Work Capability phone assessments - given 3 hour slot not actual time of appointment

Hi all

I have a client who is having a UC work capability assessment by phone next week and been told she will be called some time between 1 and 4 pm. This was confirmed when I rang the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments helpline. They only give 3 hour slots when the call will take place.

I can’t see anything in law specifying that claimants should be given an appointment time and was wondering if anyone else knew whether a specific time should be given for the call, like they do for PIP assessments by phone.

Thank you

KB BWC - 28 June 2023 04:21 PM

Hi all

I have a client who is having a UC work capability assessment by phone next week and been told she will be called some time between 1 and 4 pm. This was confirmed when I rang the Centre for Health and Disability Assessments helpline. They only give 3 hour slots when the call will take place.

I can’t see anything in law specifying that claimants should be given an appointment time and was wondering if anyone else knew whether a specific time should be given for the call, like they do for PIP assessments by phone.

Thank you

This is standard practice annoyingly. It makes it almost impossible for busy social care staff to support clients with assessments. I’ve managed a decent number of times to get assessments done on the papers with the health professional ringing the social worker for further information (even where this is just to confirm what is on the ESA/UC50).

I’ve not had to yet, but I will use the Equality Act if necessary to argue that a specific time for the phone call is a reasonable adjustment for clients who require support which can’t otherwise be provided. I think it would also be arguable for clients who experience significant anxiety or distress in such circumstances.

Thanks Rosie, that is my concern too, this client had her first PIP phone assessment stopped by the assessor as she physically needed someone sat beside her during the phone assessment, so we supported her to do this but we can’t feasibly sit in someone’s house for three hours waiting for the assessment call.

If a time is not given then the claimant cannot be subjected to the penalty of being treated as not having LCW (regulation 44(3) of the UC regs), however this is only really useful for someone who already has LCW, it’s less helpful to someone who wants an assessment to take place.