UC Awarded LCFW and WRA

[phaedra]

Hi, my daughter received a letter about a month ago saying that following her assessment they'd found she had limited capability for work and work related activities.

It said that she may be eligble for extra money due to her health or disabilities and that would show up in her statements.

I thought that if you were found to have limited capability etc the extra payment was automatic??


Her August payment details are now on her account and there is still no mention of any extra payment, she's still on the standard single rate.

The letter also says that extra money will be awarded from 3 months after the date she told them of her health conditions and that if it means they owe her some money a note would appear in her journal after 7 days.

So at this point there's been no note and no extra payment.

I've told her to put a note in her journal and ask what the position is.


As for me I'm now a pensioner and around £400 a month worse off as pension Credit still haven't sorted my payments out, even though I put the applicatiuon in a good 4 months before I turnedd 66 in June.

Ringing them is useless they have no idea what's happening or even if enayone has looked at it. I'm now promised a call back within 10 working days

Apologies for any typos, I'm still not 100% following a car accident 2yrs ago. My memory and coordination is not what it was and I frequently hit the wrong keys and even door frames and the side of the washer or dryer when loading clothes!

[nukecad]

Hi Phaedra,

When did she first start giving them Fit Notes? What date?
Was it from the start of the UC claim or was she claiming UC before going sick?
If she was claiming before going sick then what is her monthly UC period date, or her payment date. (presumably sometime this week if she's just got here statement).

As you have been told, there is a 3 month 'waiting' period before LCWRA is added to UC. (Similar to the 13 weeks 'waiting' in ESA).

The rule with a new UC claim is that LCWRA element is payable from the start of the 4th month following the claim and Fit Note.

With an existing UC claim where someone then goes LCWRA it's payable from the start of the 4th full month following the date when the Fit Notes were first provided. (So depending on just when your UC dates are, and when you put the first note in during that period, it could be more because the remainder of the month wher you provide the notes doesn't count in the 3 months waiting).

If you can give me those dates I can work out when she is due to get her first LCWRA payment from and if there is any backpayment due.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Pension Credit claims are in a mess.

They were already backlogged and running late with getting new PC claims into payment.

And then some bright spark had the idea to do a push to get everyone who was entitled to PC but hadn't claimed to all apply at once.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e...cost-of-living
That happened last month, and of course they didn't increase resources to cope with all the new claims that it generated.

So now they are horendously backlogged in sorting out all the new Pension Credit claims that resulted.

On Rightsnet we are currently seeing reports of up to six months wait between claiming Pension Credit and getting the first payment.
And that's claims that were made in Jan/Feb, well before that new push.

As you say phoning them just gets you clueless guesses and vague promises.

[phaedra]

Thanks

She started sending in fit notes July 20th 2021 and she was already claiming UC

She also says there's a gap from August 2021 to Jan 2022 when no fit notes were sent in as they didn't ask her for them.

Her payments are made on the 6th of the month.

[nukecad]

I'll work out the backpay later, sat in the pub at the minute with a 'mitherer' distracting me. (You always get one).

I don't think the missing fit notes matter, there was a period when they stopped requiring them because of covid.
From what you say she will be owed backpay, they are probably just being slow to calculate it.

A note on the journal under the 'payment' heading is a good way to give them a kick, that's supposed to be why you get the statement 7 days before payment. so that you can query it.

[nukecad]

With payment on the 6th her monthly AP starts at the end of the month.

The first fit note was 20th July 2021 so the 3 waiting months were Aug, Sep, and Oct.
LCWRA is payable starting with her Nov 2021 payment.

£343.63 each for Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr.
£354.28 each for May, Jun, July.

£3,124.62 Total backpayment is due.

However there is a caveat about the sicknote requirements.
Does she still have them for the period where UC didn't ask for them?

Fom what I've found although they weren't asking to see them at the time, you should still have got them.
I believe that what was put on the journal at the time was something like:

Due to coronavirus, I’m unable to check your fit note.
I trust the information is correct and you’re still unable to work. If this is not correct or, your circumstances have changed please contact us through your journal.
Keep your fit note as you may need to show it in the future.

There's a bit of debate on whether fit notes are actually required in such circumstances, especially where LCWRA is subsequently awarded.
But from some posts on rightsnet they were asking to see them before backpaying LCWRA.

If UC do ask to see them now and she hasn't still got them, or never got them, she could ask her GP for copies, or backdated fit notes, to cover the required period.

[phaedra]

Thank you very much

I'll be seeimg her later today and will pass the information on.

[phaedra]

I knew there'd be a problem

She got a reply on her journal saying there's a new version of the award letter which they sent her.

It's dated for today and now says she has limited capability for work but not work related activity ??????

It also says you may get etra money because you have limited capability for work.

The work coach says the original letter was wrong and filed incorrectly and that this new letter is correct.


So I assume that as her claim was made after 2017 she won't now get any extra payment without the WRA ??

[nukecad]

Gobsmacked,
I have never heard of that happening, TBH it sounds like bull and the sort of stupid thing a WC would come up with when 'acting' as a DM.

I'm not saying that they can't do it, they can review and revise an award at anytime.
But come on, only weeks after making an award and sending out an award letter the WC suddenly says it was wrong.
I'd want a better explanation than that and from someone more senior.


I'd be requesting a MR of the decision to reduce the award such a short time after it was made and notified.

They will try to say there was no such decision to reduce the award and so nothing to MR - but someone made a decision and sent out the original letter, then someone made a new decision to send out a new letter with a lower award.
That's 2 decisions and they contradict each other, so they should be reconsidered.

I'd also be asking for a FULL DETAILED explanation of what they are playing at, in particular just why they have revised their decision after already issuing an award letter.
I'd want copies of the Assessors report, the original Decision Makers report, and any second/revised Decision Makers report.

Then I'd also do a seperate Subject Access Request for any and all information, internal messages, and documents relating to the assessment, the decision, and the revised decision.

Personally I'd be looking to take this to tribunal if needed.
She should get a local advisor helping her who can escalate things if UC try to ignore the request for MR (a known UC problem/tactic).

A letter to your MP about the DWP 'arbitarily' changing the award only weeks after it had been notified could also be a good idea.

[phaedra]

Gobsmacked sums it up nicely

I'll pass this on to her, I have copies of both letters, they were sent to her by email in PDF format.

I'll try and find someone to help her with this and start an MR.

Once again many thanks, your help in invaluable

[nukecad]

PS. I'm sure you can think of another word for WC - for some of them it seems appropriate.