Work Capability Assessment questions.

rj7
rj7 Online Community Member Posts: 12 Connected
edited January 2024 in Universal Credit (UC)
Hi, today I had my WCA for Universal Credit. I was wondering if anyone else here has had one, and how long it took from the assessment date to receiving a decision. I'm aware that for some people its days, others months. That's why I'm asking for anecdotal examples.

Also, I was under the impression the WCA takes at least an hour, but after 33 minutes the assessor said they have all they need from me. I know nobody has a concrete answer, but is this generally a good or bad thing?  I'm worried that the reason they ended it after 30 mins might be because they had heard enough to decide that I am fit for work. That would honestly be the end of the line for me, I dont think I could cope.

Comments

  • rj7
    rj7 Online Community Member Posts: 12 Connected
    Hi, today I had my WCA for Universal Credit. I was wondering if anyone else here has had one, and how long it took from the assessment date to receiving a decision. I'm aware that for some people its days, others months. That's why I'm asking for anecdotal examples.

    Also, I was under the impression the WCA takes at least an hour, but after 33 minutes the assessor said they have all they need from me. I know nobody has a concrete answer, but is this generally a good or bad thing?  I'm worried that the reason they ended it after 30 mins might be because they had heard enough to decide that I am fit for work. That would honestly be the end of the line for me, I dont think I could cope.
  • poppy123456
    poppy123456 Online Community Member Posts: 64,463 Championing
    Assessment lengths can be anything from 20 to 120 minutes. Whether it's short or long doesn't mean anything at all. Sometimes they have more questions to ask than other times and vice versa.

    When i did my daughters assessment on her behalf it took 1 week for a decision. No one can tell you exactly how long it will take because each individual case is different. Once a decision is made a letter will be uploaded onto your journal, assuming you have access to one.
  • Rosie_Scope
    Rosie_Scope Posts: 6,558 Scope Online Community Coordinator
    edited January 2024
    Hi @rj7, I don't think the WCAs always take an hour or more. If it takes less than that it doesn't necessarily mean that they've found you fit for work, just that they have all they need to make a decision.

    The last one I had was some time back, but I wasn't there for longer than an hour and I still got the result I needed from it :)

    I'm afraid I can't remember how quickly I heard back afterwards, but again it wasn't very recent so timelines might have changed since then. Some of our members will have some more recent experiences to share, I'm sure.

    I'll move your post over to our Universal Credit boards, where more people with the right experiences can find it and let you know how it went for them, I hope that's okay with you. I've also merged your two discussions together so that it's easier for you to keep track of the replies :)
  • chiarieds
    chiarieds Online Community Member Posts: 17,155 Championing
    I believe poppy answered your query here: https://forum.scope.org.uk/discussion/113704/work-capability-assessment-questions

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