do i inform dwp

[mushkin85]

Hi, i am in thew support group for anxiety, i have been in therapy which has now ended, and my scores have comedown to normal levels for anxiety and depression, however i have pure ocd which causes me anxiety when i go out to places and gives me intrusive thoughts, which was untreated due to not having enough time in the therapy with the NHS.

 

I was not able to go out much before when i was assessed, but am now able to go out to my support groups for drug and alcohol abuse (which i suffered from due to my anxiety),the gym, and i'm on the waiting list for more therapy to treat my ocd from a charity, and i am going to be assessed for an NHS meditation group.

 

I am wondering do I have to inform the DWP about anything as i still suffer from the main cause of my illness,which has not been treated, but my scores which came down during therapy, show my condition has improved, when I still feel anxious and i'm still suffering when i'm around people.

Edited January 9, 2014 by antone
No, don't delete your OP. Use the Report Post function (the black "!" triangle) if you want to remove your comments.

[reallymadwoman]

Do you still meet the criteria for Support Group? If so, you don't need to report a change of circumstances.

 

If you no longer meet Support Group criteria then you do need to tell them, but I would want to be absolute certain that I no longer met the criteria and that any improvement was permanent before I told DWP anything.

[mushkin85]

Not sure what the criteria for the support group is, based on my circumstances do you think i would be, i'm not sure

[antone]

Check out this link and scroll down to page 26 - "Limited Capability for Work Related Activity Descriptors". You still meet the SG criteria if any one of these things applies to you.

[**Margaret**]

:mushkin:

 

We've no way of knowing whether you're still eligible for employment n support with the support component, but you can find out by asking for a copy of the ESA85/85A from your last assessment. Phone call to the number on your last award letter or a letter to the address on it. The report will state which descriptor, or exceptional/special circumstances, you met at the time of the assessment. An award of employment n support doesn't preclude holidays. Or exercise at a gym if it's therapeutic and doesn't conflict with the reason for entitlement to employment n support.

 

If having read the ESA85/85A and :antone:'s link you believe you/your friend retain entitlement to employment n support with the support component; fine - no need to contact Jobcentreplus. If not, or you're not sure, better safe than sorry.

 

However, if you or a friend are genuinely concerned that a claim's become fraudulent, best to inform Jobcentreplus about a possible change of circumstances sooner rather than later. Yes there may be a penalty and recovery of an overpayment, but fronting up (dependent on the sum involved) can avert a conviction for fraud or lessen the penalty if convicted.

 

Margaret.

[antone]

We're trying to help you, but the other side of that is that we need to post advice to help others in similar situations.