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Can LCWRA be backdated?

jane_brunt

Hi, this is my first post. I have a 20 year old son who has Down syndrome. Until his 20th birthday, he was included in our tax credits but now he claims universal credit. I had to apply on his behalf and I am now his appointee. I have provided the DWP with a fit note from the GP that states that my son will not be expected to work, at all. My son gets PIP and I have provided those documents too. ( He gets the enhanced rate).
At first, I was told that he will have to attend commitment meetings, regardless of his disability. This is absurd and I, obviously,disputed this. I explained, over and over, that he obviously has limited capability to work and was told that he would only get the basic amount until he gets a work capability assessment! Even though he has already had an assessment for PIP and it is in date until 2020 and the GP had provided an indefinite fit note! After many phone calls and emails to the manager at the job centre, an appeasement was put on the commitment meetings and eventually a decision has been made to put him in the LCWRA group ( without a WA). However, his new payments will not be paid until October and WILL NOT be backdated! How is this fair? My son has a life long disability that will never change. It’s bad enough that we are reminded of this constantly but have to prove it all the time. Now they have placed him in the appropriate group, after weeks of stress (and very little money) but will not give him what he’s entitled to.
my question is... do we have any chance of getting his money backdated to the start of the claim?

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Comments

poppy123456

Hi,

The extra money paid for LCWRA isn't paid until the 14th week of your claim. Unfortunately this is the rules and they apply to everyone and it's not anything to do with your son having a life long disability. You don't stand any chance of having this money backdated to the start of the UC because the first 13 weeks are called assessment rate. See this link and scroll down for work capability assessment for confirmation of the 13 week assessment rate.
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en/articles/universal-credit-for-disabled-people

jane_brunt

Thank you for your advice.I thought that the waiting time didn’t apply to certain illnesses or disabilities, and under certain circumstances there is no need for a work capability assessment. I assumed, given that I had already provided evidence and a decision was made for my son without a work capability assessment, that there was nothing to assess. It was clear from the start that my son has LCWRA so the 13 weeks seem really unnecessary and unfair.

poppy123456

I'm afraid you're wrong again on the 13 weeks assessment period and I don't know where you got that from. Everyone has to wait 13 weeks, what ever your condition because it's the rules. Yes, there's some people who have paper based assessments, just like this is for PIP. This doesn't mean that for UC and ESA you don't have that 13 week assessment period. Unfair or not, there's nothing you can do to get backdated money because there's none to get. At least it's over now and you can relax.

jane_brunt

I may be wrong, that’s why I joined this forum as I don’t understand the system.
It seems ludicrous for someone to say “yes, you are entitled to money....but you can’t have it for 3 months....just ‘because’!
But, as you say, rules are rules, we’ll just have to get in with it. I’m just thankful my son has a family to support him.

Lammy

Hi Jane, I'm going through a similar thing with my son who has autism, severe learning difficulties, OCD and anxiety. At 20 years old and his application for UC, I was shocked in the drop in income from what he was entitled to as a child. The agent at the job centre did not tell me about the LCWRA we could apply for but wrote on his file 'Low capability for work and work related activity'. After making enquiries I have been told that we have to ask for a work capability assessment which I have done, though I wish I'd done this sooner had I known. We are currently waiting for the forms in the post, but after reading your post I'm wondering if we needed to do this after all. It is so difficult getting information about this and the government website isn't clear at all. My son has to pay a portion of his income towards his care package and also 15% council tax out of the basic UC rate. If he didn't have PIP we wouldn't be able to pay household bills, which is not what PIP was designed for. My son is attending a special needs college at the moment learning life skills, so he would not be available for work anyway. My heart goes out to you and all those parents out there, many of them single, trying to struggle by with a disabled young adult. As if life isn't difficult enough for us anyway, without all this extra hassle.

hellsbells42

I know this is an old post, but I totally agree wirh tou @jane_brunt. I got a letter on my journal 2 weeks ago stating I can get LCWRA, but I wouldn’t get it til end of Feb! I dont get why if I’m entitled NOW!! As for the 13 weeks, it will be 19 from when I first handed in my sick notes so why they state 13 I dont know. Its so unfair!!!

