Universal Credit LCWRA Rates

cool_newt

Hi all,

Not sure if anyone can help me here, I'm not sure if I have been awarded the wrong amount for LCWRA but am having a bit of difficulty understanding the rules.

My UC journal shows that on 1 April 2026 I reported a health change, with the change recorded as effective from 1 March 2026. This therefore means I did declare my condition before 6 April 2026.

I understand that the higher/protected LCWRA rate applies where a health condition was reported before 6 April 2026, even if the WCA decision was made later (decision came through 10th September)

I'm wondering if the problem is potentially because my first fit note started on 13 April 2026. However, I thought it just required me to declare the health condition before 6 April regardless.

Can anyone please give there input, the change in rules is confusing me and when I sent an enquiry on my journal, the only response was "From what I can see it looks like your LCWRA was calculated correctly" which hasn't been particularly helpful

Thanks in advance!

Kimi87

The date UC accept your Fit Note is really important, having looked at the regulations for "awaiting assessment" it's not terribly clear what counts as awaiting assessment.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/113/made

I'd recommend contacting a local welfare rights organisation who have trained benefits advisors.

https://advicefinder.turn2us.org.uk/

Mary_Scope

Hi @cool_newt and a warm welcome to the community from me!

I agree with Kimi, it may be worth contacting a trained benefit adviser as this could get quite complex😊

Lovely to have you here and I look forward to seeing you around the community😊

Emilee

@cool_newt, you are able to self-certify for the first 7 days, but after that there would have been a gap in your evidence if your fit note did not begin until the 13th, so the new, lower rate, would be correct in this instance, as your award would begin from the 13th.