Failed to attend ESA medical - impact on UC?

Hi,
client claims ESA - fails to attend medical.
Shows excellent good cause but DWP still refuse at MR - therefore will have to appeal (although I’m looking making a complaint first/alongside) . Will be successful at appeal (I would bet my house on it).
However this will take months and months to be listed….
Will therefore have to claim UC.
Far too unwell to claim UC as a jobseeker so will have to claim as unfit for work.
As failed to attend her ESA medical - will she be paid UC or will she have to wait until she has had another medical before she is paid anything (as would happen under ESA)?

Thank you

Elaine

I find that claiming UC is - for better or worse - effectively a clean slate. I think they would happily pay basic UC and apply discretion to her work search before sending her for assessment. Of course, discretion means your mileage may vary…

It is changing our mindset that is needed - no-one claims UC as a jobseeker or because they are sick - you claim UC because you meet the basic age and residence criteria and need a means tested benefit.  Not attending a WCA medical does not mean you are not entitled to UC.  Old style ESA WCA decisions are not carried forward to UC, so can claim, submit sick notes and be assessed, subject to the waiting period for a LWCRA element and not treated as having limited capability while waiting for an assessment, with what you are asked to do is subject to work coach discretion.
If already on UC with limited capability and don’t go to medical, if no good reason, you stop having limited capability for work and any element stops, this affects your work related requirements but does not stop you being able to claim UC.

Your client should also challenge the ESA FTA decision.

If it was a new claim for ESA there may be no practical / financial advantage in doing so for your client unless they will meet the LCFWRA criteria.

However if it was a re-assessment and they previously have LCFW (pre 3/2017) or LCFWRA a revised decision that they had good reason for FTA would restore LCTW/LCFWRA for ESA which would then carry over into UC under the UC(TP)Regs. They would not have to serve the ‘assessment period’ under UC. In effect their MR/appeal for ESA would be for arrears of LCFW/LCFWRA element under UC (subject to the usual problems of getting UC to implement the ESA revised decision one made!).

Thanks All,

All I know is my client is so ill and vulnerable that she will not be able to meet the conditionality of UC if we do make a claim. She will be unlikely to go to verification appointment.

And I am concerned her claimant commitment will require her to seek work by virtue of FTA albeit under ESA. This is my dilemma, but the general consensus amongst you is that it will not affect a UC claim - ie she will be able to claim as unfit and submit fit notes, until WCA complete under UC.
FTA her ESA medical will have no bearing on UC? Yes? Have I understood this correctly? (except for a positive outcome of her FTA appeal which will determine which group she goes into if no break / new WCA decision etc)

Old claim pre 2017 - in SG.
She currently has HB/CTS based on nil income.

If your client is that vulnerable, you may wish to consider making a telephone claim with her, otherwise her failure to attend a verification interview starts to risk that the claim will be closed.

If you know DWP knew that she had a mental health condition or another vulnerability, you can try and re-open the ESA claim by querying what safeguarding steps were taken before her benefit was stopped: https://www.rightsnet.org.uk/forums/viewthread/9149/