ESA Form Agoraphobia/Social Anxiety/Depression

Hi, I have just received the ESA renewal form and am being re-assessed after 22 month period when I was last placed in the Support Group. Unfortunately after receiving my award I wasn't aware that it would have been in my interest to write and request a copy of the ESA85A form (did not have face to face therefore placed in SG due to written evidence) or a copy of the LT54 therefore I do not know exactly which part of my written evidence met the criteria to be placed into SG without face to face! Can I assume that the evidence I provided relating to Question 16 - coping with social contact would more than likely have resulted in a full 15 points being awarded for WRAG descriptors thereby placing me directly into SG under Activity 13 of SG descriptors? The level of my agoraphobia and social anxiety disorder is fairly acute and I only leave my home to visit GP for management of my health and have not left my village for 6 years and suffered with my illness for around 12 years.
Is it too late for me to write for copy of ESA85A and LT54 evidence? I am going to use evidence provided on my last form to complete my new form - any major changes regarding the aspect of mental health activities/descriptors I need to be aware of?
Many thanks.

Hi Ditze 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

There is no need to submit multiple posts. Every post here is read and approved by a moderator before being made public. Mods are only guaranteed to be available between .14.00 - 15.30 and 20.00 - 21.30 Mon - Fri, however we often do look in at other times. Even when the forum is officially open there will still be a delay, how long it takes depends on how many (voluntary) mods are on-line and how busy we are.

It won't hurt to ask for a copy of the paperwork associated with your previous ESA claim, you can phone/write and ask for them or you can submit a 'Subject Access Request'. However, it can take some time for this (DWP have 40 days to respond to a SAR) so you cannot rely on having these in time to get your ESA50 form completed and returned. It is important that you get this done in the time-scale given by DWP but the documents you ask for could be useful if the decision does not go in your favour this time.

Requesting a Subject Access Request (SAR) :

SAR Form Download

From this page :

DWP Data Protection Policy

Or you can make the request in the form of a letter, as long as you make it clear that you are making a formal SAR under The Data Protection Act 1998.

Address the envelope : FAO The Data Controller, at the Benefits Office dealing with your PIP.

Write DPA 1998 SAR in front, top, left corner of envelope.

Once received, they have 40 calendar days to comply.

Sending Documents to the DWP.

Our ESA guides will talk you through completing the form, phrasing your replies in terms that DWP will understand.

ESA claims and appeals

You can use the PDF version of the ESA50 form if you prefer

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

Once you have read the ESA guide (the second one deals specifically with claims due to mental health problems) please reply to this post if you have further queries and we will do our best to help.

You should Bookmark/Favourite this page in your Internet Browser now.

That way you can return to this topic easily to pose any further queries that you may have by replying to the topic.

See : This Topic also !

Thanks in anticipation of your future co-operation in keeping all your ESA related queries to this topic !

Thanks Mrs Hurtyback

Firstly,apologies for mistakenly posting more than once!
Could I have your thoughts on my query regarding my condition and whether or not in your opinion that due to my level of social anxiety disorder it is possible that if I scored 15 points when answering question on social contact it would automatically meet criteria for descriptor 13 for SG?

Kind regards

Thank you Gordon for your reply.

I can confirm that I do not meet with anyone socially. I live alone and do not have any family members due to a number of bereavements. I do not consider seeing my GP as "social contact" but only contact that is essential in order to deal with my health issues. I do not go "out and about" in my village - all shopping done online and prescriptions delivered to my home and I did provide this information on my last ESA50.

Do you have any further advice on this point for me?

Kind regards.