Question about reconsideration

KD

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I am afraid that the advice you have received from the JC+ advisor is only partially correct.

You don't say when the Decision was made to place your partner in the WRAG was made?

Providing it is less than 13 months, then you can still make a Late Appeal to be placed in the Support Group, this of course assumes that you can show that they met the Support Group Criteria when they were originally assessed, any deterioration since then cannot be considered.

If the Decision was before 28 October 2013 then you can lodge the appeal directly with the DWP, if it was on or after this date then you must first request a Mandatory Reconsideration, have a look at our ESA MR and Appeal guide for more information.

www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/help-for-claimants/esa

Lodging an appeal should prevent your partner being forwarded to the Work Programme.

If you cannot show they met the SG criteria when originally assessed or more than 13 months have passed since the Decision was made, then you can ask for your partner to be re-assessed due to a deteriorated condition, this will likely result in a new ESA50 being issued and probably a requirement for a face to face assessment.

I would not expect this request will not stop your partner being forwarded to the Work Programme, however, the JC+ advisor may still be able decide not to make the recommendation.

You should make the request for re-assessment in writing to the DWP office that normally deals with her claim, whilst timescales should come down as the year progresses, re-assessments at the moment are regularly taking 12 months or more.

If you have any questions on the above, please reply to this post and we will do our best to help you.

Gordon