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Forum Home  →  Discussion  →  Work capability issues and ESA  →  Thread

UC LCWRA

Bcfu
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Blackpool Centre For Unemployed

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Hi

Have the DWP changed their process for claiming UC with health conditions?

For the past year, the process had been that I would help a client make a UC claim, report the health condition, client would then submit sick notes for roughly 13 weeks and then be told to complete the UC50 form.

I’ve now had two recent cases where we’ve made a new claim for UC and reported the health conditions as usual but UC have decided that there was no need for sick notes and went straight to the UC50 form.

This has caused problems for one of clients who is unhappy that, whilst he’s been found to have LCWRA, hes unable to receive the additional UC element due to the 3-month assessment period rule when claiming for LCWRA.

Will the client get the 3 months back pay and is there anything I can do to challenge the decision?

Thanks

Adam

Ianb
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Macmillan benefits team, Citizens Advice Bristol

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Except for a few exceptions there is always a three month wait from first reporting a health condition to being paid the LCWRA element. No backpay is due for those months.

Your previous clients should not have been waiting three months to get the UC50 . It should be issued at day 29 with a view to have a WCA decision within the initial three month period (although this rarely happens at present).

ninja9girl
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Derbyshire County Council

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I have had a case this week.  Client was awarded LCWRA in January which was a month after claiming UC.  He was advised in January there would be a 90 day delay in payment and yesterday they told him it would be June before they pay him.  By my calculations his payment should have been paid this today which is when his UC is due as it should be paid from the date his medical evidence was supplied. .  I understand this is happening a lot and needs to be challenged.

CA Adviser
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Citizens Advice Calderdale, West Yorkshire

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I spoke to a client yesterday who was notified on 23/4/21 that he has LCWRA on UC from 6/4/21. The cl was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer on 31/12/19 when he was already on UC as a jobseeker. He immediately had surgery and did not notify UC of his diagnosis and treatment until February 2020 as he was very ill. The work coach noted on his journal that he had LCW/LCWRA from 31/12/19. She did not ask him to submit fit notes, but cl says a note on his journal states that they had medical evidence from 18/2/20- 17/8/20- cl has no recollection of submitting medical evidence. Cl was very ill for the whole year and has multiple ongoing health problems. He says that he was not asked to complete a UC50 and was not asked to submit medical evidence. Cl states that there are no entries on his journal for the rest of the year until 23/4/21. He got a phone call out of the blue in March from a health professional who arranged a further call back from a doctor. Then he got the LCWRA decision. The decision letter says the LCWRA element will not be backdated but gives no explanation.

We have made an MR request of the refusal to backdate the element and cl is going to ask his GP for a fit note dated back to 31/12/19. Have asked cl to screenshot journal.
I know that UC can treat someone with cancer as having LCW or LCWRA and so not require a UC50. However the LCWRA element would be paid from the start of the fourth AP following his notification of his cancer diagnosis in February, no? Clearly cl was still in the WCA process as the phone assessments took place without any instigation from him.
I would appreciate any thoughts.

[ Edited: 29 Apr 2021 at 04:24 pm by CA Adviser ]
Ianb
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Macmillan benefits team, Citizens Advice Bristol

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CA Adviser - 29 April 2021 04:07 PM

I know that UC can treat someone with cancer as having LCW or LCWRA and so not require a UC50.

If client also had any chemotherapy or radiotherapy it’s not a case of DWP can treat them this way, they should treat them this way.

Regulation 40 of UC regs together with Schedule 9 requires that a certain groups of claimants which include cancer patients likely to receive, receiving or recovering from radiotherapy or chemotherapy are to be treated as having LCWRA - subject to the SoS being satisfied that they should be so treated. Such claimants are not subject to a WCA however DWP have generally adopted a process of issuing the UC50 to such claimants so that the cancer treatment can be completed as a way of satisfying the SoS (a process the DWP unhelpfully call a Day 1 WCA referral).

(This is fresh in my mind because I have today had DWP refuse to issue the UC50 a month after the claim on the grounds they cannot do a WCA referral because client has earnings over the in work threshold. They have completely failed to acknowledge my argument that the earnings threshold for WCA is irrelevant as claimant is outside the WCA process.)

[ Edited: 29 Apr 2021 at 08:06 pm by Ianb ]
UB40
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Debt and Welfare Advice, Community Money Advice, Launceston

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I think you are correct. The waiting period is 3 calendar months from the date of notification.The LCWRA element is awarded the first day of the new AP after which the 3-month relevant period ends.

CA Adviser
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Citizens Advice Calderdale, West Yorkshire

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The cl didn’t have any radiotherapy or chemotherapy. He had radical surgery.

Ianb
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Macmillan benefits team, Citizens Advice Bristol

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CA Adviser - 04 May 2021 10:25 AM

The cl didn’t have any radiotherapy or chemotherapy. He had radical surgery.

Unfortunately that doesn’t trigger automatic entitlement to be treated as having LCWRA.

CA Adviser
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Citizens Advice Calderdale, West Yorkshire

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No. The whole thing is a muddle. Am assuming it will go to appeal- it may be possible to fathom out what has gone on with appeal papers. Thanks all for your help.