Why am I being sent ESA50?

Hi,
I've been on ESA in support group for about 8 years since being migrated from Incapacity and this is the first time I've been sent an ESA50.
I'm really anxious and have no idea why I've been sent it... Anyone shed any light on this please?

The conditions I have are not curable, interconnected and unremitting... I have Takayasu's Arteritis which has resulted in aortic root replacement, my mitral valve is packing up, I am also "riddled with" osteoarthris (rheumos words) and have severe stomach issues that cause 6-8 bouts of diarrhoea a day.... pretty obvious to say that I suffer from chronic fatigue, blood pressure dips that effect my sight and ability to communicate (both receiving and sending)... and to be honest that isn't the half of it!

Thanks in advance!
Jane

Hi Jane 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

The whole thrust of the welfare reforms was that claimants would be reassessed periodically rather than 'languishing on benefits' (their words, not mine!). Although ESA is an open-ended award, in reality an assessment date will be included in your records. Usually 3 years is the longest Support Group award, even for people who it is clear will never get better. However, it is possible that someone, sensibly, looked at your file and simply put you down for another 3 year review. In addition to that, routine reviews were suspended for a year or so due to a huge backlog.

How often will I be reviewed

Now that you have received your ESA50 you must complete it in detail. Please do not assume that DWP have any prior knowledge of you or your situation. If you provide enough information and supporting documents, it is possible that you will not need a face2face appointment - but this is at the discretion of the healthcare professional who assesses your file.

Please make full use of our ESA guides. You might find it helpful to use the PDF version of the form rather than having to hand write everything. There have been some changes to the rules since you were first assessed, make sure you use the latest version of the ESA guides.

ESA claims and appeals

Using The PDF Version Of The ESA50 Questionnaire

Once you have had a good look at the guide, please reply to this message if you have any specific questions and we will do our best to help. The forum is officially closed until Tuesday but it is highly likely that at least one mod will look in over the Bank Holiday period.

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 !

Thank you.
The guides have been really helpful. I haven't managed to fill the forms in yet as my mum is going to have to help me (she also works for CAB and is handling my son's PIP tribunal as it's all too much for me).
I've had to see my GP this week and mentioned the ESA50, asking if he could do a letter for me to include. He said the DWP won't accept anything that isn't on their forms and that they are getting hundreds of forms from the DWP through each week at the moment as everyone is being reassessed.
I do have one question, when the fatigue kicks in my body completely shuts down. I can't stand, speak, see properly, lift a glass.... This happens daily at some point, sometimes within an hour or 2 of getting up, sometimes later... If I'm lucky I have a couple of 'functioning' hours a day. I also have extremely low bp, when it dips too low it causes severe visual disturbance, numbness round the mouth (speech and eating/drinking is effected) and blinding headaches... What box should I tick in these areas? On a good 'hour' I can do things but every day there are periods when I can't so technically it varies....?
Thanks again!
Jane

Yes Gordon is correct . I was put inESA support group without a medical as I had my gp write a letter.

Thank you... maybe I should ask another GP at the practice who also has a good awareness of my "file"?