LCWRA back payment

phd99
phd99 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener
edited February 7 in Universal Credit (UC)

Hi everyone!

I was hoping to get some advice regarding LCWRA.

So this may be a weird one as ive looked at alot of posts and cabt find any answers

Ive been on a fit note with UC since 21 june 2023 and they never suggest, bought up, told me about or sent me for a lcw assessment

So i started asking in my journal for an assessment, and asking why no one has booked this already. Why i had been begging for help for years and being ignored (my journal enteries are some what dramatic with all the stress of being ignored by them gave me) this took months. I finally got booked in for one, i went to the appointment and got awarded LCWRA and i quickly got a backdated payment from the 3 months i waited from being booked to my appointment day.

But the manager of my UC center has sent a request in for my payment to be backdated all the way back to 2023 as it should of been 3 months of a fit note and then the assessment not over 2 years!

Its now gone to a decision maker but its been almost 3 months ive asked countless times for an update and they dont have one.

Has anyone else experienced anything like this before?

Does anyone know a rough time frame im looking at waiting?

My friend whos had a child related payment backdated like this before said she thinks it will end up going to tribunal like hers did, should i expect that?

Thanks for reading !

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Comments

  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 14,171 Online Community Programme Lead

    Hello @phd99 and a warm welcome to the community.

    Were your fit notes submitted continuously, without any gaps between them? And when you first started providing fit notes, did you also report your health condition or disability to Universal Credit?

    Also, since June 2023, have you worked at all, particularly over 16 hours a week? I’m just wondering whether there may have been a reason you weren’t referred for a Work Capability Assessment sooner.

  • phd99
    phd99 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1100154#Comment_1100154

    HI! Thank you ! And thanks for replying!

    So I did have a few gaps in my fit notes over the years but i always put in my journal if there was ever an issue getting them in time and then backdating them so there wasn't anu gaps anymore.

    I was always talking to them in my journal and phone calls about my health condition witch is mental health and I was briefly getting help through UC with them putting me in touch with other people like adult social services and mental health services therapies etc

    I think there were issues as i was homless for around a year and moved job centers 3 times due to going to stay with different friends. I did find there was a massive miscommunication between the job centers.

    I havent really worked since then no, I'm also on PIP and I only worked 2 days at a horse stable in that time before having a breakdown and not going back.

    Thanks again!

  • Emilee
    Emilee Online Community Member Posts: 306 Empowering

    The delay in referring you for a WCA will almost certainly be where you've moved between job centres and UC teams, it shouldn't happen but it does quite frequently. I hope you are settled now and have support for your housing needs

    The gaps between fit notes may cause issues, but it would be down to the decision maker and from experience depends strongly on how long they were and how quickly they were resolved and backdated.

    If you’ve been waiting more than three months after the referral was sent to a decision maker or case manager without any update, it’s reasonable to take further steps to escalate:

    You could ask to put in a formal complaint to the DWP or contact your local MP for help. They have direct departmental contacts that aren't available to claimants which can speed up the process. They can't change the decision but they can ask the DWP why it hasn't progressed and this sometimes prompts a quicker review.

  • phd99
    phd99 Online Community Member Posts: 4 Listener
    https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/comment/1100350#Comment_1100350

    Ah its a difficult situation for me as the only reason i moved job centers so many times is becahse they kept refuing me help and i had no option but to leave so i could get the help i needed elsewhere.

    And with the gaps on my fit note, it was either because i can only get it reissued once its expired and some tomes the doctor wasnt open or working tbat day, on holiday or on sick leave. I always let them know in my journal. Or it was because i was homeless and had no way of getting to my doctors as it was over an hour away and i didnt have money to travel. But then they changed to online sicknotes so i didnt have that issue anymore.

    They keep telling me they canr advise a time and will update me as soon as they know but its coming up to 3 months now so thank you for your suggestions for formal complaints or contacting the MP.

    I have complaied alot and even threated them with laywers for being ableist and trying to use my diability and lack of help and knowledge around me againts me and this seems tl be the only way they take me seriously.

  • Emilee
    Emilee Online Community Member Posts: 306 Empowering

    @phd99 I understand that this has been a long and frustrating process, and that you have been let down. Try to keep any complaints as short and factual as possible so that the key points come across clearly. They are unlikely to respond to threats of legal action or accusations of ableism, but you may get a better response by calmly asking how to make an official complaint about the way your claim has been handled.

    Do you know how to find your local MP and contact them? You do not need to wait three months, you can do both of these things now. Best of luck and I wish you a positive outcome soon.

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