Worried about WRAG group decision

Dear All,

I'm extremely worried and upset. I recieved a letter on Saturday telling me I have been placed in the WRAG group without a medical.

Initially, I was pleased because I had not been written off completly regarding future employment. It has always been my intention to return to work when I was able and I have tried to keep my skills up to-date despite difficulties imposed by my health.
However:
At the moment my depression is worse - my GP confirmed this in a suporting letter and this means I don't think I can face an appeal.
Additionally I thought when completing the ESA form I was going to have a back operation to resolve two slipped discs and have since been told the defects are inoperable.
My questions are:

If I accept this decision if at anytime in the future it becomes obvious I should have been in the support group. How does the process work? Would I have to wait until my next review? Or is there a feed back loop from the interviews with a personal advisor?

Also I have continence issues which I fully explained in my form. Will the personal advisor have access to this intimate information? The thought of this is making me tearful and worried. There are members of my family and friends who are unaware of these issues and I have only just confided in my GP about them

Also at the bottom of my letter it states "the ammounts on this page apply from 18 November 2011 to 1 December 2011"
Does this mean I will be reassessed in December this year!!!!

Please can you help,

Best wishes

Firstly, no it doesnt mean you will be reassessed this year

You can appeal and try and get it changed to the Support Group, but you will need to read the members guides and/or take advice and see if you feel you have an arguable match to the criteria

I would strongl;y advise not avoiding an appeal on the basis of not feeling up to it. The panels are well experienced with clients who feel rock bottom and will usually try hard to make some allowance for your difficulty.

At any time a claimant can write to the DWp and argue they qaulify for the support group, and equally the DWP can review this of their own volition

The appeal (if you were to appeal) will be concerned with the inmformation at the time of your being allocated to the WRAG. But you can always ask for review of your claiom at any time, and subjecvt to the evidence, your status can be changed by the DWP, as can the prognosis period on your case (that sets the review date) although not many advisors will be aware of the latter

I am not sure how intimate health information is provided (or not) to the personal advisor. Others here will know

Thank-you for replying so quickly X Factor

Take care

Hi Cracker

The dates at the bottom of the letter are purely for administration purposes and has nothing to do with when you will be reassessed. You will probably get another letter in December telling you the rates until April next year.

Concerning the information that your advisor will have, as far as I'm aware they do not have access to your ESA50 and generally ask you for information about your disability. It's up to you how much detail you give but I would expect them to me sensitive and understanding.

Don't forget that if you are on contribution-based ESA your benefit will be affected by the 12 month time-limit (see the FAQ thread) and this should be considered when deciding whether or not to appeal.

Good luck

Derek