ESA pending appeal and backdatings

hi, I have won the appeal and was put in the work related activity group (for 17 months anyways). Tomorrow I have my first interview (so it came quickly, as I didn't even get the back payments yet).

Is there a link about tips or things I should be aware of? As I understand, the adviser is there only to give advise as to how I could get back into work in the future. They cannot pressure me to take jobs or to look for work.

I also understand that I must not fail to turn up on time, or there will be sanctions. Anything else that is important that I should be aware of? Thanks

hi, came back from my first WRAG interview. The interview was a true horror story. The Atos interview and the court hearing were a fun ride in comparison.

This is an incredibly stupid story. I don't know if I should be more amused than shocked

I arrived for my 10.10am interview well on time. They made me wait a good 20 minutes, while informing me that the computer was starting up or whatever. I was determined to live in an hour max, as the letter said that the interview can last up to an hour. ''If they need 25 minutes to sort their computer'', I though, ''that's on their time, not mine.''

Question: do their timewasting activities, unrelated to the claimant, counts? I.e. can I arrive for a 10.10 am interview, have them keeping me waiting for 25 minutes, and then get up at 11.10 am regardless and just say, ''well, the hour is up. Goodbye for now''. Would I get sanctioned for that? It doesn't seem fair that I arrive punctually for an interview, waste 25 minutes of time for their own issues, and then STILL spend up to an hour for the interview.

Also, I recorded the interview. Do you know if is it legal? I am still glad I recorded it, 'cause I will need it (more of that later).

The first interviewer (IW for short) asked me for my mobile and email address. I said I don't use either and that I prefer to receive their communication in writing only. The IW seemed to be miffed because I don't do things like 98 per cent of the population. IW then started asking me extremely generic questions, such as 'ok tell me what happened in the last 5 years'.

I believe in the proverb 'a short question deserves a short answer', so I just replied, 'A lot has happened. Now I am not being funny, but if you want more precise answers, you'll have to ask more precise questions.''

IW didn't seem to get it, so after I tried for 5 minutes and seeing I wasn't getting anywhere, I asked if I could see someone else.

So she sent me to another IW. Turns out that it is the latter that I had an appointment with. I saw the badge with the name and recognized the name in the appointment letter. When I questioned IW why was I speaking to her only now, IW explained that she 'let' me see her colleague to avoid keeping me waiting for longer.

Obviously, IW didn't even bother to explain anything until I questioned it.

Then, IW proceeded to explain that, in fact, she was going to ask me -exactly the same questions- her colleague had asked me before.

I replied to her that I failed to see what purpose would that serve, since I would then give her the same answers I already gave.

Again, I wasn't trying to be defiant or to be sarcastic. I wasn't laughing or smirking. I was really expecting that the purpose of the interview was for the interviewer to ask me about what my problems are and how they affect me. Then we would try to explore whatever was explorable.

But no. They were a complete failure at that.

I was just asked the same questions and I gave the same answers. No surprise, right? Then IW asked me if I have a plan. I said I don't have one. She seemed to be miffed about that too. That really puzzled me, since I thought I was at the interview to DEVELOP a plan, not to have one ready already.

By then, I was aware that this was going to be a bad day, so from then on I would have to be even more careful about what I say. Which is what I did.

IW said 'I need to think about things'.

Obviously, IW is a very ignorant person. IW seemed to assume I don't think about anything, even though they knew nothing whatsoever about me.

So IW just blurted out that ''I need to have a plan in two weeks''. I said nothing, since I didn't know what to say. I needed to check if I was being taken for a ride, because by then I was very suspicious (and rightly so....more of that later).

By then, I clearly stated I will make a complaint about it all.

IW was writing stuff down, so I asked if I could have a copy. The reply was: 'You can ask any copies you want'.

That didn't answer my question, since it only confirmed that I -could ask-. It said nothing about if I -were getting a copy-.

So I just repeated the question. IW gave me another ambiguous answer (don't remember what rubbish it was), so....I just calmly repeated the question

IW finally said: 'Yes, of course!'. But then added 'I said it the first time!'.

I said that the first time I heard a different reply: 'You can ask any copies you want!'. Not that I could simply have a copy.

Then IW told me to 'be quiet!' and that 'she didn't have time for me!'. That was a mistake, because I calmly told her, and with no uncertainty, not to speak to me like that and that it's her who should be quiet.

