WRAG

Hi, apologies if this has already been answered but I couldn't find it.

Just a quick question. My partner has been placed into the WRAG group and has been told this will be for 6 months.

Could someone tell me what happens then? Will he be reassessed or will he just be moved back on to JSA once the 6 months is up?

Thanks in advance,

Hi and Welcome to the forum, you might want to have a look at the following FAQ which explains where everything is

Welcome to Benefits and Work

ESA is actually an open-ended award, it will continue until another assessment has been carried out and a decision made. It may be that your partner will be reassessed in a few month's time but things are rather behind in some areas.

If this is Contributory ESA, paid because your partner has worked and paid NI in the past few years, it will only be paid for a maximum of 365 days when not in the Support Group. If entitled to income-related ESA, this will continue.

If you have further questions, please reply to this and we will do our best to help

Hi, thanks for your reply.

He is in receipt of income based ESA so there should be no worries there.

Will he definitely have to complete a new ESA50 and have another medical assessment when 6 months is up (or whenever they get to him) to determine if they think he is now fit for work or not?

He is concerned they will automatically put him back on JSA as they have only given him 6 months in WRAG due to mental health.

He has lodged a mandatory reconsideration as he has been told he didn't score any points at assessment although he has other health issues aside from mental health.

They say his mental health is worthy of the WRAG group at the moment but I don't think 6 months is very long as he will only see the adviser at the job centre 3 times over that period. He has been told at the JC he only has to attend every couple of months just for an hour at a time.

I'm not sure what miracles they expect in such a short period!

Thank you Gordon,

yes, the findings of his assessment are unclear. This was what he was told very briefly over the phone. We are waiting for a copy of the report at the moment.

He has requested this twice already, hoping to receive it in the one month deadline to lodge a mandatory reconsideration request. This would have helped greatly when writing the letter for it. Sadly it hasn't arrived yet so he has had to write to them without it. So he only had the little he was told over the phone to go on to argue against their decision.

He is also yet to receive the original decision letter. Again, making multiple calls requesting it to be resent. We only knew of their decision to put him in the WRAG group when he received his next payment after the assessment and noticed the amount had decreased!

It is impossible to hold anyone to account either for the failings. when asked for the name of the person you spoke to over the phone they say they can only tell you their first name and are not at liberty to disclose surnames.

Is that regular practice?

Kind regards,

Capybara

Thank you Gordon,

the points of the assessment are unclear. He was told very briefly over the phone he had none but his mental health at present deemed him unfit for work so placed in WRAG.

He has requested the report more than once. Hoping to receive it before the deadline to lodge a mandatory reconsideration. Sadly, it hasn't arrived yet.

He also has never received the original decision letter despite multiple calls and promises it has been sent. So we only know the bit of information told by phone.
We were only made aware he had been put in the WRAG when we noticed his money had been reduced. He then received an appointment to visit the job centre. - Funny how that swiftly found its way to him!

It's hard to hold anyone to account because when you ask the person on the phone for a name they will only five first names. They say they are not at liberty to divulge surnames. Is this usual practice?

Kind regards,

Capybara