Universal Credit and signed off sick

I have a family member who is claiming Universal credit but then become ill and has now been signed for for more than 13 weeks. The DWp is meant to send out a Work Capability Assessment form to fill in and assess you within the 13 week period, but what happens if the DWP doesn't send you out the questionnaire?


The DWP have said they don't have to pay the LCW or LCWRA premiums until after the assessment and that they currently have delays of months before they do the WCA. But the Citizens Advice Bureau say they have an obligation to do this within the 13 week period the person is first signed off for, and if they are unable to meet this obligation they should pay the premium at the lower rate until such time as they meet their obligations.


I realise they don't send everyone for a face to face assessment, but why would there be any delay in sending out the questionnaire? Does anyone know if they need to pay either premium after 13 weeks even though they haven't met their obligations with the WCA?
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  • pmlindyloo
    pmlindyloo Posts: 13,049
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    If your family member hasn't received the WCA form then they should telephone and ask for it.

    Just like an ESA claim the elements for the LCW or LCWRA are not paid until a decision has been made according to this:

    https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/173213/response/424918/attach/html/2/FoI.3897.response.pdf.html
  • dktreesea
    dktreesea Posts: 5,736 Forumite
    pmlindyloo wrote: »
    If your family member hasn't received the WCA form then they should telephone and ask for it.

    Just like an ESA claim the elements for the LCW or LCWRA are not paid until a decision has been made according to this:

    https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/173213/response/424918/attach/html/2/FoI.3897.response.pdf.html


    We have already asked for it to be sent out to us on several occasions. At first they said they don't request a WCA until after 28 days of being ill. Fair enough. But all attempts thereafter to get the relevant form sent out to us have failed, usually with an excuse, repeated at the Job Centre, that there is a delay of several months at the moment in getting a WCA done. So how can I be sure, given no one is willing to initiate sending out the form, that the relevant part of the DWP have even requested a WCA to be done?


    Meanwhile the Citizens Advice bureau have told me that it is not the intention of the legislation that the DWP avoid paying out the relevant premium for illness to a claimant by delaying the assessment for months. As I understand it thus far, the WCA should occur after the first 28 day period and as close as practicable to the end of the first 3 month period when the premium isn't paid.


    It's not as if the relevant form can be downloaded and sent on to the DWP. How are sick people meant to cope financially if they DWP is allowed to hold up this process for months? It's all well and good saying it will be backdated but how is the person meant to manage in the meantime?
  • dktreesea
    dktreesea Posts: 5,736 Forumite
    paragon909 wrote: »
    The only do this when they have received the ESA50 and assess the claimant. How can they make a decision when they don't even know what is wrong with the claimant.

    You appear to be playing dumb... But with the DWP abbreviations you have used says otherwise...

    Royal Mail do lose mail sometimes...


    I am not sure why you are being so unpleasant. It isn't good for anyone to be ill or disabled, but hey, until you experience the reality I guess you will never know.


    Before the DWP can receive a completed ESA50 form, they have to send it out to the claimant first. That is the bit that is not happening and that the DWP is saying there are delays of several months for.
  • Darksparkle
    Darksparkle Posts: 5,465 Forumite
    Apolgies if I'm in the wrong here, just done a Google search, can you not use this?

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capability-for-work-questionnaire
  • Confuseddot
    Confuseddot Posts: 1,755 Forumite
    After the assessment and if the person is found to fit into either the wrag or support group then the premium payment is backdated. No premiums are paid until after the assessment.
    Play nice :eek: Just because I am paranoid doesn't mean they are not out to get me.:j
  • dktreesea
    dktreesea Posts: 5,736 Forumite
    Apolgies if I'm in the wrong here, just done a Google search, can you not use this?

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/capability-for-work-questionnaire


    I've seen the form. Thanks for posting the link. I asked the job centre if I could just download it and send it off, but they say there's a letter we have to have received first, which is headed up "Claiming Universal Credit when you have a health condition or disability" or words to that effect, saying they will be sending out a form, then we have to wait for another letter with the form asking us to complete it and send it back. We have neither of these letters.
  • pmlindyloo
    pmlindyloo Posts: 13,049
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    edited 2 July 2016 at 10:31AM
    I am hoping that this link will answer any questions that you have:

    https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/305529/response/747975/attach/html/2/FOI%205057%20reply.pdf.html

    You might need this too (the original question)

    https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/dwp_procedure_when_fit_notes_are
  • TELLIT01
    TELLIT01 Posts: 16,326
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    Irrespective of what you were told by Citizens Advice, and they often do get it wrong, you will not get any premiums paid until you have had the medical assessment. Once that is done you would receive a lump sum, backdated to the start of the 14th week of sickness, assuming you are deemed unfit for work.
    On ESA the wait for assessment was over a year at one time, although I understand the backlog has been reduced.
  • pmlindyloo
    pmlindyloo Posts: 13,049
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    dktreesea wrote: »
    I have a family member who is claiming Universal credit but then become ill and has now been signed for for more than 13 weeks. The DWp is meant to send out a Work Capability Assessment form to fill in and assess you within the 13 week period, but what happens if the DWP doesn't send you out the questionnaire?


    The DWP have said they don't have to pay the LCW or LCWRA premiums until after the assessment and that they currently have delays of months before they do the WCA. But the Citizens Advice Bureau say they have an obligation to do this within the 13 week period the person is first signed off for, and if they are unable to meet this obligation they should pay the premium at the lower rate until such time as they meet their obligations.


    I realise they don't send everyone for a face to face assessment, but why would there be any delay in sending out the questionnaire? Does anyone know if they need to pay either premium after 13 weeks even though they haven't met their obligations with the WCA?

    Since you are asking on behalf of a family friend I am wondering if they have misunderstood what CA has said. Could they have been referring to the fact that back payments would have to be paid if they were put into a group?

    I am not saying that CA never get it wrong but in most bureaux the 'case' is written up with the information given and then checked by a supervisor (or even audited)

    If you actually were given this information then you should make a complaint to CA about this misinformation.
  • dktreesea
    dktreesea Posts: 5,736 Forumite
    After the assessment and if the person is found to fit into either the wrag or support group then the premium payment is backdated. No premiums are paid until after the assessment.




    Yes, but all this is meant to happen within the first 13 weeks. The statement(s) of fitness for work that you have to send in are part of the assessment process. Instead we are being told the backlog for starting this process from their end is over five months. What is it the DWP are hoping, that by then the person's illness will somehow have resolved itself and the person will no longer be ill? It seems to me this is a deliberate ploy to get those who have become ill while on Universal Credit to give up on claiming their entitlement.


    Not all illnesses are like flu, back on your feet and as right as rain in a couple of months.
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