ESA50 Form arrived, 6 years since last review.

Hi There.....I've just received a ESA50 Form to fill in for my Step Son, who is severely disabled both physically & with severe learning difficulties and he has been in the support group since he was transferred over from IB in 2013. Is this normal to just receive one of these out of the blue after so long? He has been severely disabled since birth & would have no chance of employment.

I still have all the answers to the original form saved on my computer and almost everything will be exactly the same as it was then and he was placed in the support group. Would it be ok do you think to copy and paste all the previous information into the new form, with just the occasion addition or difference in terms. The form has to go back to the Centre For Health & Disability Assessments in Manchester. Previously when we filled in the form 6 years ago, he was put straight into support group with no need for face to face appointment. We used your guides then & the person who rang my wife said it was one of the most detailed forms she'd ever seen. My Wife has sadly since passed away & I'm his main carer & PA now.

Also we have only just received a form last week stating that he may be entitled to more money for a period of around 5 months from May 2013 to November 2013 as it appears he had been put onto contribution based ESA not Income Based ESA...he's never worked so would always have needed to be on Income based. I assume they must have realised that after those 5 months because he is on Income based ESA now, but can't recall much detail from that time being so long ago. Could there be a connection between us received that form saying he may be owed money, which I posted a few days ago, and us receiving this ESA50 now or is this a coincidence?

Will your guides have altered significantly since we first used them too?

Many Thanks.

Thanks Gordon, it was actually an ESA50 form that we filled in in 2013 too. I'm going to read through the new version of the guides. he has severe learning difficulties & is wheelchair bound. He's been like this since birth & never worked. He doesn't see his GP often as his general health...disability apart is reasonable. However we previously supplied a full assessment, from a Nueropsychologist , who has stated that he will never be able to work & lacks mental capacity & needs 24/7 care & goes into great detail on the tests which she used to reach those decisions.

So I'm hopefull that by re submitting this he will be assessed again without need for a medical & continue in the support group.

I am his appointee as well as PA & Step Dad, so if he needs to go for a medical I will be taking him. His Mental Capacity means he will not understand the questions asked so I hope that the assessor will understand if its me who is providing the answers to most of the questions as his answers cannot be relied upon.

Many Thanks.

I've not seen any mention in the guides about an Appointee answering questions on behalf of the person if it comes to a Medical ? If an Appointee is already approved by the DWP is it reasonable to assume an assessor will have no grounds for not allowing the Appointee to answers questions on behalf of the person if they have Learning Difficulties/Brain Injury.

Thanks BIS, I'm obviously hoping that common sense prevails & he wont be called for a medical, as he wasn't previously & went straight into support group after us filling in an ESA50 & providing evidence that he needs 24/7 care, lacks capacity & his condition is permanent & will never improve, but I guess common sense isn't the thing that is always evident here.

Is it just as likely that people in the support group will be called in for a medical as people not already in the support group do you think?