LCWRA Advice please, very confused

Cubscougar6983

Good afternoon everyone

Im new on here and im currently writing on behalf of my partner who has, what we see as, a tricky situation with his LCWRA. Ill try to explain from the beginning.

In August 2020 he was moved onto UC and advised to make an application for LCW(RA).  This went ahead and he had his assessment in January 2021, and was awarded LCW for 18 months in February 2021.  

He had a work coach, who continuously told him that he should try for LCWRA as his condition was clearly worsening.  They advised him that there was a backlog and that the work capability assessment would be later than August 2022 when it should have been done  

This continued for several months, being advised he would get an assessment and that his conditions were sufficient for LCWRA, until in March 2023, when he was advised that he would be getting a new work coach.  No new work coach was assigned to him and he was told that they would be in touch ‘in due course’.

After a few months of no contact, in July 2023, he rang CHDA who advised he was not on the system and he should ring DWP, DWP advised him to ring CHDA because they dealt with all the details of benefits.

His condition makes it incredibly difficult to initiate and make contact with people, so he waited until January 2024 when he was assigned a new work coach.  This work coach advised he was not on LCW as his claim had expired, and needed to provide fit notes, which he has done, and they have run concurrently since then.

He was also advised to declare new health conditions which he did, and the fit notes echoed this.  He was asked to report new conditions by the work coach, he chased this up asking if it had been done by the work coach, to which he was told that the work coach had contacted CHDA for a re-referral as the claim had expired.  The LCW was still showing on his claim because he was due a reassessment.  He was advised that they had not referred him yet in March 2024.  

He had several messages back and forth with his work coach which are all very confusing as to whether it was a re-referral or a re-assessment.

He finally received a message end May 2024 that he had been referred for a work capability assessment.

He sent his UC50 off and it was received at the beginning of June 2024

He had his telephone assessment 2 weeks ago and is now been awarded LCWRA, but has been told there is a 3 month waiting period for the money and there will be no backpay.

Can anyone please advise what to do next, I phoned to make a mandatory reconsideration yesterday but we are unsure if this has gone through as I was told there was a problem with his journal messages not being read.

Its all very messy and complicated and any advice would be incredibly gratefully received.

Thank you

poppy123456

The LCW doesn't expire or end, it continues until a new decision says otherwise. As he reported changes to his health condition then the extra money is paid from the assessment period in which he reported the changes.

There's no waiting period here because he already had LCW.

What date exactly did he provide his fit note earlier this year? and what date do you usually receive your money each month?

May I ask who advised you that there's a waiting period for the extra money?

Cubscougar6983

Thank you for your reply Poppy

He declared his fit note on 27th February 2024 and it was completed by an agent on 28th February 2024.

He usually receives his money on 28th of each month.

He was sent a message from a case manager at Preston Service Centre yesterday stating 'From what I can see your LCWRa has been awarde from 16/9/24 with the relevent period being applied, which is 3 months, so 16/9-16/10, 16/10-16/11 and 16/11-16/12, your assessment period end 21st of each month so you should get your first payment award in your december statement. No backdated have been advised need to be paid by the medical assessor, apologies'

That is the exact message sent to him yesterday.

Thank you😁

Jimm_Scope

Hey @Cubscougar6983, welcome to the community 😊 I can see Poppy has already answered your question. Just let us know if there's anything else we can help with or if you've any other questions just ask away!

Cubscougar6983

Thank you, we're just unsure what the message he got yesterday meant, and where do we go from here 🤔

Lauren29

Poppy is correct. It may be a good idea to get some advice from a local advice agency. I had a similar case with one of my clients. He was LCW and was then diagnosed with an additional health condition. He reported this and was sent for another assessment which resulted in LCWRA. UC then tried to make him wait 3 months for the additional payment. When we used his journal to submit an MR this was ignored by UC who simply told him again via his journal that he needed to wait three months. We then made a complaint as the MR had been ignored and the issue was resolved. I have also had another very similar case as has a colleague. It appears that UC staff don't understand their own regulations.

