Should i have been placed in the Support Group and not the WRAG

[spideyman]

I asked last time but was only partly answered.

Ive had a few brain haemorrhages and the last time i was placed in the WRAG. Should i have been put in the Support Group where its more money?

Many thanks.

[sealiphone]

The only person who can give you an opinion on that is a Welfare Benefit adviser and you'd need a telephone or face to face interview.

[headwayuk Partner Headway in reply to sealiphone]

Hi Sealiphone,

Just to let you know we removed the link in your reply as it seemed to go to a shared folder with a number of different files in. Perhaps you could post again if you get chance?

Thanks as always for your input.

Best wishes,

Headway

[sealiphone in reply to headwayuk]

This is the best I can find, it's a pdf download, you can find it by this Google search:

Newcastle Welfare Rights ESA support group criteria

It should be number one on search results, hope that does the job.

[sealiphone]

Sorry I should have said you only have one month from the decision letter date, to raise a dispute.

[charlieagain]

quite often I think it can be legitametely argued either way. I think brain haemorrhages can for sure mean that you should be in support group, depending upon current state of health. I think Im in the support group because mini-strokes etc have led to severe depression, OCD, anxiety. so is mix of mental health and "physical"/ neurological health problems.

Might be worth you appealing and getting someone like CAB to help with appeal. I think sometimes they know that someone should be in support group but initially put them in WRAG and hope that they dont complain.

good luck with it. seems like never eneding battle sometimes/.

R

[Shwdmae]

Hi SpideyMan. I would ring the headway helpline. They would be able to help. The difference between the WRAG and the support group is that in the WRAG you have to attend a 6 monthly appointment with the job centre, in the support group you don’t. So it all depends on how your brain haemorrhages have impacted your ability to work. Can you still function in the same way as before your brain injury? Can you work full time, part time or not at all? Also what medical evidence is there to support this. These are the questions you need to ask yourself. If you don’t have evidence, I would get it from your GP or neurologist etc. It is same evidence for your ESA. I was put in the WRAG and realised that later that I should have been in the support group. I sent a letter with the evidence and was easily moved to the support group. I hope that this helps?

[spideyman]

I volunteer in a food bank for a few hours a week. I DONT get paid to do it

[Shwdmae in reply to spideyman]

That is okay that you volunteer. Being incthe support group does not mean that you are not allowed to earn something at all. If the work, paid or not, is therapeutic that is okay. You need to declare it. Your local Community volunteer services can help with this. I letter from a GP or specialist would help.

[spideyman in reply to Shwdmae]

I’m not in the support group. I’m in the work related activity group

[spideyman]

I volunteer at the food bank. I don’t get paid but I’m down £30 a week as I’m in the WRAG. It wouldn’t be so bad if I got paid