Robin's esa reassesement

Hi,
I wonder if you would mind commenting on this, as I’m panicking a bit :

I have complex PTSD & OCPD and was placed into ESA WRAG in 2009 and into SG from 2012 on review without a face to face assessment.

In Feb 2016 I returned a completed review ESA50 with supporting medical info.
Today, Friday 04-11-2016, a woman rang from Maximus at around 10am.
She asked if I could attend an assessment on Monday 7th Nov.
I advised not as it wasn’t enough time to arrange the CPN to attend.
She asked if Tuesday 8th was any better, I advised not that I would need some time to contact the CPN and arrange with her timescales.
She advised she would send a letter out with an appointment time and it would give me at least a week notice of the appt., as a minimum, however if it wasn’t enough time to contact the number on the letter to re-arrange.
I asked when the letter would be sent – she didn’t know it would just depend on when they had appointment slots available.
I explained I wasn’t expecting one as my condition had worsened since last time and in 2012 I was moved from WRAG to Support group on review without needing an assessment and she advised that it’s probably come up on their system as an Auto assessment.
She advised me to go to GP and ask for medical evidence of my condition worsening and they may be able to just leave me in the Support Group without an assessment.
I advised that the GP had already completed the report they sent to him, highlighting my conditions and increased Mental Health support and meds over the years in March 2016 and that I had sent the ESA50 & other supporting medical info to them in February 2016.
She advised it’s all been looked at and they’ve decided to call me for an exam.
The assessment is about asking me questions on my day to day life : how I cope etc.

Would you be kind enough to offer a view on whether this sounds right, why Maximus have taken 9 months to contact me, possible reasons why they have decided on an assessment when ATOS decided it wasn’t needed, any advice on numbers being moved from SG to WRAG and if Maximus have a specific agenda on trying to move Mental Health suffers from SG to WRAG and if the next working day assessment request is to try and get people to attend in an unprepared state.
Panicking a bit as I had read on DPAC website that if called for an assessment it basically means you are going to be removed from the SG and to be faced with the myriad of appeals etc.
Many thanks
Robin

Robin wrote: Hi,
I wonder if you would mind commenting on this, as I’m panicking a bit :

I have complex PTSD & OCPD and was placed into ESA WRAG in 2009 and into SG from 2012 on review without a face to face assessment.

In Feb 2016 I returned a completed review ESA50 with supporting medical info.
Today, Friday 04-11-2016, a woman rang from Maximus at around 10am.
She asked if I could attend an assessment on Monday 7th Nov.
I advised not as it wasn’t enough time to arrange the CPN to attend.
She asked if Tuesday 8th was any better, I advised not that I would need some time to contact the CPN and arrange with her timescales.
She advised she would send a letter out with an appointment time and it would give me at least a week notice of the appt., as a minimum, however if it wasn’t enough time to contact the number on the letter to re-arrange.
I asked when the letter would be sent – she didn’t know it would just depend on when they had appointment slots available.
I explained I wasn’t expecting one as my condition had worsened since last time and in 2012 I was moved from WRAG to Support group on review without needing an assessment and she advised that it’s probably come up on their system as an Auto assessment.
She advised me to go to GP and ask for medical evidence of my condition worsening and they may be able to just leave me in the Support Group without an assessment.
I advised that the GP had already completed the report they sent to him, highlighting my conditions and increased Mental Health support and meds over the years in March 2016 and that I had sent the ESA50 & other supporting medical info to them in February 2016.
She advised it’s all been looked at and they’ve decided to call me for an exam.
The assessment is about asking me questions on my day to day life : how I cope etc.

Would you be kind enough to offer a view on whether this sounds right, why Maximus have taken 9 months to contact me, possible reasons why they have decided on an assessment when ATOS decided it wasn’t needed, any advice on numbers being moved from SG to WRAG and if Maximus have a specific agenda on trying to move Mental Health suffers from SG to WRAG and if the next working day assessment request is to try and get people to attend in an unprepared state.
Panicking a bit as I had read on DPAC website that if called for an assessment it basically means you are going to be removed from the SG and to be faced with the myriad of appeals etc.
Many thanks
Robin

Hi Robin 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

I have moved your question to its own topic. Unlike some other fora, we prefer members to start a new topic, even if there is already a similar one, as keeping things separate allows to to be sure that information given - or taken - is as accurate as possible for what we know of the member's circumstances.

The assessment providers often offer short notice appointments by phone. This is to try and fill up empty slots rather than anything else.

It is entirely down to the assessor to decide whether the claimant needs to be seen face2face. Your form will be examined on its own merits, it is unlikely that your previous paperwork will be consulted.

Whilst many claims are decided quite quickly, there are considerable delays in some areas.

If you have further questions about your ESA, please reply to this message and we will do our best to help. You will find it easily if you bookmark/favourite on your web browser now