Hi, my name is neilbacon! Can anyone drop me some advice on UC tribunal?

neilbacon

hiya folks and thanks for the welcome..im having a right battle with uc . ive been registered disabled since 2008 following an accident .. well to cut along story short my conditions have worsened since this date. my mobility isnt great  i cant stand or sit for any period of time because of discomfort.   and since having covid back in 2020 Ive since been diagnosed with a lung condition that leaves me short of breath all the time  i also suffer from depression and anxiety  i had an online medical back in 2020 with uc who seem to find me fit for work i appealed this with a mandatory reconsideration which i lost .so now im taking it to a tribunal  can anyone drop me some advice please because it seems im fighting a loosing battle and its affecting my mental health massively

neilbacon

hello thanks for the reply

my appeal was submitted a while ago now Ive got the Mental Health Welfare Rights Officer on my case but you know what after doing some reading this morning im loosing the will to fight it anymore as its all having a massive affect on my mental health.

i did an over the telephone consult with someone over 12 months ago now who said im fit for work..when my own GP clearly states im not.and has actually put this in a letter to Uc .

in my reports they say i dont have enough points to clam whatever it is

neilbacon

after reading about the descriptors

(i) mobilise more than 50 metres on level ground without stopping in order to avoid significant discomfort or exhaustion
or
(ii) repeatedly mobilise 50 metres within a reasonable timescale because of significant discomfort or exhaustion.

this applies to me

but it seems unless im ready to die i don't qualify which is totally wrong

poppy123456

neilbacon said:

after reading about the descriptors

(i) mobilise more than 50 metres on level ground without stopping in order to avoid significant discomfort or exhaustion
or
(ii) repeatedly mobilise 50 metres within a reasonable timescale because of significant discomfort or exhaustion.

this applies to me

but it seems unless im ready to die i don't qualify which is totally wrong

That's not correct. Lots of people are found to have LCWRA who are clearly not about to die. Myself include, my daughter also and my friends daughter. We are all very much alive and kicking.

Do be aware that the mobilising descriptor also takes into consideration your ability to use a manual wheelchair so it's not just about your ability to walk.

TerryG

Hi Neil,

The being able to stand or sit at a job station for no more than 30 minutes,Activity 2,section B,sounds like that would apply to you,as it does to me,that is 9 points,only 6 more are required with that alone,Activity 1,the mobility,even if you scored the minimum 6 points,that would be 15..Having your GP confirm this is required,I have letters running concurrently that have been consistent.As regards the use of a Wheelchair,I had an Occupational therapist report stating,due to arthritis in my back,and hands,I would need a electric mobility scooter,this was ignored in the assessment,which begs the question,how much do they really read of the evidence you provided?.Get the evidence in writing from your GP,if you haven't had one,get an Occupational therapist to visit at home and form a report if not already done.On depression,I submitted a report from a Mental Health worker to the tribunal,this was also ignored,I would suggest your sleep is pretty fragmented,mu sleep report which showed severely fragmented sleep also ignored.
They were not ignored by the tribunal.

I think they are going to force the large % of people to go through the MR then the tribunal regardless,in the hope it that people don't have either the strength to go through with it,or are being deceitful.

neilbacon

Please excuse my ignorance my wording was wrong. I just feel I'm going round in circles and it's making my depression worse.. when I originally had my telephone acessment I wasn't in the correct frame of mind and I felt I was being led by the questions .the lady on the other end of the phone was very clever in the way she was asking questions .
Anyway this seemed to go against me in the decision making so I requested a face to face appointment  of which was never offered so I could get my point across  anyway I appealed against the decision via a mandatory reconsideration and ironically I lost this one.  So by this time I was suffering really bad with my depression and contacted healthy minds who were great  and I was contacted by there mental health rights advisor who told me not to give up and we decided to take my case to a tribunal  and have a face to face .but I'm bricking it and it's stressing me out and I  not dealing with things very well again .infact only 10 mons ago I've had a telephone call from my gp's in-house mental health team  to have a talk to them because I'm not  coping at all .

poppy123456

TerryG said:

Hi Neil,

The being able to stand or sit at a job station for no more than 30 minutes,Activity 2,section B,sounds like that would apply to you,as it does to me,that is 9 points,only 6 more are required with that alone,Activity 1,the mobility,even if you scored the minimum 6 points,that would be 15..

For LCWRA this is not correct. It's not about scoring points, it's about satisfying at least one of the LCWRA descriptors. Point scoring is related to LCW only.

poppy123456

If you are getting help and support by a welfare rights officer then they should know everything there is about your case so any questions should be directed to them.

Do be aware that any worsening of condition since the assessment took place will not be taken into consideration.

neilbacon

Tha k you poppy.
This is why I appealed against the decision this is why its now going to tribunal 

calcotti

neilbacon said:

This is why I appealed against the decision this is why its now going to tribunal 

Not clear what you are referring to by 'this'. If you are referring to a deterioration in your health since the assessment then this cannot be taken into account.

neilbacon

Because since my initial assessment my conditions have got worse and I'm getting the impression non of the evidence I out forward was taken into account .so on the advice of my gp I'm taking my case to tribunal so all the evidence can be put forward 

calcotti

neilbacon said:

Because since my initial assessment my conditions have got worse

As advised changes since the assessment are not taken into account. The tribunal's role is to decide if the DWP decision was correct at the time it was made.

If you have had a deterioration in health that would be a change of circumstance which should be reported and would trigger a new assessment.

neilbacon

Thank you for your comment I've got a meeting face to face with my representative on the 15th July about this tribunal. He should know shouldn't he what the next move should be because the last thing I want to do is to keep working myself into a state to find out that I'm going to loose this appeal because they won't take into consideration my health issues as they are now 

poppy123456

You have what so many people don't... a representative. They should know that a worsening of condition is never taken into consideration.

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

You have what so many people don't... a representative. They should know that a worsening of condition is never taken into consideration.

On the other hand the representative will have all the relevant information and may be able to see an argument in favour of an award,

poppy123456

calcotti said:

poppy123456 said:

You have what so many people don't... a representative. They should know that a worsening of condition is never taken into consideration.

On the other hand the representative will have all the relevant information and may be able to see an argument in favour of an award,

Indeed, i didn't suggest otherwise.

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

calcotti said:

poppy123456 said:

You have what so many people don't... a representative. They should know that a worsening of condition is never taken into consideration.

On the other hand the representative will have all the relevant information and may be able to see an argument in favour of an award,

Indeed, i didn't suggest otherwise.

I didn’t mean to suggest or imply that you had.

OP should be placing faith in the representative rather than asking questions on the forum.

poppy123456

My fault Calcotti for reading it the wrong way, apologies. 

Agree with your second paragraph! 

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

My fault Calcotti for reading it the wrong way, apologies. 

Agree with your second paragraph! 

No need to apologise - sorry it could be read differently to what I intended.

TerryG

Well Neil,why they say you require 15 points is s total mystery to me,so peruse these at your leisure.My Tribunal also in its findings based it on points scored,I think I will have to inform Sutton courts that they are wrong also.

poppy123456

You only need to satisfy one of the LCWRA descriptors which you can see here https://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc/uc-faq/limited-capability-for-work-related-activity

That screenshot above is very confusing. This is the link to the Turn2us website and as you can clearly see here that only 1 needs to apply. https://www.turn2us.org.uk/Benefit-guides/Work-Capability-Assessment/Limited-Capability-for-Work-Related-Activity