Work capability assessment questionnaire
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It sounds like your claim is being processed without the questionnaire rather than just cancelled
This has happened to me and I successfully got an award even without it
I think the fact I couldn't fill it out may even have been take into account as evidence of my undependability due to my issues if that makes sense
Just mentioning in case it helps a bit
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Sorry for the slow reply, I had to go out for an hour
I did have a face-to-face yes, but the lady was really nice and mentioned to me that the fact I didn't submit my questionnaire in time would be taken into account
She didn't say whether that would be taken into account to my benefit or my detriment, but I'm guessing the former as I ended up getting put in the "most severe" group
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From what I recall they ask the same questions as are asked in the questionnaire anyway
It's a set of about a dozen generic topics relating to things you might be expected to be able to do at work and you score different amounts of points depending on how much, if at all, you struggle with them. A few of them give you automatic qualification for different award levels (I think one example off the top of my head is if you are prone to uncontrollable aggressive episodes)
Some of them I just answered that I had no issues at all and we moved to the next question, then when a question was relevant to me we'd go into more detail
Some of the questions are quite open as well, so you can just explain if you have any issues, it's not all yes/no questions
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Also, I think you should be able to request a phone appointment if that's helpful
I had to request a face-to-face as I find using the phone hard but I think a phone appointment tends to be the default offering
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It's not as simple as sending you another form because a referral would need to be completed again before that can happen.
When you received the UC50 form in the post it would have told you in the letter what date it would need to have been returned by. Your work coach would not have known this because once they've done the referral it's then out of their hands.
First thing you need to find out is whether the assessment report has been returned to DWP/UC. If it has then they would have completed a paper based assessment. If it hasn't then you need to find out what exactly has happened.
You may get more information if you contact the Health Assessment Advisory Service (HAAS) who are the ones that deal with work capability assessments and they will hopefully give you some information. You can find their contact details here.
Not everyone has a vulnerable marker on their file. For those that do that returning forms can be relaxed because they can proceed without them. For those that don't have this on their file then you can be found fit for work for not returning the form.
If your file had been returned to UC because you didn't return the form then UC would have then needed to contact you to ask why you didn't return the form and you would have needed to give your reasons. It would then be down to a decision maker to decide whether to either find you fit for work for failing to return the form or to send your file back to HAAS for the assessment process to start again.
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Based on what you've said it does sound like your file was returned to UC because you didn't return the form. This means there's no vulnerable marker on your file. It's unlikely that the assessment report would have been returned.
Decisions can take anything up to about 12 weeks, sometimes longer and you said it's been 10-12 weeks. They are correct and you can't be referred for another WCA until a decision maker makes their decision.
I would give it a couple more weeks and if you don't have any joy then contact your local MP and tell them what's happened. Hopefully they will contact UC on your behalf and get things moving again. If a decision maker accepts your reasons for not returning the form your file will be returned to them for an assessment.
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You're welcome. If you don't have a vulnerable marker on your file then they are very strict about returning the form on time and failing to do that could lead to being found fit for work for failing to return. I don't know how often this happens I'm afraid.
If you are found fit for work for this reason then challenging the decision would be based on this, "not returning the form on time" the first step would be for you to request the Mandatory Reconsideration (MR) if that doesn't change the decision then it's onto Tribunal. The Tribunal would be for the same thing. Once they've made their decision if your reasons are accepted then UC must then assess you.
You would then need to send the form, if you haven't already and wait for the assessment. It's a long drawn out process because if the worst happens after DWP make their decision on the WCA and you're found fit for work or found to have LCWRA then it means challenging that decision with another MR and Tribunal.
I don't know how common it is for people to contact their local MP but I do know I often advise this here if UC dig their heals in and not apply the law correctly.
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A vulnerable marker isn't something you can request unfortunately. It is automatically put on by a decision maker. 1.5 years is a very long time to be sending fit notes. Is this your first WCA? if it is and you're eventually found to have LCWRA then you will be owed money from the 4th month after you provided your first fit note.
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It doesn't make a difference if it's a first WCA or not. There's no impact on the outcome.
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You can certainly put in a complaint, it will not affect the outcome of the WCA.
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