work capability assessment and pensioners

I’ve been trawling through this discussion forum looking for an answer to this as I’m sure it’s been discussed before but I can’t find anything, just like I can’t find a definitive answer anywhere else.

Can a pensioner who is part of a mixed-age UC claim go through the work capability assessment?  They don’t get AA/PIP/DLA and so can’t be treated as having LCWRA.

Good morning, they can undertake the work capability assessment (WCA) if they provide evidence that their condition/s limit their ability to work.
Usually a MED3 (fit note) is the simplest way to evidence it and to then to declare it on the journal.

As they don’t receive a disability benefit, they won’t automatically be treated as LCW or LCWRA but nothing stopping them from undergoing the WCA.
I’ve had issues in the past getting the process started but raising it with partnership and/or complaining has got the ball rolling.

Hi.

I’ve started the process off with a fit note from the GP - saying this, I previously posted about the difficulty getting the fit note but that was resolved in the end by contacted the surgery (and sort of apologising!). I’ve worked with two customers who are pension age and applied for WCA - one is waiting for a decision following her assessment and the other became entitled to AA before the WCA was completed.

As a point of interest, for the AA customer we’ve not had confirmation that the lcwra element will be added as appropriate this month (after waiting period). As I’d had difficulties getting the lcwra element added for a customer on PIP enhanced dl I checked in with the UC Health Team deputy team leader who sorted that case and they advised:

With regards to your query, its treated a bit differently when adding LCWRA for pension age as the process is different to normal and not automatically prompted by the system so can easily be missed. If you have someone that needs this, the best thing to do is get the customer to send a journal message if they have an online claim or call up the service centre to get an email sent to the job centre.

I think they might mean when lcwra is triggered by a disability benefit rather than for all pension age claimants. Another thing to look out for!