Support group mix up - advice etc wanted please :)

Morglin

Send a copy of your support group award letter to the office asking you in for interviews, and request that they confirm, in writing, that you do not need to attend any interviews.

Sounds like a mix up, but best to tie up all the loose ends.

Lin

rogerblack

Retrovertigo wrote: »

Can I ask one last question of you? When you appeal are ou just left on whatever the WRAG money would be .

If you are appealing a decision that you were in the WRAG, and you believe you should be in the support group - yes.

If you are appealing a decision that you are fit for work, you are not paid until after you ask for a mandatory reconsideration - and this is done.

(claims are that this should be two weeks ideally - but there are no statistics as yet, and the time is not limited)

You then appeal directly to the tribunal, and at this point benefit resumes - at the assessment rate, not the WRAG rate.

If you missed a medical - you usually will not be paid until a new medical is carried out.

GirlFromMars_2

Retrovertigo wrote: »

Can I ask one last question of you? When you appeal are ou just left on whatever the WRAG money would be (both letters I received started exactly the same amount of money - just broken down differently). I get £112 per week. I have to pay for opticians, dentist, prescriptions etc. That amount is the total I am given, and the WRAG letter stated exactly the same money.

I just fear getting even less as I live alone and couldn't cope. I manage without the heating as it is. Thanks so much.

Yes ... I believe you were switched from IB to ESA, so your money includes a transitional top up, and the WRAG and Support amounts will be the same for Contributions Based Benefit ...

... if you are entitled to Income Related benefits you should probably claim though ... as you will get the Enhanced Disability Premium if you are in the support group, along with free prescriptions, dental care etc ...

... you need an ESA3 form to claim IR ESA ... it's a long form, but all of the questions are quite simple!

Retrovertigo

Right, like Girlfrommars, I seem to have been monumentally screwed over at the moment. Called the jobcentre and spoke to the girl I was supposed to have the interview with next week. She looked up my details and couldn't find any evidence that I was in the support group

She said she would need to email the correct department (they can't phone each other?) and that she would contact me "within the next two days or so". Which obviously isn't good enough when they are screwing with peoples lives.

So against her advice I called the benefits number at the top of the letter that claims I am in the support group (remember, I have called this number before and they confirmed I was in the support group and didn't have to do anything further) an spoke to some chap who looked up my details - he confirmed my review date was in two years times, just as they had done when I had originally called them. Then said "we have it down that you are in WRAG and not in the support group. I don't understand what is going on with that letter. Someone will call you back before 4pm today".

So anxious again right now. I suffer with anxiety attacks and can feel myself getting shakier by the second. I live alone and don't want to stew here for the next few hours

GirlFromMars_2

I'm so sorry! ... I had exactly the same reaction! ... honestly, it's not the end of the world, you do still get to appeal, you will stay on the same money while you are appealing, and hopefully the jobcentre won't want to see you more than once before you get it sorted out!

... I can't believe they're still making the same mistake a year after they sent me the wrong letter ... it's absurd that they are able to get away with messing with people's health like this!

I know it's not much consolation but I'm really sorry this happened to someone else as well, and if I can offer any support please feel free to ask. And good luck with getting it sorted!

Retrovertigo

Here is my final report for the day. Finally had a call back from the woman who originally dealt with my forms in the first place.

She admitted that she had "pressed the wrong button and put me into the wrong group". And the kicker, at one one had a slight giggle as the "mixup"....unreal.

She then asked me if I wanted to appeal the WRAG decision and I said yes of course. They made it sound like the were doing me a favour by extending the initial 30 day appeal time.

Said that meanwhile I will receive the wrag money and need to attend the job centre interview next week. I will basically get the same money I am getting now - or so they said.

I am seeing my G.P in the morning to get the report he had written up for me. Then they said they are calling me around 1pm or so tomorrow, as they start the appeal process by phone now.

So that is it, a woman makes a mistake, treats it light heartedly and doesn't even apologise properly. And turned my life upside down to be honest. Giving me hope and then it suddenly being taken away.

I called back the girl at the job centre who I was due to see next week, as no one at the benefits office knew for sure whether I should still go see her

She actually sounded appalled a the mistake they had made.

So that's it. Not quite sure what to expect with the phone call tomorrow, but I assume I'll next have to post my doctors report to them. I was asked by one person why I hadn't sent that with my claim. I pointed out that it tells you NOT to include any G.P reports... "oh yeah" they said.

One chap even asked me to shut up while I was trying to explain everything to lodge my appeal. They have been absolute ?!£$5!!'s to be honest. I can't believe this has happened.

