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Moved out of Support Group to WRAG, following WCA

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6 years 4 months ago #201180 by layla28
Hello, I hope you will be able to advise me please. I have been in ESA Support Group since beginning 2014, and was in receipt of contributory based ESA. I was recently re-assessed at home on 4th October. I discovered last week that following my home visit assessment, the DWP have moved me to WRAG. I received a jobcentreplus letter on Monday, informing me that I cannot be paid any contributory ESA because they say I have reached the 365 days that I can get contribution based ESA. Citizens Advice informed me on the phone that my time spent in the Support Group does not count towards the 365 days, and that I should be entitled to receive contribution based ESA payments in WRAG for 365 days from the date I was moved to WRAG (19/10/17). DWP have told me that my time in Support Group has counted towards the 365 days for contributory ESA payments, told me that my time in Support Group did count towards the 365 days rule for contributory ESA. I am currently receiving no ESA payments at all since being moved on 19th October from Support Group to WRAG. Very grateful for advice on this please, thank you. I disagree with the decision by DWP to move me from Support Group to WRAG, and was intending to send a separate Mandatory Reconsideration request about that, but feel that the payments issue needs to be sorted asap. Thanks for your help.

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6 years 4 months ago #201214 by Gordon
Layla

Have you spent any time on ESA when you were not in the Support Group? Specifically have you been in the WRAG before where the Decision was not subsequently changed to the Support Group?

The 365 days applies to any time during the totality of your claim that you have not been in the SG with the exception of the initial assessment period if the subsequent Decision placed you in the SG.

If you have only been in the SG then you are still entitled to 365 days of ESA(CB) payments whilst in the WRAG.

To confirm what the CAB have said, time in the SG does not in anyway count towards the 365 days total.

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: layla28

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6 years 4 months ago #201239 by layla28
Hello, thanks for your reply. After the initial assessment phase I was put straight into Support Group in 2014; I didn’t have a face to face assessment, and wasn’t well enough to complete ESA50, & I was put into Support Group following DWP’s receipt of a letter from my GP in early 2014.

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6 years 4 months ago #201240 by layla28
Thanks again for your reply, it looks as though - in addition to me having to submit a Mandatory Reconsideration Request to DWP, to ask them to reconsider their decision to move me from Support Group to WRAG - that I will also have to ask them for the reasons why they think I have reached the 365 days that I can receive contribution based ESA, when I have always been in support group & only just been moved to WRAG. Is there anything I can attach to my letter, an extract or anything? On the phone DWP told me my time in Support Group has counted towards the 365 day rule. I am finding this situation extremely stressful, I’ve been panicking ever since finding out about having been moved to WRAG, and all the consequences of that. Thank you again for your help.

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6 years 4 months ago #201246 by Gordon
Layla

Refer them to the Decision Makers Guide Chapter 41

www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/upl...e/658256/dmgch41.pdf

Paragraphs 41800 onwards and specifically 41820.1

Gordon

Nothing on this board constitutes legal advice - always consult a professional about specific problems
The following user(s) said Thank You: layla28

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6 years 4 months ago #201262 by layla28
Are there any template letters available to use to help write a Mandatory Reconsideration request? I think I’m going to struggle to know exactly what I need to write to DWP when asking them to reconsider the decision to move me out of Support Group to WRAG. Also, do I raise my two issues in one letter - asking DWP to reconsider the decision to move me to WRAG, & also the issue about no payments since moving me to WRAG? Or should I write two separate letters about each issue? Thanks for your help.

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