Lammy

Hi there,
My son had to wait 18 weeks in all for his LWCRA benefit. They told me it was 14 weeks plus 4 weeks because the benefit is paid in arrears. Yet we still were accountable for my son's contributions to his social care during this time gap. An agent at the DWP said there was no reason for this other than a cost cutting exercise. It's deplorable that the government can take advantage of disabled people in this way. I had to **** him out of my state pension which I could ill afford. We had a pretty sparse Christmas as a result. I would NEVER vote Conservative EVER. They will do anything for the rich while they walk all over the vulnerable. We are insignificant to them. I wish there was something we could do about it. If anyone has any ideas, please post them here.

poppy123456

LCWRA is paid from the 4th month of the claim and this starts from when you handed in your first sick note. It was the same for ESA, assessment rate for this was/is 13 weeks.

hellsbells42

Or longer if they can get away with it!! Thats terrible @Lammy. Im similar to your son then as I will be waiting 19 weeks ??

poppy123456

Yes, it can very often be longer than this. Some people are waiting several months for the assessment. If this happens and they're given LCWRA then their money is backdated to the 4th month of their claim, so nothing is lost and no one misses out.

When i first claimed ESA i wait 1 year for my assessment. I was eventually placed into the Support Group (LCWRA) i was then backdated all my money to the 14th week of my claim. Yes, i had to wait a very long time but the money was nice when i eventually had it.

clark97

If youre on unirversal credit there is a 3 month assesment period starting from the date you handed in medical evidence to the dwp, after 3 months you should receive a work capability assessment, if it takes longer than 3 months to receieve the assesment and your found the have LCWRA then your claim will be backdated to this point. Its worth having a look on the "entitled to" website

Pippa_Alumni

Welcome to the community, @clark97!

Milliemoo81

Hello ?

I have been claiming Universal Credit and my 14 week assessment period ended in August. I sent off my form in November along with my medical evidence, I have BPD, PTSD and suffer from severe depression and anxiety. I have just been told that I don’t have to attend a Work Capability Assessment and that the DWP will write to me with a decision. Does this mean I will be put in the LCWRA group ? And if so will I receive any backdated money ? I just really don’t understand the benefits system so any help with this will be very much appreciated as the constant worrying and waiting is causing me a lot of distress. Thank you x

Lammy

Hi there.
They told me exactly that about my son. He wouldn't have to attend a work capability assessment since they had enough information in the LCWRA application form. We received a decision about 10 days later and he got the benefit, payable from after the 14 weeks 'relevant' period which he received 5 weeks after that because it's paid 4 weeks in arrears plus 1 week late.
You should get backdated money to August, if that was when your 14 weeks ended. I hope this makes sense. They couldn't make it more complicated if they tried. Good luck!

Milliemoo81

Thank you for replying to me ? I hope I hear something soon, it has made me feel a little better now I have had it explained to me from you as they don’t make it easy for people who don’t understand how it works, I will keep my fingers crossed.

poppy123456

The good news is you can't be found fit for work without a face to face but you can be given LCW or LCWRA.

If it's LCWRA then the extra is paid from the 4th month of your claim and this starts from when you handed in your first sick/fit note, this is called the "waiting period" for UC.

If the decision takes longer than 4 months then you will be backed the money you're owed. If the decision is made before the 4th month, you won't be paid any extra until this time.

Lammy

Hello again,
I'd just like to say my son did not have to submit any sick / fit notes at all, and his LCWRA was still payable from the 14th week of his UC claim.

poppy123456

Lammy said:

Hello again,
I'd just like to say my son did not have to submit any sick / fit notes at all, and his LCWRA was still payable from the 14th week of his UC claim.

There must have been a reason for that. Was he previously claiming ESA?

Lammy

No he was previously classed as a child and I got child tax credits for him plus PIP and child benefit.

laurae

Hi sorry to jump on ur post.. my husband has been on uc for almost 2 years his disability has always been recorded on there just started handing in sick notes jan but we were never told he needed to hand these in to receive the work capability assesment... would we be able to get this back dated to the start of our claim.... the doctor has already provided a backdated sick note from when our claim started