Work Capabilitues Assessment

phoeiblaze

Hi all,

I had an Work Capability Assessment last week. I had a complete breakdown which was so bad, they called a taxi and paid for it to take me home. My assessor who was a nurse was only concerned about my mental health when we started the assessment and asked a few questions with regards to this which I tried my best to answer. After the assessment, she asked if I wanted her to stay with me until the taxi came, which I said yes to. She stayed with me in the stairwell so I wouldn't have to be around other people then we waited outside away from others. She was so nice and attentive while I went through my struggle. Can I take this as a good sign into the type of report she gave? 

wilko

Hello, yes and no. Phone the DWP a week after your assessment and request a copy of your assessment report and on receiving it you can see if you have been awarded enough points to be placed in the support group. 

poppy123456

HI,

It's impossible to answer that i'm afraid. Fingers crossed that the decision goes in your favour and you'll be placed into the Support Group. When you receive that report, if you request it the recommendations will be at the back of the report but it's not about scoring points for this group. WRAG is about points.

Good luck and hopefully you're not waiting too long.

zakblood

i'm only sorry you had to go through it in the first place with stress and everything else it gives, and tbh it's hit and miss, i've now had 5, including a home visit, 4 went really well, one, the last one was a nightmare and completely wrong, so fingers crossed for you, i've been in the support group from when i was transferred from incapacity so a 20 year member, no badge or thank you mind you and no card from the queen as a honor either, but this time i scored 0 points, so in the end, it all depends on if you got a nurse who had a clue, as some don't tbh and can vouch that mine really didn't, no matter what happened on the day or what i had taken with me, i was always going to fail, as maybe her targets were low that day, or a bad day for her, as everyone has them, no matter who suffers from it

phoeiblaze

wilko said:

Hello, yes and no. Phone the DWP a week after your assessment and request a copy of your assessment report and on receiving it you can see if you have been awarded enough points to be placed in the support group. 

Will do. They will be sending me a copy of the recording I'd requested. Didn't remember about it until the next day.  The nurse knows as well that I start psychotherapy soon and she tried to call my cpn during the assessment. I'm glad she read my paperwork beforehand because one of my issues is a personality disorder and she got a glimpse of it. 

phoeiblaze

poppy123456 said:

HI,

It's impossible to answer that i'm afraid. Fingers crossed that the decision goes in your favour and you'll be placed into the Support Group. When you receive that report, if you request it the recommendations will be at the back of the report but it's not about scoring points for this group. WRAG is about points.

Good luck and hopefully you're not waiting too long.

Will make sure to ask for the report.

phoeiblaze

zakblood said:

i'm only sorry you had to go through it in the first place with stress and everything else it gives, and tbh it's hit and miss, i've now had 5, including a home visit, 4 went really well, one, the last one was a nightmare and completely wrong, so fingers crossed for you, i've been in the support group from when i was transferred from incapacity so a 20 year member, no badge or thank you mind you and no card from the queen as a honor either, but this time i scored 0 points, so in the end, it all depends on if you got a nurse who had a clue, as some don't tbh and can vouch that mine really didn't, no matter what happened on the day or what i had taken with me, i was always going to fail, as maybe her targets were low that day, or a bad day for her, as everyone has them, no matter who suffers from it

This is my first assessment that has been rescheduled 3 times. I have been on UC for 2-3 years and after getting a new work coach on the Job Centre, he discovered I hadn't had a Work Capabilities Assessment done.  I had one scheduled for early may but unfortunately I had a massive panic attack which caused me to become disorientated and highly emotional. I ended up 1.5 hours away from the assessment centre almost 5 mins to my appt time. I called them crying and the woman I spoke to decided it was best to reschedule. She asked me if I had anyone who could accompany me and I told her no. Second appt was cancelled because the recording equipment was not available. This appt made the third one. The nurse knew that I get paranoid around persons and mood can easily change. By the time I arrived to the centre, I was shaking and in tears in the waiting room and it just got worst once I sat down with her. I was concerned I hadn't given enough information especially when I tried to show her more paperwork I had on hand and she reassured me that she had everything she needed. I want to be hopeful and my cpn thinks that I may get a positive result considering how things went but doubt can't help but mess with me.

zakblood

i'm just so sorry you and everyone else has to be put through this like a trained monkey performing for peanuts, it not only makes us worse but stresses the hell out of well almost everyone, i take a Amitriptyline tablet an hour before i go anywhere and then another if i feel extra stressed, kind of calms me down most of the time and lets me deal with the stresses of the outside world, didn't help me with my assessment this time and still failed it with a 0 score but have passed it 4 previous times, so maybe i took one too many and was maybe too cool and calm, as while it calms me down, it also makes my mouth run a bit so i do wander and talk somewhat too much, but as these so call trained professionals should know this from the medication you tell and show them your on, that should be taken into account, seems 20 years with quite a few medical conditions, and still some days with the wrong nurses, they still get it wrong, so let everyone know how you got on, and don't worry, life's hard enough as it is, without the worry, as soon as the recording equipment was not there as i asked, i should have said no, but the nurse made a mistake and told me now i'm told in error, than a failed to attend would be noted on my assessment as no recording equipment was asked for in advanced, even though i shown her on my copy of my form where and when i asked for it and the reasons i wanted it, so you already did better than i did, as i carried on and felt pressured then, but without the recording, the error's made on the report are mostly harder to prove, with only 8 or 10 being easy to prove wrong and get over turned in my case at Tribunal, hopefully you will be fine and sorted so good luck and fingers crossed for you

phoeiblaze

zakblood said:

