Dwp not responding re:esa

TOBRUK

batemansxxxb wrote: »

I've twice sent letters asking dwp to look at the decision again for putting me in the work related group of esa,first time i rang after about 4 weeks & was told that there was no record of my letter &someone would ring me within 24 hours,no phone call,rang again &told someone would ring within hour,again no call,got on to my mp's office who investigated & told me to write to bradford benefit office & send rec del or as i had to see advisor at local office,ask to send by internal post,which i did,that was 6 weeks ago & i still haven't had a reply,is this usually the case that they mess you around to put you off appealing?

Bateman, I sent a letter of appeal disagreeing with their decision by recorded delivery end of October. I received a letter regarding my appeal yesterday 3rd May. I did not telephone them once, just waited patiently!

In the meantime I did attend an interview at the job centre as requested on 2nd January, as you have to do when you are placed in WRAG. It is irrevelant if you have appealed their decision, while you are on WRAG you have to comply to the rules.

batemansxxxb

TOBRUK wrote: »

Bateman, I sent a letter of appeal disagreeing with their decision by recorded delivery end of October. I received a letter regarding my appeal yesterday 3rd May. I did not telephone them once, just waited patiently!

In the meantime I did attend an interview at the job centre as requested on 2nd January, as you have to do when you are placed in WRAG. It is irrevelant if you have appealed their decision, while you are on WRAG you have to comply to the rules.

Thanks,but just a concerned that as i haven't even had an acknowledgement & that it may have got lost,as my last letter to my local centre,did,this was why i asked mp to intervene,as they wouldn't phone me when i was told they would,i did attend an interview at jcp,which was when i used their internal post to send the letter,the woman i saw said it could take 6 weeks for this &6 months for an appeal

TOBRUK

batemansxxxb wrote: »

... i did attend an interview at jcp,which was when i used their internal post to send the letter,the woman i saw said it could take 6 weeks for this &6 months for an appeal

When you attended jcp for interview didn't the person interviewing you mention (if the interview was a while after you had sent the appeal letter) that they understood that you had appealed?

When I went in January (having sent the appeal letter in October) I was told that they were aware that I had appealed their decision - it was on their system. The person who was interviewing me was typing away the whole time I was there.

I can tell you that I did not receive an acknowledgement letter to say they had received the appeal letter .... yesterday was the first I heard from them. My interview at the jobcentre when they mentioned my appeal was the time that I knew they had received it. Ask at your jobcentre.

batemansxxxb

TOBRUK wrote: »

When you attended jcp for interview didn't the person interviewing you mention (if the interview was a while after you had sent the appeal letter) that they understood that you had appealed?

When I went in January (having sent the appeal letter in October) I was told that they were aware that I had appealed their decision - it was on their system. The person who was interviewing me was typing away the whole time I was there.

I can tell you that I did not receive an acknowledgement letter to say they had received the appeal letter .... yesterday was the first I heard from them. My interview at the jobcentre when they mentioned my appeal was the time that I knew they had received it. Ask at your jobcentre.

Come to think of it,I think the woman I spoke to did record it on their computer

isolation

TOBRUK wrote: »

In the meantime I did attend an interview at the job centre as requested on 2nd January, as you have to do when you are placed in WRAG. It is irrevelant if you have appealed their decision, while you are on WRAG you have to comply to the rules.

I can echo the above advice (or at least contact them and try to come to some arrangement if you cannot attend due to your health). I had to take unpaid time from work to take my partner to her WRAG interviews which I thought was quite ironic!

Best wishes,
Dee
http://dwpnegligence.wordpress.com

HB58

Just to warn you that it can take a long time just for the reconsideration to take place. Mine took 6 months.

TOBRUK

HB58 wrote: »

Just to warn you that it can take a long time just for the reconsideration to take place. Mine took 6 months.

Same here.

pyrolizzie

My husband has been on incapacity since 2000 as he has relapsing MS and his condition will only deteriorate, something that the numpties at dwp & atos just cannot grasp.

When changed from incapacity to esa, he was put into the wrag group and we were told to ask for a review by his GP, as his condition will never get any better and there is no way he can go back to work.

My husband's case was dragging on and despite numerous phone calls and promises to ring him back dwp never did.

After some 6 months when we chased it again we were told a review had been done but the decision was still the same, i.e. stay in the wrag group.

Following advice via a thread on MSE we wrote to out local MP and hey presto within 10 days we had had the decision changed and my husband was put into the support group and it then took another 2 weeks to get money backdated. In addition they also paid a further £50 for the inconvenience and out of pocket expenses we had clocked up ringing 0845 numbers.

I would suggest to anyone who does not get the decision they expect to take it up with their MP and see if he can help you fight for it.