LCWRA - Time scale and processes

NathanP93
NathanP93 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 13 Listener
Firstly i would like to thank anyone in advance for any information they have to give.

So to the point, are the processes for pip and lcwra the same? As in (fill in questionnaire, wait for an assessement, report goes back and a decision is made?) Also what sort of time scales have people experienced from sending off thier questionnaire for lcwra? Both my pip and lcwra questionnaires were sent by tracked post and were recieved at thier relevant address on the 29th September 2022, i then recieved an appointment for my pip assessment 2-3 weeks later and probably 10 days after that i recieved my award text and letter and i have even recieved my first pip payment on the 29th Dec which is all fine the process was very smooth and from reading others post's it was relatively quick but with the lcwra questionnaire like i said above it was received by them on the 29th september but ive not heard anything and theres nothing on my journal i did speak to my work coach but all they could tell me was that they didnt know what stage i am at and that theres a back log? So all lcwra applications are delayed but that was at the start of december, i apologise for the long message i was just trying to make sure the detail was there.

Comments

  • Rose29
    Rose29 Online Community Member Posts: 30 Listener
    Good afternoon I applied for it after second sick note went in before august & questionnaire was sent back I rang in November was told it’s In appointment process and I’ll hear from them & if I needed phone appointment I have to call back after letter is been received,it’s now mid January and nothing I rang yesterday & was told f2f is available I said I can’t come there and due to my mental health disability and what I’m struggling with it’s not good option he then said we can do a video call which I need to speak to my support and therapist if that something I can go ahead with but I specifically asked for telephone appointment on which this man rudely said we’ll write to you if any availability and then hang up on me 
  • calcotti
    calcotti Online Community Member Posts: 10,001 Championing
    edited January 2023
    NathanP93 said:
    So to the point, are the processes for pip and lcwra the same? As in (fill in questionnaire, wait for an assessment, report goes back and a decision is made?)
    As you describe, the processes are essentially the same (although the requirements differ).

    There have been long delays for both PIP and LCWRA for a long time. Your PIP seems to have been progressed fairly quickly. From other threads there is a lot of variation in processing times.
  • NathanP93
    NathanP93 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 13 Listener
    @Rose29 i see thanks for telling me about your experience, im sorry you're having such a hard time with it all, i was actually wondering if wether how long someone has been on the sick affected time scales also, im not sure how many sick notes ive handed in since my health condition first started affecting me in May 2020 but like i said i only got referered to lcwra by my new work coach this year in August because although i havent worked for 2 years i was still classed as working as my employer kept me on the books in the hope that i would be able to return but obviously that wasnt possible. 
  • Rose29
    Rose29 Online Community Member Posts: 30 Listener
    @NathanP93 as long as you can access all your sick notes from ur journal and keep them written down you can tell the time scale to the assessor but they take a long time to process anything ,my pip assessment has took long to go through but it finally has just waiting for outcome now.
  • NathanP93
    NathanP93 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 13 Listener
    @Rose29 luckily all of my sicknotes were delivered to me online in pdf form so that shouldnt be a problem for me, what is worrying me from your experience though is that i also would need a telephone appointment otherwise i would need to try an arrange someone to come with me as i would need to use a wheelchair for any distance futher than my front gate and from reading your reply this a big possibility 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    edited January 2023
    A lot of assessments are now done by telephone, some are video and/or face to face at an assessment centre. It could be several months before you hearing anything and most people have assessments.

    You can also contact them and ask for a telephone assessment if an assessment is needed. Contact details for the Health Assessment Advisory Service are here. https://chdauk.co.uk/about-us/contact-us/

  • NathanP93
    NathanP93 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Just thought i would update my post for anyone that is scrolling through the forum for examples of the lcwra timescale, 

    I sent my questionnaire back and was recieved on the 29th September 2022.

    Had an over the phone assessment on the 3rd March 2023, the lady who held my assessment was very kind and patient, even made comments about her own health and other personal things which made me feel like i was actually talking to human rather than a script that was written out, the assessment was around 45 minutes long and overall very pleasant, i havent recieved a letter in my journal yet as its only been a week im not worried, i assume i will be deemed lcwra but you never know.

    While im here does anyone know if your 1st sicknote counts from when you submit it or when its confirmed? For example my UC is worked out from the 29th to the 28th, and my 1st sick note was uploaded on the 28th April, so im wondering if i am accepted would the 3 month waiting period start from 29th april or because the sicknote wasnt confirmed on my journal until the 30th april, would the 3 months start from the 29th May?


  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    The waiting period is 3 full assessment periods starting from when you first reported your health condition, providing you sent a fit note within 7 days of that and continued to send them without any gaps until a decision is made on your WCA. It's then paid from the 4th month.

    Based on the information you gave your waiting period will be April to July.. LCWRA starts from assessment period 29th July to 28th August and first payment would be 4th Sept 2022.

    There's no extra money if found to have just LCW.
  • NathanP93
    NathanP93 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Hello Poppy, thankyou for your reply, see my situation is a little complicated i think, because i first reported my health condition 5th May 2020 and uploaded a sicknote within 7 days, i was off work from then until February 2021 with no gaps in my sicknotes, however when i returned to work in Febuary 2021 i didnt know that i should still be handing in sicknotes to UC as i still had the same health condition but my employer was going above and beyond to help me return to work and give me a little of my self worth back, i was able to stay working until April 2022 where my mobility had reduced down to the point where my employer was sending a taxi to my house and i had aid getting in and out of the taxi into a wheelchair and then wheeled into work, it just became to difficult and to painful to continue like this, so that's when i continued to supply sick notes, although i didnt report a new change in my health condition as it was still the same and nothing had changed, then around August my work coach got the Lcwra questionnaire sent out for me.

    Yes i understand if placed in the LCW group there is no extra payment entitlement.

    So just to make it easier for reading the main points above are

    May 5th 2020: Health condition Reported and sicknote provided until Febuary 16th 2021 no gaps

    Febuary 16th 2021: Returned to work under a care plan and arrangements made for me to be able to get into work ect.

    April 28th 2022: change of circumstance to 0 hours of work per week, sicknote provided from then and ongoing no gaps

    August 1st 2022: let go from work due to ill health and lcwra questionnaire sent out

    Im sorry for the essay

  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    edited March 2023
    The gap in your fit notes from Feb 2021 to April 2022 could cause an issue, usually you need to continue to provide fit notes until a decision is made on your WCA.
    It will be down to a decision maker to make the final decision as to when the waiting period will start from but i suspect it will be from April 2022, as this is when they've been continuous.
  • NathanP93
    NathanP93 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Yes i believe that too, i would have continued to supply them if the process for wca had started but back then i didnt even know about it and like i said it wasnt until my employer actually let me go that my work coach started the process.

    Yes i suspect the same thing thats why above i just asked the question stating the 1st sicknote was in april because of the 14 month gap, like i said i dont have an aswer from the assessment yet but ill update this post when i do and 
  • NathanP93
    NathanP93 Online Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 13 Listener
    Posted the comment before finishing, 

    And if placed in the lcwra group i will update wether the decision maker decided to start it from april or infact back to may 2020 which is really unlikely in my oppinion
  • matt222
    matt222 Online Community Member Posts: 10 Listener
    Hi did you get your decision how long was the wait roughly had my assessment 2 weeks ago now and nothing yet thanks
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    matt222 said:
    Hi did you get your decision how long was the wait roughly had my assessment 2 weeks ago now and nothing yet thanks

    Decisions can take anything up to 12 weeks. Once it's made, if you have access to a journal they will upload the letter onto there.