COVID-19 and LCWRA

Hi,

I have a client who submitted evidence for a review of her LCW on the 5th December 2019 - she was advised by her work-coach to do so as he believed she was entitled to LCWRA.

She was due to have a medical assessment in March and had been sent a letter saying back pay would be given for 3 months after the first submission of evidence i.e. 3 months after 5th December.

Obviously the COVID-19 pandemic happened and her assessment was cancelled and she actually went for an assessment in October 2020 where she was awarded LCWRA.

The issue we’re having is getting back-pay from March given that COVID-19 was out of her control. DWP argues that they can only pay back-pay up until September as that is when her LCW came to an end.

I’m struggling as to what to suggest our next steps could be and if she has a reasonable prospect of being paid back-pay from March 2020. We did submit a MR against the decision which the DWP helpfully lost!

Any advice you can provide would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

Adam

Did the claimant already have LCW and was asking for a review with a view to being found to have LCWRA? Or was this an initial assessment?

Elliot Kent - 27 January 2021 11:42 AM

Did the claimant already have LCW and was asking for a review with a view to being found to have LCWRA? Or was this an initial assessment?

Our client already had LCW and has done since October 2019 and quite a few years before that on ESA - She was eventually moved over to the Support Group under ESA before moving to UC due to a change of circumstances.

If its a supersession taking her from LCW to LCWRA then the decision maker needs to decide the ground and effective date of that supersession. If your client can argue that the reason she went from LCW to LCWRA is a change of circumstances then she can argue that the supersession should take effect under reg 23 of the UC etc. (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2013. That then means, per Sch 1 of the regulations, that the decision takes effect either when the change was reported or when it actually happened.

DWP have a habit of using reg 26 - receipt of medical report - as the ground of supersession which has the effect that the effective date is the date of decision, but this is not always correct and the choice of ground of supersession and effective date is capable of appeal.

Thank you for the advice!

I had a feeling that the DWP was trying to take me as an idiot!!

This is extremely useful which now means we can appeal the decision.

Thanks

Adam