Placed in WRAG Group

incorrect_2

My neighbour has just got his letter to say he has been placed in the wrag group but feels he should be in the support group,he was placed in this group without a medical or having to see any one. He has been just been moved over from long term IB and is 59 yrs with serious health problems, his main concern is if he does not ask them to reconsider him for the support group how long would he be paid for in the wrag group? The letter does not have a time limit on it but says he is entitled to both contribution based and income related ESA. His wife is his carer and they no savings to speak of so they are worried he will not be paid any money after a year.

Cpt.Scarlet

Ask for the ESA85a medical report, the prognosis on this should indicate when the next assessment will be.

If he is eligible for income related ESA then there is no restriction on how long he can receive ESA.

incorrect_2

Thankyou so much for the quick reply, this will put his mind at rest as he is just so worried about not being able to cope with the stress of having to try and get in the support group as the money is really not that much less.

incorrect_2

The medical report form arrived today (very quick) and it says the HCP was a registered nurse but, he obviously had no knowledge of the conditions that my neighbour suffers from and states that he has no loss of control of the bowel at least weekly, when this actually happens daily. It also states that there is no evidence to say he cannopt walk more than 50 metres without assistance. He has rhumatoid arthritis and rhumatoid lung disease so struggles to walk and has trouble breathing, he has not worked for 15yrs now and they have said he could return to work in 18months. He is so much worse now than he was even 5 years ago so how on earth they could think he will be well enough to work in 18 months I don`t know.

Muttleythefrog

incorrect wrote: »

The medical report form arrived today (very quick) and it says the HCP was a registered nurse but, he obviously had no knowledge of the conditions that my neighbour suffers from and states that he has no loss of control of the bowel at least weekly, when this actually happens daily. It also states that there is no evidence to say he cannopt walk more than 50 metres without assistance. He has rhumatoid arthritis and rhumatoid lung disease so struggles to walk and has trouble breathing, he has not worked for 15yrs now and they have said he could return to work in 18months. He is so much worse now than he was even 5 years ago so how on earth they could think he will be well enough to work in 18 months I don`t know.

The prognosis of 'could return to work within 18 months' is actually towards the upper end of the scale of possibilities (in WRAG it'll commonly be less than a year)... it's likely that that'd be the timing of the next reassessment (and this is effectively the main purpose of the prognosis). The prognosis is a bit of a joke regarding ESA... and probably from drop down menu on the software... hardly scientific.. and not a serious attempt to calculate when the person is likely to recover (if ever!)

He could appeal... typically needs to be done within 4 weeks of decision notification. But as always... strong advice is to focus on the support group descriptors and try to get supporting medical evidence. As above though.. WRAG payments are time limited to 12 months if getting contribution based ESA.. however if he is entitled to income related ESA then there are no time limits. The monetary difference between WRAG and Support Group isn't massive but in the WRAG you can be asked to take part in work related activity such as Work Focussed Interviews with advisor at Jobcentre and Work Programme.

incorrect_2

Thankyou for the quick reply, would he be able to ask them to look at it again or does he have to appeal?

Muttleythefrog

incorrect wrote: »

Thankyou for the quick reply, would he be able to ask them to look at it again or does he have to appeal?

He can ask them to reconsider their decision. However this is not usually advised since the DWP will automatically reconsider their decision anyway if you appeal (they send the papers to tribunals service if they don't change their decision). The DWP sometimes will overturn their original decision but the chances would probably be small without new medical evidence. It therefore can be very helpful indeed to have a healthcare pro prepared to write a document with specific information regarding Support Group descriptor (s).

incorrect_2

Thankyou Muttley your help is much appreciated.

schrodie

Also request a copy of the assessment report that Atos submitted to the DM. It may prove interesting reading given that Atos do have a habit of presenting a totally different account to the DWP as what actually happened during the assessament. Another reason to record your assessment despite Atos not wanting people top do so hence their underhand tactics in "not having enough machines"!!!

skintmacflint

Did your neighbour describe in detail how his conditions restrict him in his daily life on the form he returned? With the old IB forms it was usually enough to just detail the medical conditions, but the ESA form is looking for a lot more detail on how the condition affects his daily life.

Hard to understand how a nurse reading a form can just contradict what your friend has written on the form without even seeing him.

And have read on other forums of people put straight into the suport group based on the form. Although maybe the DWP already had enough historical info in their files already?

Just seems to be a bit of a stressful lottery the way this process goes.

incorrect_2

He thought he had put enough on the form for them to understand how he is affected but, they have not grasped how restricted his mobility is and they diregarded the bowel complaint completly. I agree it is very stressful and stress makes conditions worse.