ESA WRAG with a baby....help!

[HHH3]

Am hoping there are people here who know a lot about benefits...

I've been on Incapacity Benefit since 2005. Have had to re apply for it every couple of years but each time it was just continued and I never had to attend a medical. I got the letter to change over to ESA, filled in the questionnaire and got a letter this week to say I've been put into WRAG.

I'll be appealing, but even if you take my fitness to work out of the equation, I'm a lone parent and my youngest is 4 months old.

I honestly don't know what to do. I've got to go to interviews etc which I'll do as if I don't I'll lose my money. But how am I supposed to work?

If I was on Income Support I wouldn't be expected to do anything until my youngest is 5. How is it fair that I have to do this just because I'm on ESA?

Sorry this is so long but I'm panicking because I can't afford to lose any money and I don't know what to do.

from what i can work out, people on income support are also being put on esa, i think its just another way the government are using so they can drop benefits. There was a law before so they couldn't reduce tax credits, income support ect, which is why i think it is all going under a different name (universal credit or the loop hole i like to call it) i think they are going to drop all benefits and eventually make it near on impossible to claim them because of all the rules they make up. i believe it was only job seekers and housing benefit they could change before which is why they put a bedroom tax on and a benefit cap, both were taken from housing benefit. Luckily im not effected i'm lucky enough to have a job and be secure, but i do feel sorry for the people who do need benefits. i really hope this government is voted out. all they do is make the rich,richer and the poor, poorer. no thoughts for children ect. My friends son is 29 and was hit by a car at 5 years old he has to have regular surgery on his brain but can just about string a sentence together, his eyesight is really bad and he is deaf in one ear and cannot walk for long distances they have put him on wrag too although i think he won his appeal but he had his mum to rely on. sorry about the rant, it just bugs me, vent over now. i have no idea what you can do, maybe apply for the hardship allowance while your appealing, also you can claim back travel expenses for interviews with them or anywhere they ask you to go, just save receipts for petrol, bus fare, train fare. hope your appeal goes well

I was a LP and also had ill health, and I chose to claim IS instead of ESA because I didn't want to go through the whole ATOS assessments. I think you get less money on IS, but I also got disability premiums as I was getting DLA as well, so it worked out pretty even.

I think if you manage to get assessed into the support group for ESA instead of the work related group, then you won't have to interviews, but it's very hard to get into the support group - you'd probably need to appeal and have a lot of backing from a consultant. In my case, that was just not worth the effort when I could just claim IS without any of that worry.

Even if you do win your appeal, you're expected to be assessed regularly so you might have to appeal several times within the next few years - whereas you could just stay on IS for at least four years without being pressured.

Are you getting help with your appeal? CAB can help, or there are organisations linked to specific disabilities which sometimes help too. I think it's worth asking the CAB anyway to see if you can claim IS while you're waiting for an appeal, you should meet the criteria as you can easily prove you're a LP.

So sorry I haven't been back before now!

I went to CAB who were fantastic. They spent a lot of time double checking things to make sure the info they were giving me was correct.

Basically, they've advised me not to appeal at the mo. While DS is under 1 I don't need to go to any interviews and until he's 5 I don't need to do any work related activity. So they've said to leave it as it is and ask them to reassess when he's coming up to 5. Any problems in the meantime I just need to go back to them and they'll sort it.

Massive weight off my shoulders