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Capability for work assessment on Universal Credit

lors23
lors23 Community member Posts: 9 Listener
edited October 2018 in Universal Credit (UC)
Hi
I am new to the group and need some advice as l am confused. My situation is l just went through my assessment today and the lady told me, obviously you will not be able to work and your condition is getting worse so l will go make a phonecall and she left the room to call someone. My condition is l have severe degenerative osteoarthritis and have had 6 surgeries since Dec 2015. This led to me being in permenant pain and nearly disabled. I also have further surgery on Oct 24th 2018. My surgeon has provided proof that l have a severe case of the disease and will be in pain for the rest of my life and he also said l would not be able to work again. 

I had to leave my job of 15 years in Feb 2018 as l was no longer able to work due to pain. I had been off sick mostly since dec 2015 and did try after a few surgeries to go back but failed to manage it any longer as my condition rapidly got worse. 
Currently my husband is my full time carer and he also was forced to leave his job to care for me. So we receive UC as a couple over 25 and my husband receives Carers Allowance. It has took until September for them to assess me. 
So what l want to know is what will this assessment achive. The assesor was very straight forward and told me that it was obvious l could not work plus l had a further surgery planned and went of to make a call. But on the way out she said you will not need to come back and see us for a while then said over a year or so. Does that mean she is classing me as LCW or LCWRA? Will l get any extra payment on top of the basic amount we get just now or will it remain the same. 
Thanks
Lors

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Community member Posts: 53,365 Disability Gamechanger
    Hi,

    The health care professional is not there to make any decision and shouldn't have said anything to you, like she did. They are there to make a recommendation in the assessment report. This report, along with all the evidence is then returned to DWP where a decision maker makes their decision.

    The decision will either be fit for work, LCW or LCWRA. If you're placed into the LCWRA group you'll receive and extra element on your UC of £328 back dated to the 4th month of your claim because of the 3 month waiting period.  IF you're placed into the LCW group and your claim for UC started after April 2017 then there will be no extra money.

    You just need to wait for the decision. You can ring UC and ask for a copy of the assessment report to be sent to you, or put a note on your UC account but i'd wait a week before doing this. Good luck.


    I would appreciate it if members wouldn't tag me please. I have all notifcations turned off and wouldn't want a member thinking i'm being rude by not replying.
    If i see a question that i know the answer to i will try my best to help.
  • lors23
    lors23 Community member Posts: 9 Listener
    Thank you so much for your advice. I did not think the health care proffesional should be saying this to me as l had read how it works. But she confused me because she said obviously you can't work and you have more surgery scheduled and excused herself to make a phonecall about me. I wondered why she did this. And then when l was exiting she said don't worry you won't need to come back for a while and then said well about a year or more for a follow up. I did not get what she was meaning. 
    I will just have to wait a week or so and request a copy of the report and await the outcome. 
    Thank You Again
  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,793 Disability Gamechanger
    Welcome to the community @lors23, glad to see you've had some advice! 
  • lors23
    lors23 Community member Posts: 9 Listener
    Thanks Pippa am still a bit confused at the health care proffesional because of what she said and did. Why did she go to call someone about me and then say onviously you are not capable to work as you are getting worse plus you have more surgery ahead. I did not think she had any desition in how l was rated but it came across like she new what l was going to be. Weird. But l will not hold my breath l know it can be a stressful process to go through. I already went through 2 ATOS assesments and ended up with the highest rate for both but not without a mandatory reconsideration. And this was when l was not half as bad as l am now. 
    Thanks for making me feel welcome. 
    Lors

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