ESA Assessment ???

My son who has Goldenhaurs syndrome, was claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. As part of his disability he needs to have major facial surgery which takes about six months to recover from, this includes having both jaws broken amongst other things. He applied for ESA which he received but had just received an appointment for a face to face medical? When filling out the ESA form it asked questions about all his disabilities for which he is not trying to claim ESA, however I made it clear that it was only the operation that he was claiming ESA for. I'm confused as to why he would need a medical for a major operation, surely it would be obvious? Has anybody come across this before. Thanks in advance

Hi and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explain where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

You say that your son got ESA, do you mean he is receiving the basic assessment rate? In order to be awarded ESA long-term the assessor must believe that the claimant meets very specific criteria (descriptors), it is not enough just to acknowledge that someone is unwell . They then recommend which of 2 groups the claimant should be assigned to (Support Group or Work Related Activity Group), this is also based on meeting specific criteria. If the assessor does not feel that they have enough information to enable a recommendation to DWP they will ask for a face2face assessment, this is entirely at the discretion of the assessor and is very common

The ESA assessor can only look at the situation as it is now, not what might happen in the future.

I suggest you have a look at our ESA guides so that you understand the criteria your son will be expected to satisfy. You will also find a section that tells you what to expect from the face2face. If you then have further questions please reply to this message and we will do our best to help.

ESA claims and appeals


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