Suspension of ESA face-to-face reassessments

Hello,

Does anyone know if face-to-face reassessments for Employment and Support Allowance are still suspended due to the coronavirus? The last word I'm able to find on it is the advice from July on the link below.

If so, what happens when the claimant is due for reassessment? I can imagine three things:

(1) the claimant is sent a Capability for Work questionnaire as usual, but the assessment is done on paper or over the telephone,

(2) the Work Capability Assessment itself is skipped and the claimant's reassessment date is deferred by a certain period (possibly their last "prognosis" period), or

(3) nothing for now—i.e. the system has been "halted" and will pick up from where it left off albeit with a backlog of reassessments.

Has anyone been due a reassessment since July? What was your experience?

Thanks.

www.gov.uk/government/news/face-to-face-...-disability-benefits

Hi and thanks Ant and Gordon
So, to recap that I've understood correctly for those of us whose longstanding files have not been pulled since Covid-19 lockdown 1. At present it doesn't appear that DWP are beginning to revisit those files for reassessments, which they are at liberty to restart anytime. I'm on ESA (C). On the one hand it's a relief, on the other having no idea as to when 'that envelope's' going to hit the doormat, can be as bad!
Keep safe all.
Kind regards
P

Hi petrocelli,

Just look at it this way! Every day that brown envelope doesn't land on your door mat means at least you will still be and keep getting paid.

Hopefully hundreds of thousands of us claimant's in the WRAG / SG Groups won't be hounded for quite some time.

Personally I think the DWP are obviously presently, and in to ther near future too bogged down with new claimants. And the system would come to a grinding halt if all sg/wrags reassessments were also to be re-assessed.

So the DWP is banking on the covid recedes significantly, or a workable vaccine is initiated, meaning they can then re-assess us all once again. And the wheels of the DWP will be running at full speed ahead as per usual.

Common sense would had told the DWP to just park many claimants with long standing severe health conditions from any further re-assessments.

But that would be too much of a nice logical humane thing to do. So yes its continuing our life's with great unknowingness when we will next be reassessed. All adding stress in our life's and causing further health damage.

Good luck to all.

The date I was given for a support group review a few years ago has just passed in the last few days, so I guess I will just have to wait and see, I don't think I will contact them.