ESA WRAG rate and appeal waiting time

Got two questions that I hope the mods or anyone else can answer. A little background about my situation. I failed my WCA last year (0 points) and am awaiting an appeal date, I was in the ESA support group since 2014.

AFAIK, Claimants on ESA support group that fail their WCA assessments either go directly onto the lower rate of ESA WRAG or JSA depending how many points they get. These rates are the same amount since April last year. I was on JSA for a bit but am on the ESA appeal assessment rate currently.

But there seem to be rules that apply to claimants who were on ESA before the new rates came in that I am unsure about. So this is my first question: if I am put on ESA WRAG after my appeal will I get the old higher rate of WRAG or the lower new rate?

My second question is how long on average are people waiting to have their appeal heard? I'm in London and have been waiting almost 26 weeks now. When I phoned my tribunal centre they said there's a 35 week average waiting time.

Thanks for the swift reply as ever Gordon. Yes my claim was made before the cut-off so it's good to know I will get the full WRAG rate it I win.

As for the phoning the venue, I have done that before I first posted. The waiting times are terrible and keep getting pushed back because of problems with the appeals to be heard before mine. I'm sure others are hearing th same thing.. What's really worrying is that there's no time limit on how long to wait.