purplestar wrote: I began the process of transferring from income support with the incapacity supplement to ESA in November. I filled in all the questions according per your online, guides and included medical evidence in the form of a letter from the specialist I see.
On Wednesday, I received a reply from DWP putting me in the WRAG- I have CFS/ME and have been rated in the severe group. I received NO medical & ticked the box saying I couldn't walk more than 50m ( I use a wheelchair pushed by my mum as I don't have the upper body strength for a manual wheelchair).
I need the money to pay for all the medications I use and specialists bills- i realise I’d still be entitled to the money but I’m really worried the work related activities are going to be detrimental to my health, causing a serious relapse. (I’m just showing small signs of recovering from a year-long relapse now)
So I'm considering appealing I've been reading discussions on here but please bear with me as I suffer from brain fog and getting a handle on all this is posing a big challenge.
So for clarification can someone tell me if I'm at least on the right lines:
1. I need to get advice from DIAL or CAB to help me do a risk assessment of if an appeal is worth it
2. I need to let DWP know that I want to appeal (if get go ahead from step 1) Then they'll send me details on how they made their decision etc?
3.I would receive ESA assessment rate whilst the appeal was underway?
4. I could submit extra documentation such as a report from my occupational therapist & GP (if they're willing)???
5. That even if I did win the appeal the DWP could review my case at a later time, say 6 months and put me back to square one?
Have I missed anything important out or misunderstood anything?
Thank you
Hi PS,
Please do not post multiple posts.
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All moderators are volunteers, and are not available to help with queries all the time, they all have medical conditions themselves to deal with.
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I will delete your duplicate posts, and attempt to answer your queries ASAP.
bro58
Hi PS,
In reponse to your questions :
1. Yes it may be advisable if you have any concerns, to gain a risk assessment on appealing.
2. The decision to appeal will always be yours to make, you must do this within 1 month of the date, of the WRAG award letter, using the GL24 form, which can be downloaded from the link on this page :
How to submit an appeal Once you appeal, an automatic reconsideration will be carried out by a different DWP DM, you have around a 4 week window of opportunity here to have the decision changed, if not, it is sent forward to the appeals service by the DWP. You can withdraw your appeal at any stage, and will continue to receive the WRAG rate of ESA whilst appealing.
See also :
How long to hear an appeal? Do I have to attend WFIs while I appeal? 3. Answered above, you would continue to receive WRAG rate.
4. Yes , within the 4 week window mentioned above, if you wish to have it taken into account at reconsideration stage.
5. All ESA recipients will be subject to regular reassessments, no matter which group they are in, there are no "indefinate awards" and no exemptions.
See :
How often will I be reviewed I would advise that you review the ESA and Appeals sections of our FAQ's, here :
FAQ’s And our ESA Claims Guide Jan 2012 from here :
ESA Guides bro58