Cubscougar6983

Thank you for your help Lauren, what local advice agencies would you recommend, can Citizens Advice help?

Also does anyone know if there is a possibility of back pay from earlier when they are saying the LCW expired?

He has also just noticed that when he updated his health conditions as worsened, it was Februrary 2024, but when he goes into it, it says it was accepted March 2023, when he stopped having a work coach.

Its all baffling to me, cant understand what they have done.

Thank you all for your time and advice x

Kimmy87

You can find local help through this link:

https://advicelocal.uk/welfare-benefits

poppy123456

At the moment I don't think there's any need to contact any advice agency because they'll only advise you what I advised and there's no waiting period.

The advice you had was from a UC agent and they are often incorrect with the advice they give. They are not responsible for producing your monthly statements and the assessors are definitely not responsible for paying the extra money. It's actually quite funny the advice they give because I'm sure most of the time they just make it up as they go along.

It's a case managers responsibility to produce the statement each month. His first payment will be for assessment period 22nd Feb to 21st March and first payment will be 28th March.

The extra money may not be included in your payment this month due to the decision only being made recently but I'd advise you to check. If it isn't there then they will owe 1 extra month.

Money owed will be paid as a separate payment and often takes quite a few weeks to pay it.

If the extra element isn't included this month then put a message onto his journal and ask about the LCWRA element and tell them it wasn't included this month.

So to be clear, I'd advise you to wait before doing anything else to see if the extra money is there this month.

Cubscougar6983

Thank you so much Poppy, I'll keep you posted on what happens over the next few days, it's wonderful to have so much support and advice x

poppy123456

You're very welcome.

Cubscougar6983

Hi,

my partner received his statement and his award is on it, thank you so much.

He is panicking now that maybe they owe him backpay and havent told him. He has tried to contact his case manager but there is a problem with his journal messages getting through, he phoned up but the person on the phone wasnt helpful as they didnt seem to understand what he meant.

Does anyone know what the procedure is and the timescales, so i can set his mind at ease that he is not being ignored or fobbed off?

Thank you all again for all your help

poppy123456

Glad the element is included this month.

Money owed will be paid as a separate payment and very often takes quite a few weeks to pay it.

Once the statements are recalculated you will receive a letter on your journal telling you how much is owed and it will be paid into your bank.

Cubscougar6983

Hi everyone

He has just received the following response from a decision maker via his case manager

'This was a review decision, the claimant had an existing LCW award and therefore the LCWRA award is made from the date of my decision, i.e. no backdating, the claimant does not however have to serve the relevant period of 3 months as this was deemed to have already been served whilst on LCW. He can request an MR if he wants but there is no chance of success as the process has been followed correctly'

Thank you in advance for any advice x

poppy123456

I totally disagree with the message you had there. As your partner reported changes to their health condition and provided fit notes which prompted them to refer them for another work capability assessment then it's paid from the assessment period in which the changes were reported.

It would only be paid from the assessment period in which the decision was made if it was UC that prompted the review, without your partner reporting changes and providing a fit note.

My advice is to request the MR, which can be done on their journal. They very often get this wrong.

Cubscougar6983

His case manager has put in an MR and he is worried that he didn't get chance to explain everything on his journal before his case manager put it in. What does an MR entail exactly? And why would they say there's no chance, could it be to put people off?

What's the next step if the MR fails?

Thank you so much for your kindness x

Rachel_Scope

Hi @Cubscougar6983. Here's some information about a Mandatory Reconsideration. It explains what you need to do and what to do if you disagree with the outcome.

To summarise, for the MR you need to explain why you disagree with the decision and provide evidence if relevant. You'll get a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice which tells you what their decision is, the reasons, and the evidence it's based on. If you disagree, you would then need to go to tribunal. Hope that helps.

Cubscougar6983

Thank you Rachel, that helps a lot 😀