Another ESA question

madmish00

Sorry for yet another question on ESA but I have been reading through some of the posts and I am still baffled.

My mum received her questionnaire back in August for the changeover from IB to ESA. She has not been called for a medical but has been placed in the WRAG group. She suffers from various physical disabilities to the extent that she is prescribed Ketamine for the pain she suffers on a day to day basis. She also suffers from anxiety and depression and as a result of these does not leave the house unaided. She is currently awaiting an operation to correct two hernias that are a result of previous surgery.

She contacted DWP to ask for the reason for their decision to place her in the WRAG and has been sent a form which states that they think she will be suitable for a return to work within 18 months.

But as contribution based ESA is only payable for 12mths I don't understand how they can put her in the work group when they have themselves determined that it will be 18mths before she MAY be fit to work.

How does the appeal process work? I have looked at links on other posts to the 'descriptors' but I am unsure which sections to look at and how many points are needed to place someone in the support group

Any advice much appreciated

HB58

Contributary ESA is payable for only 365 days in the WRAG. After that your mother will be means tested to see whether she is entitled to income related ESA - this would continue until her next review which would be expected to be somewhere around 6 months later (this is only a recommendation, it is not a fixed time). If she is not entitled to income-related ESA, her claim would continue and her NI contributions credited but she would not get any more money.

In general, the time until someone is said to be ready for work (the 'prognosis') has nothing to do with which group they are in.

People usually have one month after they are notified of the decision in which to make a claim. In fact, an appeal can be submitted up to 13 months later if the claimant can show 'good cause' for not appealing sooner. Otherwise, a 'supersession' can be requested if it can be shown that the claimant's condition has worstened.

Access to the Support Group is not points based, the claimant has to meet the SupportGroup descriptors.

madmish00

Thanks for the reply. Where do I find the Support descriptors?

Muttleythefrog

http://www.tameside.gov.uk/esa/lcwra