UC LCWRA and telephone assessment

[Pau]

Hi everyone just wondering if UC maximum prognosis date is 12 months or like ESA can you be extended / delayed,
I’m pretty sure my prognosis was 12 months Feb 2019 but haven’t had any forms through yet . Also is it possible to have a telephone assessment with HCP? I’m sure I read somewhere that it was being done .

Thanks in advance for any response .

[nukecad]

The WCA with UC is exactly the same as with ESA, although being a different computer the referral process may be slightly different but shouldn't be that different.

I believe that CHDA are backlogged on reassessments, but it's hard to be sure because the DWP only publish time figures for first time assessments.
The figures for start of claim to decision has gone up from 13 weeks to 22 weeks, which to me says reassessments will be even longer.

Telephone assessments have always been technically possible in law, they just never considered doing them.
It would be difficult to ensure they were actually talking to the claimant.
They would rather do a paper assessment before a telephone one.

[worried33]

Postcode lottery, some areas have effectively no backlog, others have a big one, this also affects the chances of been deffered (no assessment at all, just prognosis extension instead).

In my area 3 ATOS AC's got merged into one for Maximus. This had a noticeable impact on waiting times, under ATOS I never waited more than 2-3 weeks, my first (and so far only) Maximus assessment I waited 11 months.

[nukecad]

I did post something last month that split it down by region.

If I remember correctly it was the South East that had the longest times for NEW assessments. Which will obviously apply to reassessments as well.

[Pau]

Thanks for the replies . I’m in the SE ( London ) been on LCWRA for a few years and they’ve never been late with my reassessment so I’m expecting the UC50 and day now , was just hoping it might be deferred. If it’s computerised I can’t see it being late.

[nukecad]

Whilst it is computerised, the prognosis date on the computer can be changed. That's how they do defferals, they simply change that date.

TBH I'm not sure if it's totally automatic at the moment.
It used to flag up to your Work Coach each morning who to refer for a WCA, (So they could refer - or if CHDA were backlogged just change the date to a few months ahead).
Then it became that the computer did the referal itself thus saving the WC's time.
But that automatic referal may have been turned off in light of backlogs and it's back to WC flagging again?

Anyway here is that post with the regional breakdowns, rember those are for a First Time WCA and reassessments are not the same priority but it gives an idea of how busy they are in each region.
As said above those times had climbed by around 50-60% in six months or so. They are from last June so I expect that they may have climbed even more by now.
https://www.youreable.com/forums/sho...ghlight=region

[Pau]

Thanks nukecad, as with everyone else it’s just the thought of having to fill in another form and then sending all your evidence and then waiting for the possibility of a WCA ( I’ve been really fortunate so far in that since I’ve been on UC LCWRA 3 years I’ve not had to have one because I’ve had pretty good evidence but I’m pretty sure they’ll want to see me at some point ). I suppose it’s just a waiting game for me and everyone else. Causes much more stress though .

Thanks for replying

[druid]

i moved from ESA/SG to UC/LWCRA over 2years ago , i was told at the time i was due an acessment but have heard nothing since .
as a single person moving onto UC increased the amount i recieved and i would not move back on to ESA given the choice.
i dont see any difference between UC/ESA other than one is online and the other involves letters and phone calls.

[Pau]

Thanks Druid , they've sent me out reassessment forms well in advance since I've been on benefits ( 3 years ) . Not sure if I should just call them up and ask them ? Although what happened in the previous 2 years is that I called them up about another matter and 1 week later I received the UC50 so I'm not sure if my calling then prompted the sending out of the form .

[nukecad]

I called them up about another matter and 1 week later I received the UC50 so I'm not sure if my calling then prompted the sending out of the form .

With UC-LCWRA that is entirely possible.
Something I hadn't considered above, for certain things UC-LCWRA works differently to ESA Support Group.

If you have LCWRA in UC then you don't have a Work Coach, and so nobody at DWP is looking at your journal on a regular basis.

So if the computer flags that it's time to refer for reassessment (rather than automatically doing the referal itself) nobody is going to see that flag until they have cause to look at your journal for some other reason.
(I'll have to try and remember that whan answering similar questions in future).

This could well be why you haven't had a UC50 yet - there may be a flag on your journal, but nobody at the DWP has read it yet.

That shouldn't happen with UC-LCW claimants because they do have a work coach who is supposed to look at the journal regularly.

If you have UC-LCWRA then it's always better to phone them with problems rather than putting notes on your journal, because the journal is not being read regularly.