Oh and emailed my MP as well. Not sure what good it will do. But needed to do something.

Thanks for the replies, especially girlfrommars. Much appreciated.

edit: it also means of course that my whole claim, all my medical notes - were read and assessed by what is essentially a desk jockey, with what I assume is no formal medical training whatsoever

GirlFromMars_2

... to be honest, I'm impressed you got something even vaguely related to an apology! ... I really don't think they understand how pressing the wrong button affects someone's life! ... I'm sorry to hear they weren't much more understanding about the problems they've caused though!

If you have not done so already make sure you look through the Schedule 3 Descriptors and decide which (if any) apply to you ... meeting one of those descriptors and getting evidence from your doctor that states that you meet one of the descriptors will be the only way to get you into the support group ... so have a look before going to the GPs and make sure the GP understands what the DWP need ... http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/employment-and-support-allowance/esa-glossary/1353-support-group-descriptors

If your MP decides they wish to take it further and would like another example of this happening feel free to PM (Private Message) their name & I can get in touch with them & give them a full account of my experiences as well! ... we can't be the only people this has happened to, but I've not met anyone else!

Good Luck!

Retrovertigo

I'll have to see what my G.P says in the morning and what his report says. If he needs/wants to change it, it will mean fair length of time while it is amended.

His intial report, from what he first said to me, centres around the main problem I have, which is chronic neck pain, as I broke my neck in a motorcycle accident. He said they shouldn't be expecting me to do anything which could cause further distress to my neck as it would only cause me more pain and mean I need to start taking even more pain killers. Not to mention how long it takes for my neck to get back to being tolerable.

There are other physical things wrong with my body, but the neck pain and issues it causes are by far the worst as I get blinding headaches with it and dizziness leading to vomiting on occasion. The only cure is to lie with my head supported, get heat packs on it and take my (very strong) pain medication. I think in the past someone has said regulation 35 might apply, as they can't expect me to potentially cause more physical harm to myself?

I am also in the process of being treated for anxiety/depression, but the problem I have, is that taking any anti anxiety meds with the meds I am on could cause serious problems with my health. I was supposed to see him next week to start on very small doses just to see how my body copes with it.

I will speak to him in the morning as I think I'll either be treated well tomorrow, or start the long process. I certainly won't be able to walk away with an amended report from him tomorrow morning though.

I'm not sure if it is a good sign or bad sign that they are speaking to me so quickly about the appeal.

edit: looking at those descriptors, I'd already told them about continually walking. I smashed my legs badly and it is always painful to walk. Certainly trying to walk 50m many times would cause a LOT of pain. I explained that in detail and the pains I suffer in them. I'm getting the feeling that a LOT of what I put wasn't even read.

p.s and of course, if I hear back from my MP (they have replied to me in the past fairly quickly over another matter) I'll absolute contact you about it

rogerblack

Retrovertigo wrote: »

She admitted that she had "pressed the wrong button and put me into the wrong group".

Addressing the legal side.

If, and only if this decision was made after - not before - the one that resulted in you getting put in the work related group.

This is a correct and legal decision by a decisionmaker, notified in the proper manner.

You are, until a fresh decision is made, superseding this one _and_notified_to_you_ in the support group.

What the DM intended to do does not matter, unless and until they make a superseding decision.

If the WRAG decision was made after the support group - then this does not arise.

In this instance, this may have little effect, as it sound like either a decision placing you in the work-related group was made immediately afterwards, or a retroactive one based on correcting an error has been made now.

As the support group did not go into payment, any overpayment - recoverable or not - did not occur.

What DWP people think, or have on their computers matters little.
Unless decisions are made, and properly notified to the claimant (which doesn't always mean the claimant gets them - but that's a separate matter) they usually have no legal effect.

Can the DWP do things anyway - yes - this does not mean the decision would stand if challenged in a tribunal.

Retrovertigo

Yeah, they are claiming that as soon as she saw she had put me in the support group, she changed it to WRAG and sent out a correcting letter, notifying me of the mistake and that I was in WRAG and this replaced any other letters I received. I received no such notification.

And of course, until such time as I can get access to my information, I won't know whether this is true.

It doesn't explain why when I got the letter - which arrived some 4 days or so after being printed, that when I spoke to someone at the benefits office, they confirmed I was in the support group. They used the actual words - support group.

If it was instantly changed to WRAG, then why, several days later, was it stil saying I was in the support group. As yet they can't answer that, as they claim it was changed immediately.