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Old 11-10-2016, 06:23   #17
Chrysalis
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Re: Worrying news for ESA claimants converting from DLA to PIP.

I wouldnt consider it entirely new practice, its possible it was stopped for a while, but I know this is not new because back several years ago when I was claiming IB, I claimed DLA and failed, then within weeks I was called in for an IB assessment as well as been hassled to attend the job centre for a work focused interview. They openly admitted on the phone that the failed DLA claim was the trigger, as soon as I had the new assessment which qualified me for IB again, they backed down on me attending the job centre.

For this reason I have always advised people who are in the support group of ESA to think hard about claiming PIP/DLA, especially PIP due to the stricter criteria, as the risk is large if you get turned down and it affects the ESA award. Generally if they can get by without PIP/DLA then I tell them to not put in a claim regardless of entitlement.

I can provide an insight into why this is happening.

Starting about 2 and half years ago, almost everyone on ESA was been automatically considered still qualifying when they were due for reassessment, because the system was completely overwhelmed they had to suspend reassessments for an indefinite period of time so they could catch up on the backlog of more than half a million pending assessments. As I recall I believe its an automatic 2 year defferal set by the computer come reassessment date. This meant of course people who might e.g. have had a 6 month prognosis suddenly get a 2.5 year period without reassessment. So they probably didnt see it as a major issue as the person would get reassessed anyway in due course. But with what happened, I can understand why this is happening, as if the person was left alone, they could potentially be automatically deferred whilst having been deemed to have no problems on their most recent assessment.

Also its always been the case you assessed whilst in the waiting room etc.

Last edited by Chrysalis; 11-10-2016 at 06:34.
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