Backdating On LCWRA

Passerby

First of all, I applaud the excellent service you're providing in helping out people with their various enquiries.

Secondly, I've been on ESA on assessment rate and have been sending in fit notes since Jan. 2018 till now without any gaps. I submitted my last fit note beginning March 2022, and the one before in Nov. 2021. Following a change of address, I received ESA50 form to complete on 6th Jan. 2022. I attended a face-to-face assessment on 28th March 2022. I haven't been on UC to date; thus, have no idea about anything that has to do with UC, such assessment periods, etc.

Finally, my enquiry revolves around the following:

1.  If I'm awarded LCWRA, do you think my ESA would be backdated and, if yes, from which point in time?

2. Apart from backdating, how much do you think I would be getting each month after that?

3. Will I continue to be on ESA or I'll be switched to UC, as I've been reading that ESA would be phased out soon?

Many thanks.

calcotti

That’s a ridiculous length of time to have waited for the assessment.

If found to have LCWRA you should be put in the ESA Support Group from the 14th week of your claim.

What type of ESA are you claiming? Is it new style ESA or the older ESA? Your answer to that affects the other part of your question.

Passerby

Thank you very much for your reply.

I said that I had been sending in fit notes since Jan. 2018, just not to shock anyone, because, trust me, in reality, I've been submitting them since Jan. 2016, and I was only assessed on 28th March 2022. I was never approached for an assessment till 6th Jan. 2022, when I received the famous ESA50. Neither have I ever declined or postponed any assessment!

I've been claiming the old ESA to date.

Cheers.

Passerby

Hi,

Does the monthly amount that one gets vary depending on whether they're on ESA in the Support Group, or on UC in LCWRA? Because I'm coming across conflicting and confusing information with regard to this on the internet?

Is there an equivalent of UC LCWRA element for ESA Support Group?

I'm sorry if I'm asking many questions. I'm only asking them for myself.

Thanks.

poppy123456

ESA Support Group amout from April 2021 is £131.30, it would have been slightly less than that in previous years.

ESA WRAG before April 2017 was about £104 per week. For those that claimed after April 2017 then it would have been the basic assessment rate because there's no extra money after that date.

Although Support Group and LCWRA are the same thing. LCWRA for UC actually pays more than ESA Support Group, unless your ESA includes the Severe disability Premium.

calcotti

UC LCWRA is equivalent to ESA Support Group (but financially is worth slightly more).

I cannot understand how you could be on ESA assessment rate for 6 years without having an assessment. Did you never chase it in this time?

Your ESA should now include the standard allowance, the enhanced disability premium and the Support Group component making £131.30/week.

Are you claiming any other benefits at the moment?

Your income based ESA will end in due course and you will be ‘invited’ to claim UC instead. 

Passerby

Hi,

Calcotti and Poppy123456,

Thank you for your prompt and enlightening responses.

Yes, I did chase it and call the DWP a few times in the past and each time I was told to wait till I received the assessment form and was asked to fill it in.

Yes, apart from ESA, I'm also claiming Housing Benefit.

Would I get any backdated payment?

What I can't understand is that two people who are both deemed to have limited capability for work and work-related activity, the one who's on UC gets an additional £343.63 a month, while the one on ESA doesn't and instead just gets £131.30/week!!

Would I be allowed to switch to Universal Credit?

Thank you very much.

poppy123456

You can claim UC anytime you want to. Do you currently claim either PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care?

Passerby

No, I'm not claiming PIP daily living or DLA mid/high rate care.

On ESA support group, will I also be paid the extra £343.63 a month that people on UC LCWRA receive?

Do you think I would get any backdated payment, since I've been submitting fit notes since Jan. 2016?

Cheers.

poppy123456

If you’re placed into the Support Group as advised the extra money is from the 14th week of your claim. As advised Support Group is £131 per week. 
You will not receive the £343 per month if you remain on ESA because this is the LCWRA element of UC. 

Passerby

Can I ask the DWP to move me to UC, as they say that people on ESA would be moved to UC following change of address, since I changed address last January, and I believe this was what triggered dispatching a UC50 form to me, even though I downloaded an ESA50, as they're same? Or do I've to make a new claim for UC myself?

