ESA to LCWRA - FIT note?

shell14

Hi! My Mum is in the support group for ESA and has applied for UC due to moving. We were told by CAB that she would not be required to provide FIT notes or attend regular appointments at the Job Centre as her ESA would transfer to LCWRA with UC.

Her work coach said that while she is on UC, she will need to provide FIT notes continuously and attend appointments to "catch up on how things are going" after each FIT note runs out even though she was in the ESA support group.

I'm totally confused now as this is the opposite to what CAB told us.

Can anyone advise? Does she still need to attend regular Job Centre appointments and provide FIT notes if she's transferring from support group ESA to LCWRA UC? Thank you so much for your help!

poppy123456

Although UC and ESA are part of DWP they don't often communicate with each other. She will be asked to supply a fit note as part of her claim and she will need to attend her first appointment at her job centre.

She should put a message onto her journal telling them that she was in the Support Group for ESA and hopefully they will then contact ESA for the information they need.

Once the Information is received this should then prompt the work commitments to change and they will include the LCWRA element by the time she has her first statement. Once this is done she will not need to attend any further appointments.

shell14

Hi Poppy! Thank you for your speedy response.

I have told her work coach repeatedly that she is in the ESA support group and unfortunately, she's still sticking to the same story. She said for as long as Mum is on UC, she will be required to supply FIT notes. I told her what CAB said too.

She attended her commitment appointment today and it says on her journal they will start paying from the 22nd September but we haven't had any letters about the claim or how it's broken down etc. 

I wonder if I should phone ESA and ask them to help? She is very stressed and anxious about having to attend all these appointments (and how she's going to get there and back) plus asking her GP for FIT notes all the time.

poppy123456

She should provide the fit note as it’s standard procedure. 

She needs ask her work coach to send the MPG1 form to ESA and then ESA will send the information across. Once they have the information then she will no longer have to send fit notes.

About 4 days before her payment date she will receive a statement on her journal and in that it will have a full breakdown of all the elements she’s entitled to. She will then receive the statement each month. UC is a digital claim so everything is done through her journal. 

shell14

Thanks Poppy! This is all very new to us so we have no idea how it all works. Your advice has been super helpful! She has given them a FIT note that the GP issued for one month so that's all been done. I will check with the work coach that the MPG1 form has been sent. And if the work coach is still adamant she has to provide FIT notes/attend appointments after it's all been sorted, I'll ask to speak to someone else within their department. Many thanks Poppy for your time 

Alex_Alumni

Hello there @shell14 and welcome to the community from me I'm glad to see that you found Poppy's advice so helpful.

How are things going this weekend? 

If you'd like to have a look around the rest of the forum please do feel free, here's a few of the best places to get started:

• Recent discussions is where you'll find all the latest conversations our members are having
• The categories page shows all the different topics for discussion
• The virtual coffee lounge is a place to chat, get to know other members, and play games too

I hope this community can act as a place of support for you, and please don't hesitate to reach out of you need anything!

Alex

Richteachouxsnack

What are your commitments on Lcwra , what message appears in your journal? 

bettyboop60

Uc is so very complicated. You get told moving over from esa support group to lcwra is done automatically but it isn't. I have had to provide fit notes and fill in a uc50 form and I now have a date and time for a uc assessment. I have been awarded esa support group indefinite and I showed this to my work coach but nothing has changed. I don't even get the additional payment. This means I have to pay £75 a week to my rent out of my esa. I also showed uc my migration notice.

OverlyAnxious

https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/949619#Comment_949619

The work coaches don't understand the process.

If you were genuinely in the Support Group of income related ESA then you are automatically entitled to LCWRA.

However, if you provide a fit note, that triggers an automatic request for a work capability assessment.

This is caused by the work coaches misunderstanding. Not actually a fault with UC.