Doctor won't write fit note WTC>UC

mashedtottie

Hi. I have received pip and wtc for 10 years after suffering a traumatic brain injury. I'm also medicated for adhd. 4 years ago I was hit by a car and as a result have athritis and compressed disks in my neck which gives me constant pain in my arm. I try to work as often as I can but I can only take it on a day to day basis as due to the TBI I have daily neuro fatigue and headaches. The only work that I've found that fits around life is working for delivery application gig work, which are a couple of hours at a time and can be taken last minute and cancelled last minute.

I explained this to my doctor who has refused to write me a sick note as he said it would be contradictory to write a sick line if I am actively working.

I applied and received an advance yesterday of £500, this is around what my WTC amounted to so I believe I am receiving the transitional protection. I wasn't sure whether I was to receive LCW or LCWRA, so I messaged my the advisor in the journal explaining my circumstance and wasn't sure if I was to provide sick notes, they replied that I should send a sick note. It's not in my commitments at the moment. (this was before I asked the doctor for the sick note)

My journal updated to say that I am not gainfully self employed, I'm not sure what this means but I have explained the self employed situation in my application.

Will I lose my transitional protection if I cannot receive a sick note? Will I be unable to receive LCWRA without a sick note? 

I'm also medicated for anxiety and depression, I'm helping my dads care who had a brain haemorrhage just over a year ago and was left disabled so the additional stress of all this is compounding. Any guidance would be great, thanks.

poppy123456

The advance payment will be an estimate of what your maximum UC amount is. This doesn’t mean there’s TP included. They or you wont know what that figure will be until you receive your first statement, which will be about 1 month after you submitted your claim.

As you are self employed you will need to attend a gateway appointment with a work coach. At this appointment you will need to provide information about your self employment.

As this is a first claim for UC you will have a 12 month start up period which means you won’t be affected by the minimum income floor during that time.

If you want to go through the work capability assessment then yes you will need to provide fit notes and continue to provide them until a decision is made in your work capability assessment. See link 
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-if-you-have-a-disability-or-health-condition-quick-guide/universal-credit-if-you-have-a-disability-or-health-condition

If your GP is refusing to give a fit note then I would speak to a different GP. 

Albus_Scope

Hiya @mashedtottie and welcome to the community. 

I'm sorry to hear your GP is being uncooperative, I agree with Poppy and you should definitely try and speak to a different GP. 

mashedtottie

Hey, thanks for the replies. I phoned and tried to get another appointment with a doctor but the reception are refusing to book one since I spoke to the doctor about the same issue two days ago.

Are you allowed to work during the assessment period? The doctor says I can't get a sick note if I work any hours, I can't apply for lcwra without a sick note but you can work while you're on lcwra. I find this really confusing

poppy123456

Yes, you're allowed to work while waiting for a work capability assessment. I do understand why your GP is refusing to give you a fit note if you're saying you're unable to work, when you're already working.

However, they can give a fit note to say that they only advise X amount of hours per week because of your health conditions. Maybe they will be a little more helpful if you ask for this, rather than a fit note saying you're unable to work. 

Having said that, it's not only a GP that can provide fit notes now, they can be issued from either a nurse, pharmacist, physiotherapist or occupational therapist as well. https://www.nhs.uk/common-health-questions/caring-carers-and-long-term-conditions/can-i-get-a-fit-note-without-seeing-a-healthcare-professional/#:~:text=A%20fit%20note%20must%20be,pharmacist%2C%20physiotherapist%20or%20occupational%20therapist.

Hannah_Alumni

@mashedtottie Welcome to the community! 

As Poppy said, you could ask for a fit note. Please let us know how you get on! 

mashedtottie

Hey thanks for the replies again. I didn't ask to be signed off sick. I explained to the doctor that I receive working tax credits due to my health conditions restricting me from working full time or regularly. I said that I was moving from wtc to uc and needed a sick note to back this up. I'll put it down to him being ignorant of the benefit system, just another example of how flawed the system is when there is obviously no information sharing. Or if UC provided some information to the service users on differing sick notes there wouldn't be this confusion.  My mum managed to get me an appointment for next week where she'll accompany me with an advocate from headway. Thanks again for the information, I didn't know I could ask for a line explaining I can work with limited capability hopefully I'll get somewhere next week.   

Hannah_Alumni

Glad to hear you have an appointment and an advocate for support. I hope it goes well!