How long for medical results?

mumelaine63

Hi all we are claiming uc and my husband has copd found when he caught pneumonia in March 2018 they then found a shadow on his lung, not cancer, but they are not sure what it is so having scans every 6 months. He was sent to a job involving chemicals so had to finish and has been putting fit notes in since June 2019 he has been for the medical after filling in the form , medical was 19 th September anyone know how long he has to wait for results, his copd has gone up a stage in 8 months and he’s just turned 62. Sorry for long story x

thespiceman

Hello @mumelaine63   Pleased to meet you welcome.

Thank you for joining and sharing. Sorry to hear this.  Please do not apologise for contacting us and it is OK talk about  anything we can help with.

I am one of the team of community champions. We guide, advise and help members of our community.

Please can I ask have you contacted the DWP.  You can contact them and they will give you an update what is happening to your case.

There are backlogs of medical assessments and results sorry to tell you. Depends the area you are from, I know it is a stressful time.

Please if we can help further please get in touch.

Please take care.

@thespiceman

mumelaine63

Thanks do you have a number for dwp please?

poppy123456

HI,

As my friend @thespiceman said, there are backlogs in most areas. There's no timescales for any decision. Have you asked for a copy of the assessment report? This will give you some idea what the decision is likely to be because they mostly go with the report. As you're claiming UC then you can put a note on your journal asking for a copy of that to be sent to you.

If your partner prefers to ring then the number is 0800 328 5644.

Chloe_Scope

Welcome to the community @mumelaine63! I hope @poppy123456 and @thespiceman have been able to help. If you have any further questions then please do let me know. I hope you don't have to wait much longer and all the best to you and your husband.

mumelaine63

Sorry posted on wrong one. We posted a note asking for copy of report on uc journal, just received message back saying as soon as it’s returned from assessor they will post it for us 

Chloe_Scope

Glad to hear this @mumelaine63! It shouldn't take too long to arrive.

mumelaine63

Just been sent this message‘can’t see any decision been returned , the health assessment team send report to uc that goes to decision maker they will notify you via journal ‘

poppy123456

As the report has now been returned you'll need to wait for a decision maker to look at the report and evidence and make a decision. There's no timescales for how long this will take but it could be anything up to 8 weeks, sometimes longer. Once the decision's been made the letter will be uploaded onto your journal.

mumelaine63

we well it’s now been 11 weeks and my husband has just had a message on his universal credit journal they are ringing him on the 11 December to see how he is doing looking for a job, they haven’t received anything back about his health assessment yet but he keeps sending in fit notes due to his health, which is bad because of the cold weather.

poppy123456

I'm sorry to hear his condition isn't good. Unfortunately there's no timescales for decisions and yes he will need to continue to send those fit notes until the decision's been made.

Did he request a copy of the assessment report like i advised?

mumelaine63

Yes we did was told they couldn’t see any decisions being returned and that was 8 weeks after he had been

poppy123456

I'm not sure what you mean by "they can't see any decisions being returned" no decision will be returned from the health assessment providers. They will send back the work capability assessment report with recommendations in it. Then a decision maker will take a look and make a decision on his claim. This report is called the UC85.

If the report hasn't been returned then it's very likely that it's been sent to audit, if this has happened it will significantly delay the decision making process because a decision can't be made until it's been returned.

My advice would be to ring UC again and ask for the UC85 report. If they tell you it's not yet been returned then give the health assessment providers a ring and ask them what's going on with the assessment report. If it's in audit they will tell you.

Your husband will need to ring them if you're not his appointee.

mumelaine63

we sent a message to uc about the uc85 report they sent a message back they don’t receive report it will be put on journal but they have sent a query about the length of time of report

poppy123456

There’s always a report written by a health assessment provider, I’m afraid that information you’ve been given is incorrect. If they haven’t received it then it’s very likely been sent to audit. 

mumelaine63

Well I just rang the medical assessment they sent the results off the same day (19th September) so put me through to universal credit they can see it was received same day but it gets looked at by date so maybe a while yet!!!!! It’s already been 12 weeks !

poppy123456

Unfortunately, backlogs cause delays and there's no timescales for decisions. Hopefully not too much longer. The report will give you some idea what the decision is likely to be.

mumelaine63

We will find out the decision on universal credit account won’t see report until then

poppy123456

mumelaine63 said:

We will find out the decision on universal credit account won’t see report until then

Is that because they've refused to send it or because your husband's decided not to request it?