As for for her ''having no time for me'', I said it was no different for me about her.

At that point IW got all agitated and screamed 'I terminate this interview!'. It's obvious that she had more issues I have. I left immediately, saying that I could not have asked for anything better. The security guy came, but I didn't leave because of him. In fact, I barely noticed it Although I should have....it was a really huge and tall guy. But these people don't know me....I was certain I did not do anything wrong, so I wasn't worrying in the least, knowing that unfortunately I would have to make a complaint later.

The guy just hanged in there, as if he was waiting for me to get abusive or assault someone.
I am actually surprised at how coolly I have handed this whole circus act. I wasn't even getting angry, which is very rare of me. I guess I am learning.

I just went to sit at the end of the room, because I wanted to scribble down some notes.

Then, IW politely came toward me, trying to get me to sign a form. I should have just said 'Didn't you just terminate the interview and told me to go away? Then it's terminated, unless my 'termination', you mean a 3 minutes termination. And now, be quiet. ''

But no, I guess that I was focusing on not let them cause me to give them excuses for sanctioning me. Although I could have challenged the sanction later, I really wanted to save more time.

So I kept playing with this circus act, and acted as if nothing happened. I wasn't being friendly, but I wasn't being hostile.

IW handed me down that stupid paper to supposedly sign. Handed me a pen, expecting that I would fall into the trap like a fool.

Instead I said: 'I am going to borrow this form, I am going to have a sit, and I am going to read this very carefully'.

Note that the form was a completely crazy circus act. When I have read it, it said that I agree to work in retail

So I asked IW what that meant, since we never discussed anything about my 'plans'; was told to come back with a plan in 2 weeks; and now, IW was pulling out a 'plan' of her own from her magic hat

IW said :''I told you before, the retail part is related to a 'long time ago''.



I mean, jesus christ, I still can't believe any of this. Was it real? I just handed the form back and said ''well, a long time ago is a long time ago, isn't it? (whatever that meant, basically I just replied with some rubbish of my own ).

I informed the IW that I wasn't going to sign a thing, and that I will add all this stuff in my complaint.

I took the IW letter about the next appointment (in 2 weeks).

Thanks for reading. Just wanted to share a story about circus acts.

so, to sum up my questions (I understand the story above is long and can be confusing)

do their timewasting activities, unrelated

to the claimant, counts? I.e. can I arrive for a

10.10 am interview, have them keeping me waiting for

25 minutes, and then get up at 11.10 am regardless

and just say, ''well, the hour is up. Goodbye for

now''. Would I get sanctioned for that? It doesn't

seem fair that I arrive punctually for an interview,

waste 25 minutes of time for their own issues, and

then STILL spend up to an hour for the interview.



I recorded the interview. Do you know if is it

legal?

How many interviews should I have in a month? Already 2 in less than three weeks seems really like pushing it, to me. These ignorant people think I have nothing to do, but they could not be more wrong.

I actually am really angry about the fact that they failed to ask me any useful questions about my plans, and that their incompetence caused the whole thing to become a power game. and that they just expected me to have a plan. Because of this, I was given another interview with someone different, in 2 weeks.
Which means, it seem to me unacceptable that I am required to attend the JC again in 2 weeks just because of the incompetence of the interviewers I saw. It costed me the whole of this morning to attend an useless interview. I had very important things to do that I did not do, in order to attend punctually to a circus act.

Which means, I am going to ask financial redress for wasted time. Where I can learn what the JC can and cannot do, for example ask me to do unreasonable things? I already feel this happened. I went there carrying even my medical evidence, in the hope that I could get the JC to have a clear picture of my problems and how they would affect me in a workplace.

Again, I feel it's their incompetence who caused them to let the interview become useless.
I have repeatedly said to them that I was willing to explore options. Instead I was told I had already to have a plan?

Oh, and in the letter for the new appointment, there is no mention of me 'must having a plan in 2 weeks'. I guess the IW scrapped the idea completely by the time I refused to sign the bogus form. They must have realized that I am not the fool of the village.

Sorry, got long winded again.

I need to know what constitutes 'not reasonable' for the WRAG.

But so far, as I learn from Gordon, I need only to worry about written tasks, and tasks that are labelled as mandatory.

All else is just noise.

Thanks