The differences between a WRAG group and a support group in ESA.

The employment and support allowance (ESA) is made up of two groups, the WRAG group and the Support group, with most people going in to the WRAG group. Its also a benefit that is based on physical health grounds and mental health grounds depending upon which category you fall into.  WRAG stands for work related activity group, and in this group you are assessed as being able for some kind of work. There are also two different types of ESA benefit, that means your claim for ESA can be based on contributions that you have if you have been in employment, or your ESA claim could be reliant upon no contributions at all. This makes a difference as after one year your contributions may run out and your benefit stopped without warning in a lot of cases. If this happens we will deal with that situation in another post.

In most cases you may have been given time off work from your doctor and need to make a claim in order to live while you are off work  sick. ESA (contribution based) is intended for this purpose as it can be looked at again and again by the department. At its most basic- it is a benefit intended for short term illness and not really for long term illness, this is the support groups function, but for now we can focus on the work related activity group and what you can expect if you are placed in that group. Please bear in mind that your claim for ESA is not automatic, you could be turned down and sent back to JSA depending upon what you say is wrong with you and the medical evidence you can provide. Everything about these new changes will be based on evidence and you will be expected to provide evidence, your word won't be taken for anything. Evidence is something to back up your claim and we will deal with what is evidence and what is not in a further post upon this subject.

Returning to the WRAG group and how it differs from the support group in ESA. In the WRAG group, you will be expected to go for work focused interviews. You will have to attend a work focused interview around eight weeks after you have made your claim for ESA. After your initial interview you will then be expected to take these interviews more or less once a month but if you don't and do not have a valid reason your ESA will be sanctioned, and these sanctions are harsh in many cases leaving you with only around ten pence, as 100% of your single person allowance can be taken. When this happens you can apply for a hard ship payment, but you will have to pay these hardship payments back.

If you are claiming for housing or other dependants this element will not be sanctioned but make no mistake, sanctions are harsh on ESA like any other benefit, so it is in your interest to attend these interviews unless you have a valid excuse, like a hospital appointment and you will be expected to provide evidence of this.

If you are placed in a work related activity group then you must have taken part in the work capability assessment test, discussed elsewhere in this blog. These are simple tests carried out by a health professional at the capita assessment centre suitable for you, and last around fifteen minutes based on automated questions, a possible physical examination and the medical evidence provided in our original ESA claim

On the other hand being placed in a support group means that you will not have to attend these work focused interviews, as you will be judged to be too unfit to be able to work. It is much more difficult to be place in this group, and only around 9 percent of people are judged to be in this group after their first assessment where as almost thirty percent of people will be assessed to be in the WRAG group with the remainder sent back to the JSA benefit. In the support group you will receive a bit more money, around five pound per week, at £108 pound, whereas in the WRAG group it is around a fiver less.

What group you are placed in will also have an effect upon DLA if you are in receipt of it. For example if you are on full DLA benefit but judged capable of some work at the assessment phase of ESA this could mean that your benefit for DLA could be looked at again. This should be expected rather than not given any thought to. DLA for most claimants will be changing to PIP (personal independence payments) and that too will be looked at in a further post over the coming weeks.