Confused about my entitlement to LCWRA, help?

Hattax

I have Parkinsons, diagnosed 4 years ago. I have run my own business since 1996 and fully expected to do so till I retired in two years time. Sadly as the PD started to affect me more I found it harder to do enough work to earn a living as my job (dog grooming) was very physical. So I was in the process of winding down the grooming and developing a replacement dog training business (less physical) at the start of 2020 just as Covid hit. I struggled on trying to do private lessons instead of group classes but had to sign on for Universal Credit as I was not earning enough to live on. In August last year I had to accept that I was no longer physically able to groom and the training side had completely folded for various reasons. Things had also deteriorated health wise  to the point where my Job Coach suggested I fill in a Limited Capability for Work questionnaire which I did and am waiting for an assessment. 
I have been trying to find out what my entitlement would be if after the assessment I do get designated as having LCWRA. I currently get housing costs and the basic single person Jobseekers allowance which only just covers my bills leaving very little to actually live on. I am very confused as I can only find information about allowances for people who have been claiming UC since before 2017. HELP !!

Poppy_

Hi, how are you? Welcome to the community 
have you tried to claim PIP benefit, as it seems ur Parkinson’s affects you day to day. 

poppy123456

Hi,

If you are found to have LCWRA then you will receive an extra £343.63 per month, which is payable from the 4th month of your claim starting from when you first reported your health condition.

If the decision is LCW then you will not receive any extra money because your claim started after April 2017.

Have you looked at the PIP criteria? It's a disability benefit that is not means tested so other income will not affect the amount you maybe entitled to. It's not awarded based on any diagnosis, it's how those conditions affect you against the 12 PIP activities. See link. https://pipinfo.net/

Hattax said:

 I currently get housing costs and the basic single person Jobseekers allowance

Just so that you're aware when claiming UC it's the standard element (single person) that you receive, not Jobseekers allowance.

Alex_Alumni

Hello @Hattax and welcome. Thanks for reaching out and sharing a bit about yourself too. Have our members been able to help answer your query?

To make finding your post easier I'm going to move it over to our Universal Credit category and change the title slightly. Please don't hesitate to ask if you're still unsure of anything, or any other questions come up. We're here to help

Alex

Hattax

Thank you Alex

Hattax

poppy123456 said:

Hi,

If you are found to have LCWRA then you will receive an extra £343.63 per month, which is payable from the 4th month of your claim starting from when you first reported your health condition.

Thank you for your reply. I originally claimed UC in April 2020 due to low income caused by Covid affecting my business. Obviously I mentioned my PD in my initial application but it was not the main reason for the application. My business finally closed in August 2021. So not quite sure what my position will be as I "reported" my health condition in my initial application (22 months ago) when I was still actually working but not since. Just to confuse things further I did have a sick note from the hospital from 2/9/21 - 12/12/21 for an injured knee, which I passed on to UC. 

calcotti

So when are your Fit Notes continuous from? When did the Work Coach refer you for the WCA?

Hattax

calcotti said:

So when are your Fit Notes continuous from? When did the Work Coach refer you for the WCA?

From 2/9/21 -12/12/21 for the knee injury. I have never had a Fit Note for the PD 
I completed the WCA questionnaire at the beginning of October.  Phone assessment was booked for January 18th but cancelled (by them) and rescheduled for February 11th 

calcotti

That's very unusual that Work Coach would initiate a WCA if you were not providing Fit Notes. No idea how that will play out.

poppy123456

calcotti said:

That's very unusual that Work Coach would initiate a WCA if you were not providing Fit Notes. No idea how that will play out.

It seems like the referral was made once the fit note was sent because the form wasn't completed until October.

Hattax said:

calcotti said:

So when are your Fit Notes continuous from? When did the Work Coach refer you for the WCA?

I completed the WCA questionnaire at the beginning of October.

calcotti

Abandoned reply because the formatting was driving me mad! It really is bad at handling quoted text.

calcotti

poppy123456 said:.

It seems like the referral was made once the fit note was sent because the form wasn't completed until October. 

Missed that. But apparently hasn't been prompted to provide another Fit Note. There was a temporary suspension of the requirement to provide Fit Notes but as far as I know that ended on 26th January.
OP I would recommend that you get another Fit Note and report it as soon as possible. If your GP will back date it to 1st January that would help.

Hattax

calcotti said:

OP I would recommend that you get another Fit Note and report it as soon as possible. If your GP will back date it to 1st January that would help.

This is where I get confused as I was never asked to provide a Fit Note for my Parkinsons when I first claimed UC. I was on the standard single person allowance declaring whatever I managed to earn until my business closed down mainly because of Covid in August last year. It was pure coincidence that I injured my knee at around the same time and was given Fit Notes to pass on to  UC.  The Job Coach suggested I did the LCW questionnaire as it was obvious that the PD affected my ability to work or retrain, and as the condition is incurable and degenerative that wasn't going to improve,  but he never asked me to get a Fit Note 

poppy123456

When you first reported your health condition, if the earnings you received during your assessment periods were more than 16xNMW per week then you couldn't be referred for the work capability assessment. Unless you were claiming a disability benefit such as PIP/DLA.

calcotti

It does seem irregular,