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New to LCWRA

Scooby2

Hi. I have a two part question.
1) Is lcwra, when approved, applied from first fit for work notes or from change of circumstance. I didn't know about this element until work coach told me I SHOULD have been referred.
2) Should lcwra payment show up on UC statement?
Timeline as follows:

06/06/22 - first of continuous sick note

25/07 - work coach advised should have been referred. Change of circumstances processed

16/08 - referral confirmed

14/08 - eligibility confirmed

20/10 - enquiry response 3 month grace period from 06/10, nothing backdated

25/10 - review request response, 3mnth wait period from 25/07, first payment due 12/11

07/11 - new statement prepared, no lcwra payment included

Should I be contacting UC about this?

Thanks in advance for taking time to read this.

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Comments

calcotti

It’s the work coaches responsibility to make the referral and it should be made 29 days after you report the health condition (immediately in some cases).

Your LCWRA status should be backdated to when you provided the Fit Note. However extra money (the LCWRA element) is not paid until four months later. It should be taken from 06/06, not 25/07.

You should be entitled to LCWRA payment from the payment on 12th October.

You should request a Mandatory Reconsideration of the date.

If your statement on 7th Nov hasn’t got LCWRA included you should definitely query it. Put a note in your journal as a payment query.

poppy123456

Based on the information you gave your first LCWRA payment should be this month. Put a message on your journal under the payment section and tell them that the element wasn't included in this months statement, when it should have been.

Scooby2

Hi Calcotti and Poppy,
Thanks for your response.
I've added a message to my journal and will let you know the outcome.

calcotti

poppy123456 said:

Based on the information you gave your first LCWRA payment should be this month.

Poppy, I came out as first due in October rather than this month.

I took OP’s AP as 6th to 5th of the month with payments due on the 12th.

OP reported on 6th June which is the first day of the AP so the three months wait is June-July, July -Aug and Aug-Sept. LCWRA due for Sept-Oct payable on 12th October.

Scooby2

Hi Folks,
I asked for further clarification on dates on my Journal and got a vague reply stipulating the 3 month wait from yet another agent, so I rang. The agent confirmed 25th July as the start date. This is when I made change of circumstance on the journal. I concede to this start date as I didn't know I had to fill in a change of circumstance, and was never told.
The agent further explained 3 full AP have to pass before payment.
Next AP after 25th July was 6th August for the month prior, July, which was an incomplete month.
1st full AP 6th Sept for August, 2nd AP 6th Oct for Sept and 3rd 6th Nov for Oct, leaving AP 6th December the qualifying period for payment.

It's clear Agents answering journal queries haven't grasped the complexities or just don't bother looking into queries correctly, given the amount of conflicting, vague or completely incorrect information they provide.

Kind Regards,

calcotti

Scooby2 said:

The agent confirmed 25th July as the start date. This is when I made change of circumstance on the journal. I concede to this start date as I didn't know I had to fill in a change of circumstance, and was never told.
The agent further explained 3 full AP have to pass before payment.
Next AP after 25th July was 6th August for the month prior, July, which was an incomplete month.
1st full AP 6th Sept for August, 2nd AP 6th Oct for Sept and 3rd 6th Nov for Oct, leaving AP 6th December the qualifying period for payment.

That calculation is correct for 25th July however I am still not clear why they are using 25th July and not 6th June when you provided the Fit Note.

How was the Fit Note provided on 6th June? Even though you didn't do the 'correct procedure' if you didn't use Report a Change you can still challenge this. Your Work Coach should have seen it and acted on it anyway.

Scooby2

I made change of circumstance on the journal on 25th.
To be honest, I'm glad to have gotten a definitive answer as before I'd been advised of payment on 12th October, changed to 12th Jan 2023, then 12th Nov and now 12th Dec.
Dealing with ever-changing agents and conflicting information wears you down, especially with depression, anxiety and addiction recovery.
It's a shame you can't retain your work coach, as that person knew fully your situation, rather than dealing with jobs worths with the occasional professional.
I don't know that I could face any further challenges.

poppy123456

calcotti said:

poppy123456 said:

Based on the information you gave your first LCWRA payment should be this month.

Poppy, I came out as first due in October rather than this month.

I took OP’s AP as 6th to 5th of the month with payments due on the 12th.

OP reported on 6th June which is the first day of the AP so the three months wait is June-July, July -Aug and Aug-Sept. LCWRA due for Sept-Oct payable on 12th October.

I completely forgot it was November already (despite my birthday being last week) I did actually mean October and not this month. Thanks for spotting that calcotti!

I agree with challenging the advice not to report a change in June when the fit note was reported because the work coach should have advised to report the changes back in June. It's very frustrating when so many work coaches do not understand the process, even after all these years!

calcotti

poppy123456 said: I completely forgot it was November already (despite my birthday being last week) I did actually mean October and not this month. Thanks for spotting that calcotti!

I did wonder if that might be the case!

calcotti

Scooby2 said:

I made change of circumstance on the journal on 25th.

You didn't answer

calcotti said: How was the Fit Note provided on 6th June?

Scooby2

Fit note provided after leaving work through illness. I had an open claim with £0 payments as I had up to 5 months previously reason to claim for housing, but receiving SSP through work.
Reporting a change in circumstance didn't occur to me until work coach brought it up nearly 2 months later, nor did I know about the WCA.
I just assumed the fit note would indicate a change in circumstances.

Scooby2

calcotti said:

Scooby2 said:

I made change of circumstance on the journal on 25th.

You didn't answer

calcotti said: How was the Fit Note provided on 6th June?
Through a previous claim which was never closed on return to work. Apparently, unless you ask for a claim to be closed, the keep it open with £0 payments for 6 months incase illness is recurring

calcotti

Scooby2 said:

calcotti said:

Scooby2 said:

I made change of circumstance on the journal on 25th.

You didn't answer

calcotti said: How was the Fit Note provided on 6th June?
Through a previous claim which was never closed on return to work. Apparently, unless you ask for a claim to be closed, the keep it open with £0 payments for 6 months incase illness is recurring

So sorry - I missed that.

So you mean there was an old Fit Note on your file from the previous claim. Was the Fit Note still valid when the new claim/reclaim was made? Had you reported the health condition on that claim? Were you ever assessed on the previous claim? Was this a rapid reclaim.

Sorry for the questions.

Scooby2

I had been off work ill and in receipt of ssp through employer from August '21 to Jan '22. I found out I could get help with rent through UC so applied, and landlord received part of my rent from UC in Oct, Nov & Dec.
Because I was getting ssp, I didn't need to supply fit note to UC.
Returned to work in Jan and notified UC, so rent payment stopped.
Through illness had to quit work end of May. Contacted UC to make new claim and was told last claim remained open with nil payment, so just send in fit note.
Payments toward rent resumed in July, with standard UC payment to me beginning in August.

calcotti

Scooby2 said:
Because I was getting ssp, I didn't need to supply fit note to UC.

That’s where it went wrong. You should have declared you health condition when you first claimed UC and would have been referred for the WCA then. If found to have had LCWRA you would have got a Work Allowance and that would have meant most of your SSP would have been ignored.

if it was clear that you were getting SSP it would be reasonable to expect your Work Coach to have advised you then to submit a properly submitted Fit Note.

You could, if you wish, make a complaint about the handling of your case and ask for compensation of any financial loss suffered as a result.