Taking a friend to a WFI (Work-focused interview)

Can someone attending a WFI take a ‘friend’ in with them?

My brother has been placed in ESA WRAG and has submitted an appeal (not yet acknowledged) to be placed in the Support Group. He has already received a summons to his first WFI next Monday.

As one of the grounds for the appeal is that he suffers anxiety attacks and cannot regularly get to any sort of event, he’s in a Catch-22: if he turns up, then he’s weakened one of his main grounds for appeal.
But I don’t want to see him have his benefits cut so, in order to make sure he gets there, I plan to take a day off work, travel 120 miles and take him.

Hence my questions:

Can I go into the interview with him?

Is this a right, or something that can be refused?

What part can I take in the interview?

Any advice on the best way to play it?

Ring them and ask for a telephone WFI and explain the reasons why. Some advisors will accept that based on the information provided and some will postpone all WFI's whilst you are appealing the outcome.

Don't delay, ring them in the morning and see if you can get it sorted on the phone,

good luck, Lisa

philidor00 wrote:

Can someone attending a WFI take a ‘friend’ in with them?

My brother has been placed in ESA WRAG and has submitted an appeal (not yet acknowledged) to be placed in the Support Group. He has already received a summons to his first WFI next Monday.

As one of the grounds for the appeal is that he suffers anxiety attacks and cannot regularly get to any sort of event, he’s in a Catch-22: if he turns up, then he’s weakened one of his main grounds for appeal.
But I don’t want to see him have his benefits cut so, in order to make sure he gets there, I plan to take a day off work, travel 120 miles and take him.

Hence my questions:

Can I go into the interview with him?

Is this a right, or something that can be refused?

What part can I take in the interview?

Any advice on the best way to play it?

Hi p00,

The answer is "yes" a claimant who is required to attend WFI's can have someone else accompany them to offer support pertaining to any needs/limitations that they may have resulting from their medical conditions.

Have you thought of contacting the WFI Advisor, regarding your brother's limitations, it is possible to carry out WFI's over the phone, and there is even the chance of it being deferred or carried out in his home.

However, none of the three options that I have mentioned are a right, and are completely at the discretion of the Job Centre Plus WFI Advisior.

bro58

My MHP called the personal advisor for me to say I was appealing and too ill to go to my first wfi. The personal advisor has postponed the wfi for two months.

Hopefully they will delay again if I am still in the appeals process.

But if they won't and my GP contacted them and said I was too ill to go, do you know if they would they take note of that?

Thanks.