Lcwra back payments ?

kenyonm2022
kenyonm2022 Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
in Universal Credit (UC)
Hi everyone, 
I’m very new to this but very confused how it works. 
I was claiming uc and after having to leave work in sep 2022 my work coach suggested me applying for work capability assessment. I receive pip already so I sent my first sick note in December. I didn’t have to do any forms &  I then had my assessment in June 2023 and got my letter last week saying I’ve been place into lcwra group. The letter didn’t say how much or when its being paid. Or if I’d receive any back payment. 

Do you get back payments? & will they send a more informative letter on this ? 

Thank you. 

Comments

  • Adrian_Scope
    Adrian_Scope Posts: 14,426 Online Community Programme Lead
    edited July 2023
    Hello @kenyonm2022 and a warm welcome to the community.
    The LCWRA element is an additional £390.06 a month. 

    There is a three-month assessment period wait after you first provide UC evidence. If you have the exact date when you informed them of your condition and sent the fit note, along with your UC assessment period dates, we could help you in determining the number of months for which you should be owed backdated payments.

    It's worth noting that errors in calculating back pay can occur, so it's helpful to have an understanding of what to expect.

  • kenyonm2022
    kenyonm2022 Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    Hello, thank you! 
    I sent the sick note on the 9th of December 2022
    I got assessed on the 21st of June 2023 
    I got my letter saying I was put in lcwra on the 13/07/2023
    thank you x 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    What date do you usually receive your money each month?
  • kenyonm2022
    kenyonm2022 Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    23rd 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    That means your waiting period will be Dec to March. LCWRA starts from assessment period 17th March to 16th April and first payment will be 23rd April. This means they owe you 3 months LCWRA element up to last month. Any money owed will be paid separately to your usual monthly payment and often takes quite a few weeks to pay it.

    You should check your statement when you receive it this month to see if the element is included but because the decision has only recently been made there may not be enough of time to include it this month. If this happens they will owe you 4 month.

    The above advice is assuming you're not claiming UC with a partner that already receives the LCWRA element on your claim.


  • kenyonm2022
    kenyonm2022 Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    No I don’t live my partner. Will I get a letter about back payments? Or will it be on my uc payments statement xx
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    Money owed will not show on your statement because it's paid as a separate payment. Before they can pay you, they will need to recalculate your past statements to work out how much you've received against what you should have received. You will then be paid the difference between the two. Once this is done you'll receive a letter on your journal telling you how much they owe and it will be paid into your bank.

    Do be aware that once the statements are recalculated they will replace your existing ones. If you want to take copies of those then you should do that now.
  • kenyonm2022
    kenyonm2022 Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    Okay, I have no idea why this is still so confusing why can’t they just do it like pip. It’s ridiculous- especially since there merging too 🥲
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    The same rules apply to ESA too and there's always been a waiting period. It's in the regulations. No one knows what will happen to those claiming PIP/DLA and LCWRA because it's just speculation at the moment and if it does happen it won't be for quite a few years.
  • kenyonm2022
    kenyonm2022 Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    The waiting period is irrelevant to me. I don’t understand why when I got my outcome of the assessment letter it didn’t give me the back payment details & the dates ect - my pip gave me all the straight forward information in one letter. But thank you anyway 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    It's only irrelevant if you're claiming because of terminal illness with life expectancy of 12 months or less. It's relevant to everyone else.

    Work capability assessment letters never give information of when your payments start because they are standard letters.

    For PIP it's paid from the date you rang to start your claim, providing you had the difficulties for at least 3 months when you applied.
  • kenyonm2022
    kenyonm2022 Online Community Member Posts: 7 Listener
    I’m not trying to argue with you, I can tell you’re really passionate about it. By irrelevant I mean I don’t care about the 3 month waiting I just wanted to know more details on when I’d be paid and the back payment. I was expressing my frustration on the lack on information on the letter. But again thank you anyway. 
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,456 Championing
    No problem. I'm not passionate about it, i'm just advising you of the law. When you said irrelevant, i thought you were referring to the waiting period, sorry for the confusion.
    I totally agree that there's not enough of information on the decision letters but that's only because they are standard letters.

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