phone assessment what is the point?

red2021
red2021 Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
in Universal Credit (UC)
i had to apply for universal credit in may 2020 and also applied for the sickness element  , my daughter filled in the form very comprehensively.
in december 2020 i recieved news a phone assement was to be carried out in the new year 2021
having had the call for over an hour..2 days later i recieved a letter saying a face to face was needed..what on earth is the point of a phone assement? your only going to be told you need a face to face anyway...i suppose its better than a out and out  NO to your application but it seems totaly  crazy  to have to wait again maybe months  for a face to face...i get a pitifull amount of u/c  as it is and the extra financial help would have been much needed

Comments

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    HI,

    Face to face assessments are currently suspended and they have been since March 2020. For the work capability assessment you can't be found fit for work without a face to face assessment.

    Sometimes it's possible to get all the information through just a telephone assessment and sometimes it's not possible When this happens your file is returned to the pile of others that are waiting for face to face assessments to start back up again. Not everyone has to wait for them to start back up again but i have heard of this happening to a few people.

    Unfortunatelty, there's no news of this happening yet.
  • janer1967
    janer1967 Online Community Member Posts: 21,922 Championing
    Hi and welcome 

    Sometimes they are unable to get all the info they need from a phone assessment 

    F2f are not taking place currently so until they resume which there is no indication when this will be your claim will not be sorted unfortunately 
  • red2021
    red2021 Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    thank you for the responses...was it it still possible for me to be refused outright without an assesment? face to face.. im just trying to see if theres any positive to take from my assesment....if any
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    You can be found fit for work with a face to face assessment, you can also be placed into the LCW group, which means no extra money each month. If you're placed into the LCWRA group then you'll receive an extra £341 per month from the 4th month of your claim.

    You definitely can't be found fit for work through a telephone assessment, which is why a face to face is needed.
  • red2021
    red2021 Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    seems pointless even having the phone assessment..just a waste of manpower really
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    Well it wasn't pointless. I don't know how they could know that they wouldn't get enough of information from the telephone assesment, if it didn't happen in the first place.
  • red2021
    red2021 Online Community Member Posts: 5 Listener
    i sippose the phone call is a step closer to a conclusion of my claim whether its a posotive or a negative result.

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