Have Agoraphobia - will I qualify for Support Grp?

Hello everybody,
I have both physical and mental health issues, and am currently in the support group.
DWP have sent me (I am 63 - 2.5 years before my Official Retirement Age!) an ESA50.
Looking at the truly excellent B&W ESA Guide, it says that even if ESA-Section 15 scores 15 points THIS DOES NOT automatically get a person into the support group.
15 (a) Cannot get to any place outside the claimant’s home with which the claimant is
familiar. 15 points
Support group
None of the descriptors for this activity will qualify you for the support group.
Later on, the Guide discusses how not being able to leave your home (AT ALL for the past 6 years, in my case) would reasonably mean not being able to attend JobCentre etc and thus put you in jeopardy (substantial risk), but it also warns that DWP are now saying they will NEVER ask something of a Claimant which would cause them harm. Also, various pretty low-level 'examples' are quoted.
I guess my Question is:
OK, so I can't leave my Home AT ALL (not even for GP, medical appointments, Dentist, etc etc), so on-site attendance at Job Centre is out of the question.
However, is there any evidence DWP have tried to introduce "you CAN do it over the Phone or via Skype" to nullify that situation, and thus get out of having to put you in the Support Group?
(I receive my psychotherapy via Skype, which is why this occurred to me)
All thoughts gratefully received

I was under the care of the local Mental Health Crisis Resolution Team at the time.

[quote="Anfortas
" post=230984]Hello everybody,
I have both physical and mental health issues, and am currently in the support group.
DWP have sent me (I am 63 - 2.5 years before my Official Retirement Age!) an ESA50.
Looking at the truly excellent B&W ESA Guide, it says that even if ESA-Section 15 scores 15 points THIS DOES NOT automatically get a person into the support group.
15 (a) Cannot get to any place outside the claimant’s home with which the claimant is
familiar. 15 points
Support group
None of the descriptors for this activity will qualify you for the support group.
Later on, the Guide discusses how not being able to leave your home (AT ALL for the past 6 years, in my case) would reasonably mean not being able to attend JobCentre etc and thus put you in jeopardy (substantial risk), but it also warns that DWP are now saying they will NEVER ask something of a Claimant which would cause them harm. Also, various pretty low-level 'examples' are quoted.
I guess my Question is:
OK, so I can't leave my Home AT ALL (not even for GP, medical appointments, Dentist, etc etc), so on-site attendance at Job Centre is out of the question.
However, is there any evidence DWP have tried to introduce "you CAN do it over the Phone or via Skype" to nullify that situation, and thus get out of having to put you in the Support Group?
(I receive my psychotherapy via Skype, which is why this occurred to me)
All thoughts gratefully received[/quote]

The default position with ESA support group claimants, it would appear, is to issue an ESA50 regardless of their health condition.

A friend who has advanced Huntington's disease and has been receiving ESA without interruption since 2011, was recently sent an ESA50 to complete despite the fact he has a progressive disease and there is absolutely no chance of recovery. it was completed by his support worker over three months ago, and so far, he hasn't heard anything back in relation to the WCA.

However, I understand from a colleague that the DWP are currently having a trawl of support group claimants, and therefore an ESA50 could be sent to any claimant, as clearly the computer system cannot recognise different disabilities/illnesses.

All you can do is complete the ESA50 and emphasise that you wish to have a domiciliary visit for the assessment to be carried out at home, as opposed to an assessment centre which because of your health condition, you are unable to attend. CHDA Maximus will probably ask you for medical evidence from your GP to prove that you are agoraphobic and cannot leave the house. However, if you can get the requisite medical evidence from your GP relatively quickly, you can send it with the completed ESA50. This may avoid a face-to-face assessment and possibly a home visit, because until recently. CHDA Maximus only carried out home visits in 0.9% of the total amount of work capability assessments.

it may also be worthwhile having returned the ESA50, to ask your GP for a copy of a form ESA113, as these are invariably sent in the majority of cases where a claimant specifies a mental health problem.

Thank you all for your invaluable advice and insight.
Re: DWP undertaking a 'trawl of ESA Claimants', I wonder if one of the triggers for that was the recent/ongoing(?) SNAFU over people on Contrib ESA being denied Severe Disability Premiums, and the resulting, often significant, back-payments the DWP had to make to the affected Claimants? Maybe it has spurred them to double-check that those specific ESA Claimants still qualify for the Premiums?
Ho hum, que sera sera, as someone once said.
Many Thanks, once again,
Anfortas.