Assessment

faydhar

Hi ..
My step father has kidney failure so is currently  claiming universal credit  around  7 weeks ago he  had the assesment to see  if  hes fit  for work .im just wondering  if anyone had any experiences  with time scales  to get a decision  . When we rang a few weeks ago  we were told they cannot make a decision  untill the information  is sent in  but  today we found out  that  the information was sent  in straight  away after  the assesment. Please can anyone  help he is very  ill and this is extremely  stressful  for  him

Joanne_Alumni

Hi @faydhar,

There is no set timescale for this but the average time seems to be 6-8 weeks so hopefully your dad will hear soon.

It is a stressful process. I hope everything goes well for him. If not, please let us know and will do what we can to help.

faydhar

Thank you for your  reply  hopefully it's  sorted  soon he needs  that  extra  money  so he  can afford  to eat properly  he has dialysis  every  day  and at the moment  he does  not get enough money  to live on its awful

poppy123456

Hi,

He can ring DWP to request a copy of the assessment report to be sent to him, this will give him some idea what the decision is likely to be because they mostly go with the report.

If he's awarded LCWRA then he'll receive an extra £336 per month from the 4th full assessment period from when he sent in his first fit note.

faydhar

Hi here's  an update  .. he got his decision  and has  been found fit  for  work this  is absolutely  disgusting  . He has dyalis through  the night every  night which  keeps him awake he also  has  it in thw afternoon  .every  morning  hes more  or less  on tjw toilet  all morning  hes weak   can hardly   also has a heart problem  . How can hw wpek when has to ve home for dyalis 

poppy123456

I'm so sorry to hear this! May i ask if he sent evidence to support his claim? They very rarely contact anyone for any evidence. The onus is always on the claimant to make sure it's sent. If he didn't send this does he have proof that he dialysis every night?

His next step is to request the Mandatory reconsideration (MR) and he has 1 month from the date of the decision to do this. He should put his request in writing stating which group he thinks he should be in and his reasons why.

I'll put a link to the descriptors for both groups so he can have a look to see which one he thinks may apply to him.

https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Your-Situation/Ill-Injured-or-Disabled/Universal-Credit-Capability-for-work-assessment

There's also substantial risk, which is explained here. https://wcainfo.net/issues/substantial-risk-lcwra

If he's able to go out then i'd advise speaking to an advice agency near him for face to face advice, help and support.

This link will tell you what's local to him https://advicelocal.uk/

faydhar

He sent in his medication  list   and doctors  letters   the assessor  was not very  nice just told him to see a chiropractor and go for njce walks to  make him feel better  . I dont a nice  walk will cure  his kidney  failure 

Joanne_Alumni

Hi @faydhar,

I am so sorry to hear that your dad had such an awful experience!

Hopefully his Mandatory Reconsideration will be successful. If not, you can take the decision to appeal.

Kidney Care UK have an advice and support helpline and they also have an advocacy service. It may be worth contacting them to see if they can help your dad with his claim.

poppy123456

When you say doctors letters do you mean letters from his GP? if so, these aren't the best evidence to send because they very rarely state how your conditions affect you.

Does he have proof that has has dialysis every night? Such as a letter from his Consultant?

faydhar

He has contacted  the  dyalisis  team  and they  are doing a letter  as i write this so hopefully that  helps him win the reconsideration.  Hes worked  since he was 16 and now is  63  with kidney  failure  heart problem  diabetes  .he was a lorry  driver but had his licence  taken  off  him because  hes too ill to drive  also has been taken  off the transplant  list as hes too ill for  that  .i would  say how hes been treated  is  shocking  but tbh  the  current  situation of  dwp im not that  supprised  seems if your  not dead you  can  work  . Thank you for the  advice and for  listening 

poppy123456

Lots of people are successfully placed into one of the groups, we just don't often hear of the good stories on any forum.

