ESA

Hi

Advice needed please. I went for yet another ATOS medical ( after requesting a surpersession )on the 11th July 2013, and as of yet I have not received a copy of the report.

I have rang the benefits office and they have advised me that as from the 11th July I have been placed in the WRAG group again for 3 years, but as my partner works they are only crediting my NI contributions.

This has been going on since October 2012 and fed up with it all.

Just wondered if this has happened to anyone else and would it be worth me appealing, if and when i get the report from them.

Thanks

Hi RB65,

It does seem that DWP are particularly lax at sending out award letters, particularly if the claimant remains in the same ESA group as before. However, every decision is supposed to be communicated to the claimant in writing and can be appealed. The time limit for the appeal is taken from the date on the decision notice.

So yes, you can appeal this decision. I don't know what the other mods think, I would suggest that you download a GL24 and get that submitted as soon as you can, even though you have not yet received a decision letter.

As you say, if you have exceeded 365 days in WRAG you will only be paid again if you are entitled to income-related ESA or are placed in the Support Group at any stage.

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Thank you for the advice, but does this mean I have only until the 11th August 2013 to appeal, even though I have not received any notification? Soryy if this appears a stupid question, but this is going to be hard work as I have no idea what score or reason/comments they have made bout me. Surely if they placed me in WRAG for 3 years and my allocated worker at the local JC last saw me in November 2012 and said she no longer needed to see me as she could not help me, speaks volumes about what group I should be in.

Sorry for ranting.

thanks again

The JC+ advisors are often very ill-informed regarding the criteria for WRAG and Support Group. Yours does not want to see you again because he does not believe that you will be work-ready in the near future, however, there is no Support Group descriptor that relates to this. The important thing, if you decide to appeal, will be to decide which Support Group descriptor/s apply to you and providing as much evidence as you can to back this up.

Your initial appeal does not need to be in any depth, just say that you do not believe the Decision Maker has taken into account the severity of your limitations. As I said, officially you have one month from the date of the decision letter in which to get the appeal submitted. If you haven't had a letter yet then the clock has not started ticking. You should also contact DWP and ask for a copy of the ESA85 (if you had a face-to-face assessment) or ESA85a (if there was no f2f).

Have a look at our appeal guides and FAQs

ESA claims and appeals

How long do I have to appeal?

How to submit an appeal

Appeals FAQs

I suggest that you have a read of the resources and then come back to this topic with any further questions. You will find it easily in future if you bookmark it, or make it a favourite, on your web browser now.