Should I renew?

Hi

I am about to start the process for ESA transfer from IS. I am in receipt of HRM and have just ordered my new Motability car for delivery next month. Now the assessment letter has arrived and I don't know what to do!

I really need the car but is it worth getting as the way things are going it may well be taken away from me within the next few months!

Any advice welcomed!

Shirley

Hi Shirley,

My advice would be to go ahead and order your Motability car.

DLA is paid to those with mobility and/or care needs, and is a totally different benefit to ESA which is paid to those unfit to work due to illness and/or disability.

As you're probably aware from Steve's Newsletters, DLA is to be replaced by a new benefit called Personal Independence Payment, but even if it gets through Parliament, it won't come into force until a reassessment is carried out, and that won't happen until 2013/2014.

Hope this information is of some help.

Good luck.

Pat

(I didn't see Pat's answer, which I completely endorse, when I posted this reply.)

Being assessed for ESA doesn't of itself mean that you'll have a problem with your DLA as the two are for different things, but information gathered when assessing your eligibility for one can be used for the purpose of assessing your eligibility for the other.

There are some overlaps, though, for example how far you can walk/mobilise, so if it's found on your ESA assessment that you can comfortably walk half a mile, you're probably going to get your DLA looked at again, but if it's found that you can't walk or can only walk a short distance, it won't be a problem.

You can find the criteria for both DLA and ESA in our guides.