What’s the record for a wait for an ESA decision? Months? Years?

I’m guessing years.

I attended a Maximus face-to-face assessment for Employment and Support Allowance with someone about five months ago. It seems that person still hasn’t had a decision about their claim.

Maybe their decision letter got lost in the mail. Maybe it hasn’t been sent. Who can really say. Like so many people I speak with, the person in this instance doesn’t want to raise issues with Maximus or the DWP, because this person is concerned that Maximus or the DWP will respond in a negative way.

People on the receiving end of the ESA application process do not feel that they have a lot of power in it. And they’re right. They don’t.

13 thoughts on “What’s the record for a wait for an ESA decision? Months? Years?

  1. Kate
    A decision by the DWP has almost certainly been made.
    Personally I would check to see if the person ESA payments have gone up or been stopped.
    Once DWP make a decision,either the payments stop if its decided they are fit for work or the person is allocated either the support group (£109.30 PW) or Work related activity group (£102.15 PW).

  2. As with the hypocrisy of Government cuts in public spending, this matter points to the hypocrisy of Government intentions to increase civic involvement.

    Peter Beresford has written:

    “The government wants user involvement: in professional training and education, research, audit, regeneration, and the planning and administration of trusts and hospitals. But many service users who are on benefits say that if they go to the meetings, get involved in the groups, or act as volunteers, their benefits can be at risk.

    “‘They force you back into work when you’re not ready. They think that, if you are fit enough to go to these meetings, you’re fit enough to go to work,'” says one service user who was interviewed.”

    Meanwhile, what is Maximus’ ‘Head of Customer Experience’ Sue Marsh doing about the matter? Maybe she could be asked for statistics of Maximus’ lead time between ‘examining’ patients/claimants/customers and claimants receiving a decision?

    After all, she is getting a reported £75K while Maximus’ ‘customers’ experience very severe delays. And a definition of ‘abuse of vulnerable people’ can be negligence sufficient to expose them to financial, physical and or mental harm.

    Dude Swheatie of Kwug

  3. Deliberate delay in the payment of benefits is just another DWP tactic to put pressure on the claimant. A typical consequence of their reversed business model.
    They don’t want your custom, and they would rather you didn’t keep coming back asking for money.

  4. Not exactly the same but I sent in my DLA renewal in January 2014. It was complicated, so they archived it. Then, because it was archived, they shredded it.

    My MP has been on the case for over a year, being repeatedly fed misinformation.

    It looks like it may finally get sorted out within the next month or so – after I have a PIP assessment. Total time, beginning to end of my DLA renewal, will be about 23 months (fingers crossed).
    Then, probably, I’ll have the PIP appeal process to deal with.

    I don’t know what I’d do with my time if I didn’t have the DWP fucking me over in such an entertaining fashion.

  5. Reblogged on: https://sassonhann.wordpress.com/

    Comment: This adds nicely to my blog yesterday, about delays leaving you with no income, and even not receiving back-payment when you win your appeal: https://sassonhann.wordpress.com/2015/10/01/fear-the-little-death/

    It really is despicable, but here’s the thing: remember the note in their publication ’21st Century Welfare’; it went something like this: ‘people who do not qualify for Employment Support Allowance and are not well enough to claim Job Seekers Allowance, will have to find their own means of support.

    This idea of finding your ‘own means of support’, also extends to the claiming process; some are not even being paid the appeal rate at present. It would be interesting to find out Kate if this is just an occasional occurrence or whether non-payment once an appeal is registered is the norm.

    Whatever the practices, it’s despicable to make people suffer like this. Some people have no family and friends to help them whilst in these situations, and they’re already ill, so finding the wherewithal to challenge these problems, and to stay alive somehow, is a hard thing.

    It also seems a ‘postcode lottery’ depending where you live in the country with regard to non-payment practices, which suggests that the DWP is in a bit of a mess to say the least.

  6. Pingback: What’s the record for a wait for an ESA decision? Months? Years? | Sasson Hann

  7. Ah yes, the old DWP routine in taking ages for decisions against them but quickly acting on decisions for them by their wholly impartial and not stupid decision makers.

  8. I have waited since 3 January for a decision from ESA and still not had a payment aft er the claim was finalised in court by judge brown and Dr levy can u help with how long the wait can b Kaye.

    • I’d have been waiting a year in January, is there a way I can find out I’ve rang the first company in charge of the assessments and they told me it was sent to dwp with the first week of them receiving it. But dwp say they haven’t got a desions yet

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