I stay in WRAG and continue as I am now or will I lose my benefit entirely and have to start all over again?

3) Can asking for a reassessment be seen as 'trouble-making' by the DWP powers that be even though it was suggested by the work coach?

4) Would it be best to stay where I am and forget about the whole thing?

My friend, who makes phone calls for me as they give me horrible panic attacks, is happy to ring... if she can even manage to get through on the phone to the DWP 😞, but getting the views of others - maybe someone who has been through a reassessment - and a bit of advance knowledge can only be a good thing?!

Anyway, thank you in advance of any help, ideas or suggestions on offer!

Alice_Holt

1)   No.   If you are assessed to be in the Support group your money increases. 
       When you migrate to UC those in the Support Group (known as LCWRA under UC) get an additional LCWRA element of c.£400 a month in addition to the basic UC amount.

2) A reassessment could find that you should remain in the WRAG group, place you in the Support Group, or determine you are fit for work. It's exactly the same as the periodic renewal / reassessment for your WCA.  You have appeal rights against any decision.
To get into the Support Group you need to be assessed as fitting into specific descriptors: 
https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/support-group-descriptors
And / Or
https://wcainfo.net/issues/substantial-risk-lcwra

3)  No.   But it's really important that you get help from your local advice charity to help you complete the ESA50 form:
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/benefits/sick-or-disabled-people-and-carers/employment-and-support-allowance/help-with-your-esa-claim/fill-in-form-esa/

4)  Your decision. If you ask to be reassessed try to get medical / other evidence to show that you should be placed in the Support Group, and fully detail on your ESA50 form why and how you meet the criteria. 

 I imagine that this crieria may be most relevant - substantial risk if you need to attend work focused meetings.  How do you cope currently with meeting the job coach / attending training, etc ? Does it worsen your mental health / anxiety? Does it affect your mental health before / after meetings?  Does it cause you to have suicidal thoughts ? 

Think about it carefully, don't just follow what your work coach says. He may be giving sensible advice, or he may just  want you off his books.
I wonder, would your work coach write a letter you could include with the ESA50 explaining why he thinks you should be in the Support Group?

earthsoul00

Thanks for your reply. I find the whole benefit area completely daunting and hard to understand half the time. As far as I can see from taking the benefitsandwork.co.uk website ESA assessment, I would be put in the same group I've been in since I started getting ESA so, for my part, I can't really see the point of asking for a reassessment! 

My anxiety/mh does worsen when I get an appointment date to see a work coach and it stays bad until a few days after the meeting. I'm never relaxed cos of my GAD and anything that isn't a normal routine in my day puts it through the roof making me ill and making my physical health worse as my muscles all tense up and make the pain worse.

I'll have to see if I can talk to the work coach re. an explanation letter as it sounds a good idea.

Thanks again.