Another ESA Success for B&W!!

I had my reassessment WAC a week ago & have now had confirmation I have been moved from the WRAG where I was placed a year ago, to the Support Group!! The sense of relief is incredible.
I was dreading this reassessment as although I had previously been successful, all thanks to this site, I wasn't at all confident I would satisfy the new descriptors.
However, I filled in the ESA50 03/11 using mainly the guide from here & just gave loads of information, 40 + typed A4 pages, about how my life is affected by CFS/ME. I also used condition specific guidance from the MEA & Action for ME & the Fluctuating Conditions Report.
www.forward-me.org.uk/Reports/Fluctuatin...ons_report_FINAL.pdf
Thank you to B&W for the excellent guides, to the moderators & to the posters on the forum. I would not have got this result without you. To anyone who is wondering if the subscription to this site is worth the money, I have to say an emphatic & heartfelt 'Yes'. It is without doubt the best 'value for money' I have ever paid.
All I have to do now is hope my DLA claim, which is a work in progress, is just as successful!
I know many posters experiences of the Atos staff at the MAC have been very poor & incredibly stressful, but I can honestly say it has not been my experience, both this year & last. On both occasions the receptionists have been polite & helpful & both times the HCP has been a doctor & understood CFS/ME is a “real illness” & not just all in the mind. If Atos can get it right at one MAC surely it should be possible for the same good service at all MACs?
Good luck to you all with claims & tribunal hearings – I hope the outcomes are as successful as my own.

Hi mayflower

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your good news.

One of the uphill struggles of moving from WRAG to Support Group is that the DWP define the WRAG, quite incorrectly, as a group for people will soon be ready for work, or 'begin the journey' back to work. When claimants are labelled as almost ready for work it's not hard to see why so many people in the WRAG are being found fit for work and finding it even more difficult to get into the Support Group.

So I'm delighted that you have managed it.

Regards

Derek

Derek4 wrote:

One of the uphill struggles of moving from WRAG to Support Group is that the DWP define the WRAG, quite incorrectly, as a group for people will soon be ready for work, or 'begin the journey' back to work.

I wonder how long it would be before the 'vehicle' to begin the journey back to work suffers a major setback, and all the wheels fall off?

Judging by the ever-increasing amount of ESA appeals, it may be starting to happen already!

I think the vehicle that the DWP expect will begin the journey back to work for people in the WRAG is the same vehicle that takes fit people to work; a bus, car or train!

I thought all the ESA claimants would be embarking on that well-known flight to Fantasy Island!

That its a journey back to work is just spin. Its about saving money and recalibrating the expectations of the welfare state.

In reality even if the jobs were there, most employers would choose the non disabled over a disabled candidate, for most positions.