ESA medical assessment

Hi, I'm new to this site and have some questions.

I have today applied for contribution based ESA. I have a mental health condition called Borderline Personality Disorder which was diagnosed 10 years ago. Since then I have muddled through, changing jobs often as after 6 months I find them too difficult to cope with.

In December 2011 I found it just too hard to work full time any more, so with the support of my husband I left my job and starting selling handmade wedding invitations on ebay. I was only making around £8k a year doing this, but along with my husband's decent salary we got by.

In January 2013 I decided to try and tackle my weight problem, so I joined Weight Watchers, and over the next year and 7 months, I lost 3 stone to be a healthy weight in August 2014. By this point I had been selling my invitations for nearly 3 years, and was making less and less money and getting more stressed with it, so I decided to try and give it a go being a Weight Watchers leader.

At the same time, I found out about a benefit called PIP I'd never heard of before, which wasn't income tested, so I applied for it. I was awarded the enhanced daily living rate in October 2014. I had to have a home assessment, and got myself so worked up about it that I was in a right state by the time the nurse came to see me. I could barely answer my phone or the front door due to the anxiety, and it took me a good few days to recover afterwards.

I started working for Weight Watchers in November 2014 around 8 hours per week, and when my husband got made redundant in April 2015 I gave up my wedding invitations and took on an extra role with Weight Watchers, working 28 hours per week.

At the end of September 2015, I started to have group psychotherapy a week, which I had been on the waiting list for 2 years for. It is quite intensive, lasting 3 and a quarter hours every Tuesday and Thursday, and as the hospital is 45 mins away and I can't cope with driving or public transport, I have volunteer drivers come to pick me up and take me home. After starting this I really struggled to cope with my job, and at the end of October I resigned as I couldn't cope with it at all. Working my month notice period whilst having my therapy was horrendous.

I am now really hoping to be able to get contribution based ESA in the support group, but the thought of having to travel to a job centre to have an assessment is causing me so much distress at the moment that it's affecting my daily life. I can't sleep due to the worry of it.

If I explain this on my form and get a letter from my psychotherapist, is there a possibility I won't have to have the assessment, or at least get a home visit? And can the fact that I get enhanced daily living PIP be used to make a decision too without an assessment? As I'm new to all this, any insight would be much appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi Gordon, I am entitled to contribution based, as I paid my full NI contributions whilst selling my wedding invitations on ebay, and also when working for Weight Watchers. It's just the assessment I'm worried about. Many thanks, Sam