ESA 17 Months on Assessment rate

Hello everyone
I have been waiting since June 2015 to have my ESA assessed. Since then, I have been in receipt of the assessment rate of ESA. I had never been sent the ESA50 questionnaire. I have phoned a few times over the waiting period to be told that my esa was still being assessed and that the wait was due to long waiting times. I have been awarded PIP in July 2016. I phoned ESA last week asking when my assesment would be and a nice telephone agent dug a little bit deeper and discovered that the DWP had made a mistake and had not 'referred' my case over to the right medical services which meant that noone had even started looking at my claim. To cut a long story short I have recieved an apology from a team leader who has promised to urgently forward my completed esa50 questionnaire (which I will post back to him tomorrow) and that it will be prioritised for processing (hopefully). I just want to have this weight off my shoulders so I can finally relax and try to improve my health without worrying about assesments (for a while anyway). My question is: if my esa is successful will they still backdate my payments from the 14th week of my claim as I had been lead to believe or will they only backdate it from the date they receive my esa50 this week (i'm posting it tomorrow)? Am I right in thinking that it should definately be backdated from the 14th week of my claim as it was the dwp that made a mistake in having sat on my application for all this time instead of trigging the assessment as they should have done at the time. It would be gutting for me if they didn't backdate it (more gutting of course if they didn't allow me ESA at all, of course!) as I had no clue what was going on and I have done everything right and I have really struggled financially on the assessmet rate. Any advice or thoughts would be much appreciated. Many thanks!

Hello
As mentioned in my previous post, I have been on esa assessment rate since June 2015. I have been in receipt of Pip since July 2016 (which qualified me for SDP on top of my assessment rate ESA). In November 2016 the DWP realised that they had made a mistake in that they did not trigger my assessment in the first place so my ESA assessment had been doing nothing for 17 months. I completed the ESA 50 form and the sent it over 'urgently' to Maximus. Maximus recieved it on 6th December and it has been on pre-board check since then. It is now nearly 22 months since I first applied for ESA. Maximus told me over the phone today that it has finally moved off pre-board check and that it has been decided that I need to have a face to face. I am devastated as I provides so much information on why a face to face would have a severe effect on my mental health and I now feel like all hope is lost as I know that the WCA is not fit for purpose. Waiting this long already has resulted in a deterioration in my mental state. I have severe depression and anxiety along with fibromyalgia and chronic pain. My fibro fluctuates. I have many other physical medical conditions that I won't bore you with. The call centre worker gave me a fax number that my doctor could fax to explain why I should not have a face to face but is there any point? I feel like if they have ignored evrything I said and all
my reports and documents that they obviously don't get it. I feel close to having a bervous breakdown and I am not sleeping with worry. I can't cope with an assessment now. I said that if I was forced to have an assessment then it wpuld need to be at home but the call centre man said that the waiting list would be very long and I have already waited nearly two years. This is torture. I can't face failing then appealing -it would finish me off. If they failed me and I won an appeal would my money be backdated to 2015 or only from the date of the incorrect decision? Money is not my priority by the way I hust want to know that I am not goin to be thrown in to the lion's den of my local job centre. I went in there last week to give in my sick note and the man there had me shaking and in tears he was such a bully and he humiliated me. Even thinking about stepping foot in that place fills me with utter dread. I have worked all my life and I am degree educated but my physical and mental disabilities are winning at present that is why I can't work for a while. Please help.

Thanks Gordon. No, I would attend the assessment if forced because there is no way I want to go back to square one. I will ask my doctor if she can write a letter to Maximus about a home visit. The call centre man advised though that the waiting list is very very long for a home visit. I want to ask my doctor to argue that a paper decision be made as the assessment itself, whether at home or at a centre, would be too distressing for me in my current mental state. Am I right in saying that they have the ability to make a paper based descision? I carefully followed the rules for exceptional cases for not being not able work or undertake work related activity. This whole process makes me feel worthless and like I am just lazy, work-shy or scrounging.

On a separate note, if the worst comes to the worst and they force me to claim jobseeekers can I restrict my job search to part time jobs that will enable me to manage being a single parent along with having to be at home to see my son off to school and to be home when he comes home from school. My son is type 1 diabetic and he is 12. I have to closely monitor his blood sugar as his hypo attacks are extremely dangerous. I would also have to work very near to home (if forced) as his school often calls at short notice for me to come abd take him home if he is sick at home. Managing my illnesses and his illness is a full time job in itself and going through these assessments on top is killing me.

Hello Gordon
Thanks for your help. I posted a detailed reply with another question but it hasn't shown up yet on screen - is it awaiting moderation or has it not saved? Thanks