There's only an 18% chance of the MR decision changing but i hope he's one of those successfully changed at this stage. Good luck.

faydhar

Hi all here is an update  of my father  in alls case  
. He has put  in a mandatory  reconsideration  with a letter  from  the  dyalisis  team  explaining  he has dyalisis  5 times a week for  4 hours  to 6 hours and also he is off  the transplant list  as he has a heart condition so is unable to have  a transplant  meaning he will never get better . Today on my advice  he rang up and asked  for the assessment  report univeral credit told him they do not send them  and he needs to call tne assesment office  which he did and was told its universal  credit who sends them . So ringing back universal credit  they  finally agree to  send thw report. A hour  after the conversation  a message pops up on his universal  credit telling him he has to go to a work  commitment  interview  next week  even tho he was told he would have no interviews until after new year . So now he he so stressed as hes so ill hes unable to look for work let alonr e actually work i just dont understand how they can expect someone who is on dyalisis  who will never  get better  to work 

poppy123456

Has he requested the mandatory reconsideration yet? He only has 1 month from the date of the decision to request this.

If he has then it maybe possible to request a telephone interview, if he's unable to attend his local job centre. I'd advise him to ring to speak to his work coach or case manager to ask if this can be arranged. He need to tell them about his health conditions and why attending the appointment would be very difficult for him.

faydhar

Yes he has done the mandatory  reconsideration  they have been told he has dyalisis  most days also have been told  that the medication he takes  gives  extremely  bad  stomach  leaving on the toilet  for long  periods  of time  every day alos debilitating  back pain from his kidneys  which  he wad told to go for nice walks to help with the pain  and see a chiropractors  by the assessor  which is completely  ridiculous   no matter what he tells them even after sending a letter  in from the renal team they just expect  him to come in to start looking  for a job   its so hard  for me seeing him being treated this way he worked  from the age  of  16  and even  still worked  whem be was first  diagnosed  with kidney  failure  talking  his dyalisis  bags in the lorry  with him but  11 months ago he become  to ill to work having  his licence  taken off him due to medical  grounds  .Sorry  i am waffling  a bit  im just so disgusted  to how he is being  treated 

poppy123456

You said in an earlier comment that he has dialysis every night and then say he has dialysis most days. May i ask how often he told them he has dialysis? You do need to be careful with contradictions.

Does he have medical evidence for proof of the dialysis he has? If he does has this been sent to DWP? If it hasn't been sent then i'd advise sending this to support his claim.

faydhar

Sorry he had dyalisis  through  the night then an hour  of dyalisis  every  day that was  when he first  claimed  for universal credit  .now his dyalisis  has changed to day time  because  they  have  changed the  type he needs  also because  having  it through  the  night kept him awake sorry  i was not more clear  .he has sent a letter in from his dyalisis  team  who have explained  how his dyalisis  works and how he has  changed  from night to day dyalisis 

poppy123456

Thanks for explaining that, it makes more sense now. I really hope that DWP change the decision at MR stage and give him LCWRA which should have happened in the first place.

faydhar

Hi all another update we recived  the assesment  report and i am utterly  disgusted  to the lies and misinformation  on the report .the assessor completely ignored more  or less every thing  he said about his condition  and even twisting  some things  the whole  report os more  or less based  on my father  having  a bad back  and how he is lieing about  that the  assessor has put  he  quit his job due to a bad back which  is completely  incorrect   he is unable  to work  due to  kidney  faliure and having  to have ongoing dyalisis  . The report makes out  he is lazy  and makes my mother run around  after him while  he just sits and watches  tv  also that  he refuses  to go and see chiropractor to help  his bad back even tho that  would  be pointless as the  bad back  is just one of many symptoms from hia kidney failure  and dialysis. This asssesor obviously  has no idea about renal failure  and its effects  this  past week the renal team have brought forward thw change in my father's  treatment as his current  one is not working 

Joanne_Alumni

Hi @faydhar

I am so sorry to hear that. I really hope that the MR is successful but if not, you should stand a good chance at appeal.
Let us know how you get on.

faydhar

The mandatory  reconsideration  decision  was recived  today .universal credit have changed  some of the decision   he now does not have  to send any fit notes  in but still has to do some work related  activities which is impossible  for him meaning no extra money   he is hemodyalisis .i just dont  understand  why he is not  in thw support   but  in the   work preparation  group   fpr when he gets better . Thing  is hes not going to get better 

faydhar

Also on the mandatory  reconsideration  at the top of thw letter  it says  in bold  we have changed  our  decision   but the only  thing  they have changed  is not having  to send fit notes  in