iB TO WRAG WITHOUT MEDICAL OR BEING INFORMED

I was advised today by telephone that I have been placed in WRAG FROM INCAPACITY BENEFIT and have to attend my first work related interview in two weeks time. I filled in a Medical questionnaire from Atos last May and had heard nothing since! Is this right ? I have Multiple Sclerosis and have been claiming benefit since 1991 and it certainly isn't getting any better! I have been told I will be reassessed in Nov 2015 but will need to periodically attend interviews. Should I just go along with this or is there something I should do to get into the Support Group, which I thought I would get placed in. Jobcentre apologised that I had not been informed last November by Atos, but surely that is not good enough? There is no way I can see how I could work as I never know from one day to the next how I am going to be, sometimes in pain and/or fatigued. I would appreciate any help anyone could give or guidance - thankyou.

Hi and welcome to the forum. Assuming that you are also new to the site, you should find that thgis FAQ helps you find your way around.

Welcome to Benefits and Work

You are entitled to be notified of this decision in writing. You have until one month after the date of the decision letter in which to get the appeal process started, by requesting a mandatory reconsideration, if you believe that you meet at least one of the Support Group criteria.

Mandatory reconsideration FAQs

Qualifying for the Support Group

Once a mandatory reconsideration has been carried out, if the decision remains the same, you would be free to submit a formal appeal. You should be aware of the potential dangers of appealing/requesting a reconsideration..

Is there any risk to challenging a decision?

Meanwhile you would still be required to take part in Work Focussed Activities. It might be possible to get these carried out over the phone but this is entirely at the discretion of the JobCentre adviser. Your first step should be to phone the adviser and explain the problems you would have attending. Any WFA/WFIss should take into account your difficulties.

Work Focussed Interviews

Do I have to attend WFIs while I appeal?

-If you are on contributory ESA, this will continue for 365 days only when in the WRAG. After this you would need to be assessed for income-related ESA if you think you might qualify for it. Otherwise payment would stop and you would continue on ESA but with just NI credits being given (towards your state retirement pension). Once payments had stopped you would not be required to carry out any further WFAs. You should still expect to be subject to periodic reassessments. Payment would restart if you were placed into the Support Group at any future reassessment.

12 Month Limit for ESA(CB)

If you chose to appeal this decision and are put into the Support Group your time in WRAG would be written off and payments would continue.

As a side issue, I see that your username might be your real name. If you wish to change this you can do so easily by following the advice in this FAQ.

My full name is showing, how can I stop it?

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