Triggering a WCA in UC

An issue of some concern to me has been highlighted in one of my cases recently.

A claimant cannot -easily- trigger a WCA or entitlement to the LCWRAE without reporting a health condition that limits the capability for work.

So, in my case, the claimant was sectioned and couldn’t remember their log in credentials; but in another case I’m running the claimant had a traumatic and very disabling brain injury.

Niether of these claimants could get the assessment conducted without some engineering; either making a new claim that we could access, or getting better and finding the log in details.

I fear this will be a continuing problem which discriminates against people in hospital who can’t get out; anyone detained under the Mental Health Act or the Mental Capacity Act for instance.

I have recently seen a case where the person was vulnerable and couldn’t use the online system, and Jobcentre have been persuaded by a relative to make a note on the UC claim ‘treat as a telephone claim’.

It is unclear what this means (or what guarantees there are that it will be followed)?

Other advisers have said that a telephone claim can be converted to an online claim, but an online claim cannot be converted to a telephone claim.

But this suggests a third category ‘an online claim treated as if it were a telephone claim’??

Some Parliamentary Questions going to be tabled soon about this.