Struggling on LCWRA - Distrust of my local job centre and the DWP - I give up!

Wandering

Due to a range of physical and psychological disabilities that affect me, I have been on LCWRA now for over a year.

However, whilst work / employment is something I know I would benefit from, I require a specialised approach and support from people who are skilled at helping/supporting people with disabilities who have work related problems and trauma (work related) back into some form of suitable employment.

I have reached out to a few organisations who support people with disabilities who've been out of employment for lengthy periods; unfortunately, each of them state I need a referral from a Universal Credit Work Coach.

I therefore recently put a note on my journal asking for some form of support / a referral to one of these organisations, and a few days later received a phone call from a local Universal Credit coach. She asked me if I could come in for a face to face (in the main open-plan building - an environment I really struggle in due to profound deafness, severe anxiety, ASD and ADHD) which I reluctantly agreed to.

A day before the face-to-face in the local job centre (somewhere I have not been for over a year) I wrote a message on my journal asking for either a private room (which I originally asked for but was refused) or a phone call. So I received a phone call and it quickly became apparent it was a bad idea, and her tone, overall manner, and way of speaking to me was everything I didn't need, and should not have been subject to.

She firstly said 'I was expecting you in and you let me down'. Followed by asking me why I did not feel up to coming in. I politely explained my disabilities and struggles in such an environment, and she basically trivialised everything I said. She then tried to get to me to agree to 'commitments' and said I would need to accept them on my UC account to continue to receive payments. I quickly stopped her in her tracks and said 'I simply wanted to speak to someone skilled at supporting people with disabilities back into work after a lot of time out, and no disrespect to you, but it isn't within your job remit to support people with disabilities at my level of needs, and I am therefore kindly not agreeing to anything set by you, and I would like to speak to someone who is skilled in this area via the Job centre, or be signposted to the appropriate person/organisation'.

This was at the end of a phone call of about 35 minutes where at no point was I listened to or taken seriously, but instead be made to feel like a liar, fraud, and constantly be on the defence (in the least argumentative way I could manage).

Due to lots of similar difficult and degrading situations with the DWP (e.g., when I applied for PIP - awarded enhanced at tribunal) and Job Centre, I genuinely have a phobia of them.

I therefore don't know where to go from here. Can anyone relate or have any advice / information for someone in my situation?

vikki66

@Wandering

Sadly, I don’t feel surprised to hear you were treated like that - she was probably trying to trick you into full time employment (and out of your disability benefits).

I love the answer you gave - it’s so spot on that I think it should be printed out as a quote and used, as you say, to stop such people in their tracks.

I’m afraid I might not have managed to restrain myself as well as you did in that situation, and couldn’t have come up with such a fab answer, even though it’s exactly what I’d wanted to have said.

WhatThe

Hi, I can relate to those conversations. You should have been assigned to a Disability Employment Advisor (DEA) but I can't say they are any more kind than a bog-standard agent at JCP. I'm supposed to have a quiet space but I'm left in open-plan under bright lights.

vikki has a point which is that it's vital you are not conned into signing up for mandatory work-related activity. You should seek support only on a voluntary basis because their idea of 'support' isn't the same as ours.

Meg24

When you're on LCWRA work coaches do not have the power to threaten your claim, only a WCA review can remove your LCWRA and you can still appeal. That means they cannot threaten to remove money or stop your claim, they cannot force you to do work preparation or do anything you don't want to do. Glad you were able to advocate for yourself and put them in their place.

I hope someone here can help you with your next step.

luvpink

I once had to go to jcp and they wanted me to sit in a room full of other people and no privacy.

I told the woman in no uncertain terms that I would only disguss my situation in private.

She 'managed' to find a private room.

Not all of them are horrible but unfortunately a lot of them are and they treat their clients like dirt.