i'm just so sorry you and everyone else has to be put through this like a trained monkey performing for peanuts, it not only makes us worse but stresses the hell out of well almost everyone, i take a Amitriptyline tablet an hour before i go anywhere and then another if i feel extra stressed, kind of calms me down most of the time and lets me deal with the stresses of the outside world, didn't help me with my assessment this time and still failed it with a 0 score but have passed it 4 previous times, so maybe i took one too many and was maybe too cool and calm, as while it calms me down, it also makes my mouth run a bit so i do wander and talk somewhat too much, but as these so call trained professionals should know this from the medication you tell and show them your on, that should be taken into account, seems 20 years with quite a few medical conditions, and still some days with the wrong nurses, they still get it wrong, so let everyone know how you got on, and don't worry, life's hard enough as it is, without the worry, as soon as the recording equipment was not there as i asked, i should have said no, but the nurse made a mistake and told me now i'm told in error, than a failed to attend would be noted on my assessment as no recording equipment was asked for in advanced, even though i shown her on my copy of my form where and when i asked for it and the reasons i wanted it, so you already did better than i did, as i carried on and felt pressured then, but without the recording, the error's made on the report are mostly harder to prove, with only 8 or 10 being easy to prove wrong and get over turned in my case at Tribunal, hopefully you will be fine and sorted so good luck and fingers crossed for you

Wishing you luck as well at Tribunal. I wish more people understood what it is we all go through. Hopefully I'll have some some good news soon enough to give others hope. 

zakblood

hope so to and thanks, every piece of information shared, good or bad is hopefully useful to someone, even if it's just to say, i';m not alone, or why is this just happening to me, others are going through the same or worse, which is my point, no matter how low you feel or what ever you have someone somewhere will be coping or not, with worse, that's a fact, while this should make no one any happier, it should at least make them feel less alone and unneeded, unloved or unwelcome, so for me, every day is a bonus, every new maybe a challenge, but as not all challengers are hard and sometimes you fail, it's not even how much you fail by or how often you try even, it's the hoops of life and the part we suffer in it, to get what everyone says, you deserve, a way to survive

phoeiblaze

Totally Agree

Chloe_Scope

Hi @phoeiblaze, I'm sorry the assessment was really hard for you! It cannot have been a nice experience but I'm so glad you had someone who was so understanding! 
It can be really hard to tell, however it is possible to ring up a week after the assessment and request a copy of the report. This will allow you to see the recommendations that have been made. Despite this not being a solid confirmation of the award it can give you a really good idea of the outcome!
Please do let me know if there is anything else I can do to help

phoeiblaze

Chloe_Scope said:

Hi @phoeiblaze, I'm sorry the assessment was really hard for you! It cannot have been a nice experience but I'm so glad you had someone who was so understanding! 
It can be really hard to tell, however it is possible to ring up a week after the assessment and request a copy of the report. This will allow you to see the recommendations that have been made. Despite this not being a solid confirmation of the award it can give you a really good idea of the outcome!
Please do let me know if there is anything else I can do to help

i accidentally did a double post of this but ty for replying. I will give a call this week and request it. Fingers crossed it goes well, the wait is killing me. 

Chloe_Scope

No problem! I'll merge the replies for you
Fingers crossed for you!

Chloe_Scope

Done @phoeiblaze

phoeiblaze

@Chloe_Scope Thank you!

phoeiblaze

Update!

They decided I have limited capability for work and work related activity. Found notification in my universal journal this morning.


I'm in tears....

Chloe_Scope

Thank you for updating us @phoeiblaze! This is great news!

phoeiblaze

Chloe_Scope said:

Thank you for updating us @phoeiblaze! This is great news!

yup....BIG RELIEF lol

phoeiblaze

Have a question thats bugging me

I handed in my first sick note almost 2 years ago. Have been submitting sick notes ever since. My work coach dropped the ball on me getting a WCA and to be honest, I didnt know about it .

New work coach in Jan realised this and had me make claim in Feb. Assessment done in June, received decision yesterday for Highest Element LWC&WRA. Letter was in my journal but no date on when it starts. Just decision made and amount I'll get monthly.

There was a committment change i had to accept with note that i need to accept to receive correct payment. I had meeting with coach last week and had already accepted my committment  with him so this new one was obviously due to decision.  I have a payment due on 19th.

 Will I receive it then and how far can I expect a back date payment IF i even get one. 

phoeiblaze

To add on as well....while i handed in sick notes which stated i was unable to work and reasons why, i received only UC payments: housing benefit £352 + £317 allowance. Thats all i received monthly.

I was working until 2015 and tried to find work afterwards. Mental health took downward spiral. I know its been since 2017 if not longer I've been submitting sicknotes every 2 to 3 months, no breaks inbetween. My journal letter states that they will send me a letter to tell me if they owe me any backpayments and when ill receive them.  

poppy123456

LCWRA element is backdated from the 4th month after you sent in your first fit note.

Adrian_Scope

That’s great news @phoeiblaze!
As Poppy said, as long as there have been no breaks in your fit notes, it should be backdated to the 4th month after your first fit note was submitted. 

Hope that helps. 

phoeiblaze

Will they actually do that...that's over £5000.....

phoeiblaze

Just spoke to DWP.....I had a capabilities assessment in 2017 (which i don't remember at all). I was deemed fit to work...later part of 2017 I contemplated throw myself off my balcony of 17th floor flat. I received sick notes from there onwards. According to DWP (nice lady I spoke to) the decision is based off Feb to present. 

Chloe_Scope

Hi @phoeiblaze, thank you for updating us about this. I'm sorry it's not backdated as far as you had though and that your mental health was affected. I hope you receive your backdated payments from February soon

Please do let us know if there is anything else we can do!

phoeiblaze

@Chloe_Scope I wasn't really expecting it to go that far. Was just curious. 

And....

Will do!