LCWRA backpay

Felicitywishes79

Hi, this is my first post so please bear with me. My husband was made redundant from his job in February 2021 due to covid. We claimed Universal Credit but were slightly confused by the system. In March 2021 I asked on the journal about I needed to fill in a UC50 form as I have a disability. I was told that someone would be in touch about it in due course. I also asked in June 2021 if they could give me a timeframe when someone would be in touch about the UC50 form and they said they couldn’t give me a time. In February 2022 I asked again and I was only told then that I would need a fit note, which I did and reported that I had. I was finally sent the form in April 2022, had my assessment last week and have been awarded the extra element. The letter says that if I’m owed money it will be backdated by up to 3 months, but I’ve been asking about the form with no direct answers from them from March last year. I reported the health conditions straight away when we claimed universal credit. Will I be able to ask them to consider backdating it further, and is it worth doing? Many Thanks for reading this far 

Biblioklept

You are meant to have provided a fit note but if they didn't advice you of that and you can evidence it, you might be able to appeal the decision to back date but I don't know if it would be successful. 

poppy123456

When you first claimed UC it would have asked if you have a health condition, if you had ticked yes then it should have prompted to ask you to provide a fit note. There's a full 3 month assessment period waiting time. It will be down to a decision maker to decide what it's backdated to.

Felicitywishes79

The first I was told of needing a fit note was in February of this year. All messages were via our journal too.

poppy123456

Felicitywishes79 said:

 In March 2021 I asked on the journal about I needed to fill in a UC50 form as I have a disability. I was told that someone would be in touch about it in due course. I also asked in June 2021 if they could give me a timeframe when someone would be in touch about the UC50 form and they said they couldn’t give me a time. In February 2022 I asked again and I was only told then that I would need a fit note, which I did and reported that I had.

You can put a message onto your journal and tell them exactly what you said here. Tell them that you weren't told a fit note was needed when you first asked in March 2021. It will be down to a decision maker to make the final decision.

Felicitywishes79

Thank you my GP has written a letter for me stating how long each condition has affected me from and I took it into the local job centre yesterday. The lady there was lovely and I think she was a bit shocked by their lack of answers to me when I had asked about lcwra on the journal. She uploaded a copy of the letter and asked for a mandatory reconsideration and put a long detailed explanation as to why I didn’t agree with it. She actually wrote it out herself and then read it to me and it was much more detailed than I would have put. Hopefully it will help, but if not I guess I haven’t lost anything. Thank you for all of your advice so far x 

L_Volunteer

You are welcome @Felicitywishes79. It is the very least you deserve.

I am glad your GP has been supporting you by writing you a letter stating how long each condition has affected you and you took it to the local job centre yesterday. It sounds even more positive that the lady at the job centre was lovely and supportive.

I am wishing you the best of luck with this. Please feel free to keep us in the loop with how things go for you, we are all here for you