Sick notes

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Tonyhallewell54
Tonyhallewell54 Online Community Member Posts: 1 Listener
edited February 2019 in Universal Credit (UC)
I have been to the nurse today and been told that I have copd and had this for the last 10 yr I did not know I had this I have inhales as I get out of breath I get universal credit as I was out sick and I went to assessment and they told that I did not have to get no more sick notes as I had I had conditions so did not have to get no more sick notes but still had to go to the job centre but they could not sent me to find work

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  • gnmeads
    gnmeads Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 187 Empowering
    Hi Tonyhallewell54 and a big welcome to the Scope community and sorry to hear about your problems 
  • steve51
    steve51 Online Community Member Posts: 7,121 Championing
    Hi @Tonyhallewell54

    Good Evening & Welcome it’s great to meet you today.

    I’m very sorry to hear about your current problems.

    Please please let me know if there’s anything that I can help you with????

    @steve51
  • Pippa_Alumni
    Pippa_Alumni Scope alumni Posts: 5,761 Championing
    Hi @Tonyhallewell54, and a warm welcome to the community!

    Thanks for sharing this with us. I wonder if our brilliant @CockneyRebel could offer any input here?
  • mossycow
    mossycow Scope Member Posts: 486 Pioneering
    Hiya  so have you been assessed as being in the Work Related Activity Group? 

    You have  along term condition so they won't ask for sick notes/medical certificates any more and that's a good thing. 

    So the next thing is that you were put in the working group. With universal credit you need to let them know of changes and it spund alike you have had a big change today. 

    That in its self must feel like a big thing and I'm sure your gp will be supporting you in that?

    Meanwhile have you logged on or called universal credit to let them know about this change? 

    Do you feel it is hard to work (if you don't mind me asking)? 

    Lots going on but  really really good you've had a diagnosis. Information is power! 
  • MatthewD1985
    MatthewD1985 Online Community Member Posts: 31 Connected

    Hi Tonyhallewell54, I was also in the Support Group for ESA and was told that I did not need to look for work or send in sick notes anymore. However, when I went over to universal credit, despite the fact that the work capability assessment being done recently, I still was expected to provide a new sick note from the start of universal credit and subject to another work capability assessment - unfortunately they may not necessaraly tell you this. I didn't provide a sick note for the start of my UC claim and as my Dr. wouldnt backdate my note I had 2 months on the basic 256 before it went back to the proper rate. If you have done your UC application online and said you have limited or no capability for work then 'provide a sick note' should be in your 'to do list' on your online UC account. Unfortunately they don't seem to take anything from your ESA claim into account when setting up universal credit claim

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    This isn't correct when transferring from ESA to UC they should place in relevant group that you were in when claiming ESA. It's not done automatically though, you need a case manager to send over your ESA award to UC and this can take a couple of weeks. If it's not done then you should contact ESA to speak to a case manager.


    Taken from the above link.
    Migration and limited capability for work related activity.
    A claimant entitled to old-style ESA and for whom it had been determined that s/he had limited capability for work-related activity or was treated as having limited capability for work-related activity (ie, was in the support group) when s/he claimed UC is treated as having limited capability for work-related activity for UC.12 This should also apply regarding a claimant who established this on mandatory reconsideration or appeal concerning ESA.13

  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Online Community Member Posts: 2,621 Trailblazing
    Tonyhallewell54,
    It does sound as if you're in the work-related activity group following an assessment in universal credit. At the moment you have to attend the job centre but you don't have to look for work. It sounds possible that now you've got a COPD diagnosis that could change things, but it's hard to say, because the work capability assessment is all about what you can and cannot do, not your diagnosis. As you say, you've had it for 10 years so the breathing problems you mention should have been taken into account in your WCA, for example if you mentioned them at the time, or if you'd declared them on your UC50. However, assessments don't always cover every condition and problem you have so you may feel the result isn't right.

    If the diagnosis makes you feel that the result of the assessment might be wrong, you could ask for a mandatory reconsideration - that is where they look at the decision again. You could say that you think you should be in the support group because work-related activity would be too difficult for you or could even put your health at risk.

    Or you might think that the result was correct at the time but since, you have got worse.

    You can still present sick notes after a work capability assessment, but you'll have to explain why (for example, because you think the decision is wrong, or because you think there's been a deterioration in your health, or if there was a temporary issue that meant you couldn't attend the jobcentre).

    If you do think there has been a change and you should now be in the support group, you can ask for a change to the decision, but this might mean you have to be reassessed again.

    I hope this helps you decide what to do now.

    Will

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