LCWRA Review help

jay_smyth

Hi there

i am on uc currently with lcw element which was awarded in nov 2019
since then my conditions have deteriorated significantly and I am now also claiming PIP. I have updated health chances since 2019 in my journal and again at the weekend added a note to my journal to ask how I go about seeing if I am entitled to LCWRA due to my ill health. I have received a reply stating that getting PIP does not automatically qualify you for LCWRA (which I already knew) and that I was actually due for a reassessment 14months after my initial assessment in November 19 which means my reassessment should have been January 2021 but that due to covid they are behind with these and I will be contacted in due course.
so it is almost three years since I should have had my review, and they are just telling me still to wait, is there anything else I can do about this and if and when I do finally get reassessment do they have to pay me back pay as the delay is their fault?

poppy123456

Did you actually "report a change of circumstances" then click "health conditions" and report a change this way? Once you've done this I would expect it to prompt you to provide fit notes and continue to do so until a decision is made on a new work capability assessment. You will then be referred for another work capability assessment and you'll be sent the UC50 form to fill in and return.

If you didn't and you weren't advised to do that then that's very poor indeed. I'm assuming you've taken a look at the descriptors for LCWRA? you can see them here. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/limited-capability-for-work-related-activity

jay_smyth

Hi poppy 
thanks for your reply. So I added a journal message in feb 21 saying I believed I should be on LCWRA not just LWC which I just basically got fobbed off about, and told to keep sending sick notes in even though on my LWC award in nov 19 I was told I no longer need to send in sick notes and so haven't done since.

So then on 19 May 22 I added a health condition that impacts my ability to work or look for work and backdated it to July 21 as this was when the condition started but I was unaware I had to report a change in this way until that point and to be honest with my health was not in any fit state to either.then 20 oct 22 I had a commitments review fone call and went through everything with the agent who agreed I was unable to work and it would be unlikely I would be able to get back into employment with my conditions, then finally fast forward to 21 oct 23 where I reported another health condition and also added a journal entry to ask again why it was I’m on LWC not LWCRA. 

I have had a reply on the journal this afternoon and the agent has scheduled a telephone review appt for me for Friday to advise me of what action I can take but she did also say she had no idea how long the reassessment could take and that it was a totally separate department who were uncontactable so I will see what she suggest Friday

I also can’t seem to find any way either to check my health history on universal credit in order to make sure all of my conditions are reported are there are quite a few is this a thing that you can do online does anyone know?

poppy123456

Weren't you asked to provide any fit notes at any point when you reported a change of circumstances? As i previously advised when you report a change in your health condition then usually it prompts an action on your "to do list" to provide a fit note. (sick note)

jay_smyth said:

I have had a reply on the journal this afternoon and the agent has scheduled a telephone review appt for me for Friday to advise me of what action I can take but she did also say she had no idea how long the reassessment could take and that it was a totally separate department who were uncontactable so I will see what she suggest Friday

That's clear to me that this person hasn't got a clue what she's talking about. They need to refer you for a work capability assessment. Once this is done you'll receive a letter on your journal telling you that you've been referred. A few days later you will receive the UC50 form in the post.

You need to ask them to refer you for a work capability assessment but as i advised, you'll need fit notes.

jay_smyth said:

I also can’t seem to find any way either to check my health history on universal credit in order to make sure all of my conditions are reported are there are quite a few is this a thing that you can do online does anyone know?

Just log in to your journal and then click "journal" on there you will be able to see all the journal entries, as you scroll down you'll see a green box on the left that says "show more" click that and it will show any other entries there is.

jay_smyth

Nope not been asked at any point for fit note and my to do list hasn’t come up asking for one either 
I will make sure I ask for a work capability assessment when she calls me on Friday and also ask her to check my condition listed as I can look back on my journal and see when I entered the health condition but it doesn’t state what the actual condition is 

thanks for all your help 😊