mumelaine63

we we have requested it but was told they don’t have it yet we rang where he dad medical assessment they said it was sent same day put us through to universal credit who looked and told us it had been received on 19th September but waiting to be seen will be seen in date order could be a while yet and we would see results first on journal

poppy123456

As they now have the report then if he wants a copy i'd advise ringing again to request it to be sent to you. The report will not be put on your journal, it's sent as a paper copy and can be sent before the decision's made. Once you receive it you'll be able to have some idea what the decision's likely to be because they usually go with the report.

mumelaine63

thank you 

c2208

@mumelaine63 did you receive the report yet I’ve requested one but not sure how I go through it if any advise sorry to jump on post 

mumelaine63

Hi no problem, no we have not received the report just keep telling us when it’s been looked at we will see it first on our journal it’s been 16 weeks today

poppy123456

According to this thread here https://community.scope.org.uk/discussion/67498/uc50#latest @c2208 has requested the report and it's being sent out.

mumelaine63

I took husbands fit note in on the 13th January was told they had back log but 16 weeks (at that time) was very long so was told to ring them in a couple of weeks, well rang today, it’s 19 weeks tomorrow , and was told it was still waiting to be seen by assessor, I don’t know where we go from here. How long do we wait? How do we know it hasn’t got lost somewhere? We know it was sent and received was told that on 12th December 

poppy123456

If he's had the work capability assessment and the report has been returned to DWP then it won't be waiting to be seen by the assessor, it will be waiting for a decision maker to look at the report and the evidence sent. There's no timescales for decisions, backlogs are just part of the reason a decision can be delayed.

mumelaine63

just received a message saying he has limited capability for work and may receive extra money.we don’t know what group he’s in as lcw you get no extra

poppy123456

That's correct, no extra money for this group. He will be expected to do work related activity, such as work focused interviews to prepare for work sometime in the future. What is exactly expected of him will depend on his claimant commitments.

If he disagrees with the decision and he thinks he qualifies for the LCWRA group then he has 1 month from the date of the decision to request the Mandatory Reconsideration. I'd advise him to get some face to face advice because there's no point in requesting this if he doesn't qualify for the other group.

mumelaine63

This is his letter so is it lcw please 

mumelaine63

poppy123456

Yes, that's LCW. Read further down and it states, you will not have to look for work but you will need to meet with your work coach to take steps to prepare for work in the future. We call these work related activity.

mumelaine63

ok thank you 

poppy123456

You're welcome

Adrian_Scope

Hi @mumelaine63. I'm glad you've finally received the decision, it's been quite a wait for you both. 
Are you happy with his grouping or do you feel he meets the LCWRA criteria?

mumelaine63

yes it was nearly 20 weeks and no we are not happy with results he has worsening copd now on 2 inhalers has a shadow on his lung still under investigation now has psoriasis arthritis that affects his left hand and arm and depression 

poppy123456

If he requested the mandatory reconsideration for that decision then please be aware that DWP and Tribunal will not take into consideration any worsening of condition.

mumelaine63

Ok where do we go from here then?

poppy123456

He can either put in a worsening of condition but this will prompt another work capability assessment form to be sent and another face to face assessment is most likely. Doing this does risk losing the award he currently has.

Or he can request the MR for the existing award but the worsening of condition won't be considered.

Before doing any of that i'd advise you to have a look at the LCWRA descriptors to see if any of them apply to him because he will need to prove that he's unable to do the work related activity. https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/3904-limited-capability-for-work-related-activity

I'd also advise him to get some face to face advice from an agency near him.

mumelaine63

just recieved message that because he is now on lcw they will not touch the first £287 of my wages back dated to September so 5 months they gave us back £904.05 but for some reason I can’t get my head around it should it not be they owe us £287 x 5 ??? Please help

Adrian_Scope

Hi @mumelaine63. Unfortunately it's not that simple, it would depend on how much your wages were and how much was deducted for them already because of the wage taper.

Say you earned £500 they would have deducted £315 from your award.
With the work allowance (£287 disregard) they would deduct £134.19 from your award.

The difference isn't £287. It equates to £180.81 difference and 180.81 x 5 = £904.05

mumelaine63

ok thanks 

mumelaine63

is this this still the case if my wages are different per month?

poppy123456

The work allowance means that you can earn £287 per month before you start to receive the 63% deductions. What you will receive for UC will depend on your earnings during your assessment period.

Adrian_Scope

mumelaine63 said:

is this this still the case if my wages are different per month?

The wage taper (63%) makes the difference between having the work allowance or not £180.81 so unless your wages were under or at the £287 mark on any month, then it would work out the same each month - an extra £180.81

For example, if you earned £1000, with the work allowance you would have £449.19 deducted. Without it you would have £630 deducted. A difference of £180.81

If you earned £300, with the work allowance you would have £8.19 deducted. Without it you would have £189 deducted. Still a difference of £180.81

It would only be different if you only earned £287 or less.