ESA reassessment close to retirement

Brief background, long-term claimant for musculoskeletal problems transferred to ESA WRAG in June 2012, appealed and placed in Support Group February 2013 with recommendation that I not be reassessed for 24 months. Reassessment was deferred in 2015, when I last spoke to DWP was due December 2016, I have just received the ESA50 for return early April. I have a couple of queries.

I will be 64 in August and actually reach state retirement age on November 05 this year. Is it worth mentioning this somewhere on the form? Many people seem to be unaware that women born after April 1950 have had their retirement age deferred and retire at differing ages unless it actually affects them; I would have already been retired if the second deferment for women born after April 1953 had not taken place.

Secondly, I had surgery on my left hand in January this year, this was a revision fusion of a joint in my left thumb, I was initially in plaster but am now in a splint for the foreseeable future. I am obviously filling the form in as I am now but this may be different from how I could be if called for a f2f sometime in the future. Do you see this as a potential issue?

Last year I did collate all the information for inclusion in the form together with supporting evidence of my long standing problems in anticipation of receiving a ESA50 to complete. I have today had a telephone conversation with my GP so he is aware of my current issues should the DWP contact him. I am obviously hoping that being a long standing claimant, recovering from recent surgery and so close to retirement age that they will do a paper assessment and I will not require a f2f, One can only hope!!!!

Many thanks to this site for the guides and to the Mods for your insight into how to navigate the system.

Thanks for the reply Gordon.

I do have problems with both hands from long term crutch use, my crutches are special crutches to hopefully minimise further damage to shoulders and hands. I always use at least one crutch in my right hand, left leg much worse than the right one, so having limited use of my left hand is a huge issue for me.

I have been advised that the success rate for revision surgery is not great and it will be a year before they can fully evaluate it, recovery further complicated by the fact that I have Osteoporosis so bone fusion is an issue which is why they are taking things very cautiously, hence in a splint for at least 4 months, next follow up appointment in May.

All I can do is complete the form to the best of my ability and see what happens. I am fortunate that the hospital automatically sends me copies of all letters so I have plenty of evidence of recent surgery together with long standing problems.

Thanks as ever for your advice.

Update regarding my ESA reassessment. The ESA50 was due back 06 April, I posted it guaranteed delivery and it was received on 04 April. I completed the PDF form giving most of the answers on separate sheets of paper, and cross referencing it with supporting evidence; I also included an index to hopefully make it easy to find all the relevant information. The majority of my evidence was not recent; some was actually 20 years old, the only current evidence I submitted was a letter from my Physiotherapist which detailed my current issues and clinic letters regarding my recent hand surgery. Whilst appreciating the fact that I would be assessed against how I met the ESA descriptors I did decide to bring to their attention that I reach State Retirement Age in November this year.

Well I received the decision today, I am to remain in the Support Group without a F2F, the letter is dated 21 April with the decision date being 19 April, so the entire process has taken less than 3 weeks, maybe this is a record, needless to say this is a huge relief.

I had expected to be assessed last year so I spent a considerable amount of time preparing my answers for the ESA50 and sorting through evidence then and simply updated it to reflect my current situation once I received the ESA50 in March. The B&W guides proved invaluable, I can now relax for a while and concentrate on recovering from my hand surgery. I will obviously be requesting the documents from the DWP; ESA85A, LT54, used in making their decision so that I have that when I go through the DLA to PIP process, it might prove useful. I am assuming I will not be reassessed before I retire!!!!

Many thanks once again to the Mods for their input and help in navigating this somewhat complicated process.

Great news.
When you are invited to apply for PIP from DLA, be aware of the retirement age mobility issue