Recommended for support group

[eskimoman]

This post goes hand in hand with another recent post I made re esa.

 

Prior to getting said recent esa50 form I'd had a conversation with a welfare rights chap who came out to my house.

 

After being newly diagnosed with ms I wanted to get some advice on how to keep them (the dwp) in the loop and how best to go about it.

 

I'd already updated the JC (after being called in on a 'wrag' group) and let them know my condition.

The WR guy advised me to write in to esa anyways and update them and suggested that I ask them to move me to support group instead of wrag.

 

Now the only reaction i've had from esa since then is the posted out esa50 form.

I'm not certain that this has happened because I wrote to them or not, though I did specify in the letter that my mental health condition was the same and that the MS was an additional condition and that it wasn't a new claim that I was making.

 

Now I have this esa50 to fill out which ok, at least it will put them fully in the loop (which given the letter i wrote, along with attached note from neurologist re the ms, they should have been anyways!) and at least I can fully clarify all this with them now.

 

My query is this...

Having seen some posts on here regarding moving to 'support group' esa and the probs it can cause re claims I just wanted to ask on here if mentioning the WR guys advice about 'support group' in the letter I send with the esa50 is my best option at this time and is it likely to cause more probs than it solves by mentioning it?

 

I am being treated for hyper tension, anxiety & depression, panic attacks and now ms.

 

The ms makes me feel very fatigued and worn down at times as well as random bouts of muscle spasms, feelings of heat on neck and face and various other symptons too long to note down here and being a recluse anyway and with the added mental health problems i can see why the support group would be a good step for me.

 

I am just wary of 'rocking the boat' as it were as I've read that updating a claim can cause more issues than it solves because of the way dwp handles these things.

[Slatted]

You could have been due another WCA soon anyway as the decision regarding WRAG would be unlikely to be indefinite, or they may have sent it as a result of the informaton you provided....so they may have been sending the waves to rock your boat anyway I'm afraid.....and you are obliged to tell them of every change in your condition so you have done just that....

[eskimoman]

...so they may have been sending the waves to rock your boat anyway I'm afraid.....and you are obliged to tell them of every change in your condition so you have done just that....

 

Thanks slatted, it's whether I should push forward for the SG, as the welfare rights guy advised that concerns me though and whether I should include his advice with a letter when I send in the esa50.

[Slatted]

I personally do not think you can state what the Welfare Rights person said as it is unlikely that he is medically trained and therefore his opinion would be irrelevant to ATOS etc (lets face it they have enough trouble taking on board the opinions of GPs and Consultants!).

 

I would also think twice before trying to indicate the Group that you think you should be placed within as that decision is to be drawn from the information you provide, and any WCA they believe necessary.

 

In fact I would not want to be seen to be telling them their job as it may have the opposite effect!

 

What I meant in my response is that the decision about the group (i.e WRAG or Support) will be included in the process that is apparently underway, as implied by the new form arriving. The information you supply, of a medical nature, both on the form and in any other evidence (ie. specialist report, GP letter) will determine whether DWP believe you should be placed in the Support group, remain in WRAG or (hopefully not, are fit for work and need to consider claiming JSA!!)....

 

Have you seen the descriptors that apply to eiligibilty into the Support Group? You will need to ensure that whatever you provide in evidence shows how you may fit within these....it is as "simple" as that....

[eskimoman]

Ok, thanks for that advice. I'll fill the form out and get it sent off to them.

Edited July 3, 2012 by eskimoman

[Slatted]

Ok, thanks for that advice. I'll fill the form out and get it sent off to them.

 

Good Luck. Hope you get the result you want and deserve. Don't forget you can always appeal if not.....