Panic about medical

I phoned the DWP up this morning as I received the letter telling me that I would be migrating from IB to the WRAG group(I guess this is normal and you only go into the support group if your near death.Apologies to those who are suffering this indignity)

In the letter, it states that you can ask for a written statement of reason as to why they made the decision. The woman on the phone was reluctant,and kept telling me that everyone who is on IB is going onto ESA.She was reluctant to tell me why the DWP had made this decision without my medical,which is on 12th August.
I then asked her whether I would have to appeal after my medical and she told me that I would more than likely have to. I also asked her if I would see someone at the medical who could relate to my condition,she said she didn't know. I became frustrated and said that I thought this whole process was criminal and that the government was just carrying out a cleansing of the sick and poor. She admitted it was true and that it was terrible!!!!

I didn't get anywhere with her at all,and I'm still not sure as to whether I will receive my written statement of reason

I have tried to phone the Coventry Law center for advise and all I get is a ringing tone

My MP is hopeless!!!

Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks

Juliette

juliette wrote:

I phoned the DWP up this morning as I received the letter telling me that I would be migrating from IB to the WRAG group(I guess this is normal and you only go into the support group if your near death.Apologies to those who are suffering this indignity)

In the letter, it states that you can ask for a written statement of reason as to why they made the decision. The woman on the phone was reluctant,and kept telling me that everyone who is on IB is going onto ESA.She was reluctant to tell me why the DWP had made this decision without my medical,which is on 12th August.
I then asked her whether I would have to appeal after my medical and she told me that I would more than likely have to. I also asked her if I would see someone at the medical who could relate to my condition,she said she didn't know. I became frustrated and said that I thought this whole process was criminal and that the government was just carrying out a cleansing of the sick and poor. She admitted it was true and that it was terrible!!!!

I didn't get anywhere with her at all,and I'm still not sure as to whether I will receive my written statement of reason

I have tried to phone the Coventry Law center for advise and all I get is a ringing tone

My MP is hopeless!!!

Any advise would be appreciated. Thanks

Juliette

Hi,

As Steve explained yesterday, it may be that the planned medical could cancelled as it appears the DWP may have already made a decision based on your ESA50 claim form. It can take a few days for the paperwork to get from the DWP to Atos medical services, hence you may have not been informed as yet.

If having, as Steve suggested, read the guides in the members area and you think you should be in the Support Group then perhaps having the medical (if it isn’t cancelled) may lead to a revised decision.

It could be worth putting your request for the SOR into writing and send recorded/special delivery. That way you have an audit trail of correspondence. Sadly you cannot specify that the medical is carried out by someone with knowledge of your particular condition.

If you think you should be in the support group but are kept in the WRAG then the way forward would be to either ask for your claim to be looked at again or appeal the decision at an appeal tribunal. In order to do either you will need to either ask for or download a form GL24. Normally we advise claimants to go straight to appeal as a reconsideration is carried out as part of this process anyway.
You can download a GL24 here:

www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/gl24dwp.pdf

It would be worthwhile perusing the law centre/CAB etc for face to face advice as they can assess both the relative safety of your current WRAG award and the realistic chances of getting into the support group.

Pete

Thanks for the reply.

I did speak to someone else from the DWP,who seemed okay about sending me a written statement of reasons. I haven't had a letter stating that my medical has been cancelled,so I assume I must go on 12th Aug.I will be taking someone with me and am as prepared as I can be The thing is,I am reluctant to appeal at this stage,then have to possibly appeal again when and if I fail the medical.Surely that would be two appeals? I would prefer some extra support at the moment though. It's difficult with mental health problems,although my psychiatrist will possibly change my medication,as discussed with my CPN (who isn't much use )Maybe the meds will be my cure!!

Does the WRAG group offer additional support for their clients who suffer mental health problems? Does anybody know,or had experience of the WRAG group?

Thankyou

Juliette

juliette wrote:

Does the WRAG group offer additional support for their clients who suffer mental health problems?

Regrettably the answer to your question would probably be an emphatic 'no.'

You may be offered a condition management programme to teach you how to manage your medical condition, but from what I have heard they are of no use for the majority of claimants with mental health problems. I am also aware that the CMP can actually make some mental health conditions worse!

Try phoning Community Legal Advice on 08453454345. Free call if they still have funding.