If I make a new claim for UC, would I be able to retain my status as being in support group? And if yes, would I be able to receive the extra £343 per month?

Sorry to ask you about this again: Do you think I would get any backdated payment, since I've been submitting fit notes since Jan. 2016?


Thank you very much.

poppy123456

DWP won’t move you to UC. You have to claim it yourself. 

In your first comment you said “if I’m awarded LCWRA” has a decision been made on your work capability assessment yet? If it hasn’t then you’ll need to wait for the decision to be made. 

A change of address doesn’t in itself prompt a move to UC. If you were claiming housing benefit and you moved to a different local authority then you would need to claim UC. 

Although both ESA/UC50 forms are the same, if you’re claiming ESA you would obviously receive the ESA50 form. No idea why you received the UC50 form if you’re claiming ESA. 

It’s already been advised a few times, if you’re placed into the support Group the extra money is paid from the 14th week of your claim. 

Passerby

No decision has been made yet with regard to my very recent assessment, albeit my expectations,  therefore, I'll wait.

No, I haven't moved into a different local authority but to a different address within the same local authority and I'm continuing to receive Housing Benefit.

If I make a new claim for UC, of course once I would have received a favourable decision, would I be able to retain my status as being in support group? And if yes, would I be able to receive the extra £343 per month once I would be on UC?

Last but not least, in my case, do you think I would be better/ worse off moving to UC?

Thank you.

poppy123456

We are continuing to go round in circles here.
If you’re placed into the Support Group and you claimed UC then you would be entitled to the LCWRA element from the start of your claim. 

Your ESA and housing benefit would continue for 2 weeks and then stop. 

LCWRA for UC pays more than ESA Support Group, as previously advised. 

Passerby

Thank you very much.

calcotti

Passerby said:

No, I haven't moved into a different local authority but to a different address within the same local authority and I'm continuing to receive Housing Benefit.

That would not normally trigger the issue of the ESA50 form, can only assume that when somebody updated your file they realised that they had failed to send one previously.

Passerby said:

What I can't understand is that two people who are both deemed to have limited capability for work and work-related activity, the one who's on UC gets an additional £343.63 a month, while the one on ESA doesn't and instead just gets £131.30/week!!

A person with LCWRA gets an additional £343.63/month. A person moved from the ESA assessment rate to the Support Group gets an additional £56.60/week (equivalent to £245.27/month), a difference of £22.70/week.

UC is a differ system and cannot replicate exactly the previous legacy benefit amounts in all circumstances. 

Passerby

Therefore, from my understanding I think I would be better off making a new claim for UC and moving to it - of course once I get a favourable decision following my last week assessment.

Do you know if the DWP is stating when the following reassessment would take place in their decision letter - in terms of interval. I might be wrong, but I think they agreed in 2017 to clearly mention whether or when a reassessment was required in their letter, following pressure and suggestion of mental health organisations.

Thank you.

calcotti

Passerby said: Do you know if the DWP is stating when the following reassessment would take place in their decision letter - in terms of interval. 

As far as I am aware, they don't.

poppy123456

WCA decision letters never have timescales on them.

Passerby

Yet the HCPs include advice on the assessment report about when it is likely the claimant will be able to return to work, advising one of the following categories of prognosis, and the DWP normally follows the recommendation of the HCPs:  

"I advise that work could be considered within: • three months • six months • 12 months • 18 months.
I advise that work is unlikely: • Within two years • In the longer-term."

Even the DWP’s Revised WCA Handbook affirms that claimants who have a severe, lifelong disability, illness or health condition will be told if they will not be reassessed following their WCA.

I think it's all about the DWP playing games for not disclosing reassessment intervals, simply to continue to make the benefits a hostile environment.

poppy123456

LCWRA/Support Group is an ongoing award until a new decision says otherwise. There's no end date like there is with PIP.

You can ring DWP and they will tell you when you maybe contacted but it's nothing more than a guide. You can actually be reassessed anytime from 3 months. Although with the length of the backlogs that's very unlikely at the moment.