ESA reassessment

I am due to be reviewed for ESA soon. I was put in the support group for 3yrs without a medical and I have loads of supporting evidence saying I cannot work or engage with talking type therapy and explaining my functional limitations in detail. I have severe mental disorder.
I qualified for support group with inability to make social contact and unable to cope with change - I scored maximum for both. Also the assessor made reference to substantial risk and said that work was unlikely in the long term. Do you think I may be successful this time?
Also I've heard that sometimes claimant's files are checked to see if they can be awarded support group for a further period without having to go through the whole process. Is this right?
Thanks
Marnie

Hi Marnie,

ESA assessments and reassessments became very delayed several years ago and many reassessments were either postponed or carried out on paper without the claimant being aware. I don't know whether these are still being done or, if so, what the criteria are.

You can contact DWP and ask for the 'prognosis' , this is when the reassessment will be due. Making the call will not trigger a reassessment.

If you hope to meet the exceptional circumstances/substantial risk criteria it is up to you to provide proof that this still applies to you. This is explained in detail in the ESA guide.