6 Month Wait For ESA Assessment.

whisper wrote: Sorry to kind of drag this one up again.

I'm still waiting for my assessment, it's been over two months since they had my ESA50 returned now. Obviously it's bothering me a lot. I know two months isn't such a long wait when I read around, but for me, I'm now at the point of getting really worried whether they'll ask me in for assessment in the last few weeks of my pregnancy or in the first couple of weeks after I've given birth. It's on my mind all the time and I keep praying every day that the assessment letter will arrive before I reach the last few weeks.

Is anyone able to advise me if they can drag me in for the WCA in the last weeks of pregnancy or if I've just given birth? Gut feeling says that this is just the sort of thing they will do if they can. I know that ESA payments are immediately given from a certain point in pregnancy (32 weeks?) but my claim isn't for pregnancy, it's for my mental health issues.

Thanks

I am afraid that we are regularly hearing of ESA claimants who have waited 6+ months for an assessment, the only thing I can recommend is that you contact your MP to see whether the can expedite the process.

Contacting your MP

You could also try speaking to your GP to see whether they will write a letter to ATOS about your pregnancy.

Deciding whether you need a face to face and booking an assessment are two separate processes, operated by two different departments within ATOS, the criteria for booking an assessment is purely based on the availability of an ATOS assessor, don't expect them to take any account of your "condition"! Be aware, whilst being in the stages of late pregnancy or just having given birth may well be accepted as Good Cause for you not to attend an ESA assessment, they are not listed in the standard examples, so there is no guarantee.

Gordon

whisper

The rules for pregnancy are as follows

20. A claimant is to be treated as having limited capability for work if—

(d) in the case of a pregnant woman, there is a serious risk of damage to her health or to the health of her unborn child if she does not refrain from work;

(e) in the case of a pregnant woman, she—

(i) is within the maternity allowance period; and
(ii) is entitled to a maternity allowance under section 35(1) of the Contributions and Benefits Act

(f) in the case of a pregnant woman whose expected or actual date of confinement has been certified in accordance with the Medical Evidence Regulations, on any day in the period—

(i) beginning with the first date of the 6th week before the expected week of her confinement or the actual date of her confinement, whichever is earlier; and
(ii) ending on the 14th day after the actual date of her confinement,

if she would have no entitlement to a maternity allowance or statutory maternity pay were she to make a claim in respect of that period.

Gordon