Hello everyone
some people prob already know this but I didn’t, I went to citizens advice today to sort out divorce papers etc but found out from ESA advisor that my ESA will be re tested at the end of 2017, I am on income rated and the support group so I asked why, they said the law has changed and everyone gets re tested like wrag, I was put on this rate Jan 2015 so is on this rate will be tested every 3 years now
as if it wasn’t confusing enough
Moogle Star
Well yes, I’ve just been reassessed. They didn’t do anything though an it was just a paper exercise. It o worry me when I had to hav ll th form resubmitted nd that is why I joined this forum. Nothing happened though and it all stayed unchanged for another three years.
Wow that’s good to know
I just remember a day when they never did this to people in the support group let alone income rated
thanks so much 
Hi Moogie,
I’m sorry to tell you but ALL ESA claimants will be reassessed, ESA can only be granted for a maximum of three years, but some areas have a backlog of assessments, so, I was given 18 months on ESA support group, this was about two and a half years ago (nearer three years now I think about it) and still no brown envelope.
The introduction if ESA to replace incapacity benefit was because it was claimed that there were people who could work but because they’d been sick for a while or had lied to their GP to get a certificate and had then used it in order to opt out of working, and in some cases this was for years! This is what the then secretary of state for work and pensions had found when he visited a council estate in Scotland! These findings are partly what has lead to the belief that benefit claimants are lying, lazy, scroungers, but they failed to exclude people with chronic conditions!
MS along with other conditions used to be a specified illness, which meant that the then DSS would never question your entitlement to benefit, or your claim that you are unable to work.
Yes I had to appeal for mine was waiting for that to happen for 2 years and I had a doctors and Neuro letter each saying I MUST never work again! Because even when I did 2 days a week I ended up in hospital but even with those letters they still didn’t believe me and why I would hate to go through it again as the stress of the appeal coursed a relapse and in my MRI showed spinal damage
problem is I have suffered with OCD since I was 8 years old and was born with boss eyes and epilepsy things they house to ignore
they do pick on the wrong people
Choose to ignore
I was put in the support group (contribution based) in 2011 and still haven’t been reassessed. The paperwork said “no improvement expected in the longer term”. I expect to be re-done at some stage but no idea when that will be.
Sarah
hi Sarah
You’ve been lucky - perhaps a computer glitch! The longest anyone can go between reassessment is 3 years, then the DWP computer churns out another reassessment automatically. I’ve had 2 since my first - each time remaining where I should be. As it goes on I’m getting slightly more complacent and, dare I say it, slightly sloppy.
I keep telling myself to get on with the PIP questions so I won’t be caught unprepared but I’ve not managed to do it yet.
Susi
I only get around £10 a week due to my pension so maybe they think it’s not worth the effort!
Sarah
Yup. Just in case you’ve miraculously got better!!!
Hopefully not for a while though.
Sue