ESA home assessment

Hi, im on ESA support group and last filled in an assessment form in Nov 2013. I heard nothing back from DWP to say if i had been successful or not, my benefit was still being paid though.

I received a letter this week telling me that a home assessment had been arranged for May. I have severe mental health illness and feel a home assessment will be too much for me and that i would find it difficult to give the information i would need to get a successful outcome.

Should i have had a new ESA health assessment form to fill in prior to this home assessment being arranged? or can they just decide to do a home assessment without filling a form in?

Can i request to fill in the ESA assessment form instead of having a home assessment? Although the forms are a pain to fill in, i feel i can take my time to think about what i want to say and how my illness affects my life.

If i asked my own GP for a letter detailing the reasons i feel unable to cope with a home assessment would that be of any use?

Many thanks

Hi Lynda,

We found this was happening quite often a while ago. If your condition has changed in the time since you completed the ESA50 from then it would be in your interest to do another one. You can use the PDF version

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

I suggest you take a copy with you to the assessment and send one to the DWP

Sending Documents to the DWP or ATOS

Don't forget to make full use of our ESA guide!

ESA help for claimants

Regarding the assessment, it is unlikely that the ESA50 form would obviate the need to be seen face2face. I suggest you contact Maximus and tell them that you would prefer to be seen at an assessment centre. If they quibble you can then back up your request with a letter from your doctor.

Claimants are allowed to change the appointment only once without risking the claim being closed. You should try and argue that this change should not be counted against you. However, if they refuse then you must make sure that you attend the new appointment come hell or high water!

You might wish to bookmark/favourite this on your web browser now so that you can find it easily in future. Then you will be able to return with further questions/comments without having to start a new topic each time. It helps us enormously when everything relating to the same claim is kept in one place - and I hope you will find it useful too

Thank you for your quick reply.

If i decided not to fill in a new ESA50 form would the doctor carrying out my assessment use the information i gave them on my previous assessment form in Nov 2013 to aide his/her decision?

My condition is probably about the same as it was back then, the only changes would be that i now have a mental health support worker.

In the past they have just used my ESA assessment form to make a decision without a face to face.

Many thanks

Hello, i wonder if i could ask something else? Ive just received a letter today from DWP to say that a visiting officer is coming to see me next week. The only info with the letter says " DWP is committed to providing the best possible service to all of our customers" as part of our commitment, we visit our customers face to face to provide help and support with various aspects of our business"

Im worried this is some kind of investigation they are carrying out on me. I received disability benefits but went on holiday in March, my husband wrote to them to tell them about it but we heard nothing back.


Im terrified that they feel i have done something wrong and i am being investigated. From your experience what are the main reasons these visiting officers visit? Is it for fraud or genuine to help give customers a good service/

many thanks