ESA, UC & LCRWA

Lexicon5

Spoonie_Turtle said:

One thing you could do is send a message in your journal to double check that you have indeed been referred for a WCA. 

They should have done the referral after the first month of no earnings (technically possibly the first month after claiming, depending on what your half pay was; if it was below 16xNMW/wk they could have referred you but the couple of months you had the extra pay could have complicated things.  I assume you don't claim PIP as you didn't mention it, but if you do then they should have referred you for a WCA at the end of the first month regardless of earnings).

For context/clarity:  DWP do the referral, then CHDA deal with it (sending the form out, doing the assessment, writing the report) before sending it back to the DWP who make the decision.

Thank you for your advice.

I do claim the enhanced rate of daily living PIP.

So just so I am clear, can you confirm that the best course of action for me to check if I have been referred for WCA by contacting ESA via my UC journal? 

Spoonie_Turtle

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

One thing you could do is send a message in your journal to double check that you have indeed been referred for a WCA. 

They should have done the referral after the first month of no earnings (technically possibly the first month after claiming, depending on what your half pay was; if it was below 16xNMW/wk they could have referred you but the couple of months you had the extra pay could have complicated things.  I assume you don't claim PIP as you didn't mention it, but if you do then they should have referred you for a WCA at the end of the first month regardless of earnings).

For context/clarity:  DWP do the referral, then CHDA deal with it (sending the form out, doing the assessment, writing the report) before sending it back to the DWP who make the decision.

Thank you for your advice.

I do claim the enhanced rate of daily living PIP.

So just so I am clear, can you confirm that the best course of action for me to check if I have been referred for WCA by contacting ESA via my UC journal? 

Yes, you should definitely ask through your journal.  [I'm fairly sure it will be picked up by UC but as your UC claim was open first with handing in fit notes, it is they who should have referred you.]

Were you in receipt of PIP when you first claimed UC?  If so, they should have referred you from the 29th day of your UC claim, so it would be well overdue by now.

Lexicon5

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

One thing you could do is send a message in your journal to double check that you have indeed been referred for a WCA. 

They should have done the referral after the first month of no earnings (technically possibly the first month after claiming, depending on what your half pay was; if it was below 16xNMW/wk they could have referred you but the couple of months you had the extra pay could have complicated things.  I assume you don't claim PIP as you didn't mention it, but if you do then they should have referred you for a WCA at the end of the first month regardless of earnings).

For context/clarity:  DWP do the referral, then CHDA deal with it (sending the form out, doing the assessment, writing the report) before sending it back to the DWP who make the decision.

Thank you for your advice.

I do claim the enhanced rate of daily living PIP.

So just so I am clear, can you confirm that the best course of action for me to check if I have been referred for WCA by contacting ESA via my UC journal? 

Yes, you should definitely ask through your journal.  [I'm fairly sure it will be picked up by UC but as your UC claim was open first with handing in fit notes, it is they who should have referred you.]

Were you in receipt of PIP when you first claimed UC?  If so, they should have referred you from the 29th day of your UC claim, so it would be well overdue by now.

Yes I was in receipt of PIP before I first claimed UC. So I will chase them up. Thanks again.

Spoonie_Turtle

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

One thing you could do is send a message in your journal to double check that you have indeed been referred for a WCA. 

They should have done the referral after the first month of no earnings (technically possibly the first month after claiming, depending on what your half pay was; if it was below 16xNMW/wk they could have referred you but the couple of months you had the extra pay could have complicated things.  I assume you don't claim PIP as you didn't mention it, but if you do then they should have referred you for a WCA at the end of the first month regardless of earnings).

For context/clarity:  DWP do the referral, then CHDA deal with it (sending the form out, doing the assessment, writing the report) before sending it back to the DWP who make the decision.

Thank you for your advice.

I do claim the enhanced rate of daily living PIP.

So just so I am clear, can you confirm that the best course of action for me to check if I have been referred for WCA by contacting ESA via my UC journal? 

Yes, you should definitely ask through your journal.  [I'm fairly sure it will be picked up by UC but as your UC claim was open first with handing in fit notes, it is they who should have referred you.]

Were you in receipt of PIP when you first claimed UC?  If so, they should have referred you from the 29th day of your UC claim, so it would be well overdue by now.

Yes I was in receipt of PIP before I first claimed UC. So I will chase them up. Thanks again.

In that case, if you are eventually assessed as having LCWRA and providing you have handed in fit notes that continuously cover your claim, you would be entitled to the LCWRA element backdated to the fourth month (payment) of your UC claim. 

The Work Allowance (an earnings disregard) would retrospectively be applied to the start of your claim if you are assessed as having either LCW or LCWRA which would result in a further underpayment for at least the months you were on half pay, and possibly the other couple of months too depending on just how much you earned.  I would recommend making sure you have copies of your current statements from those months, because if eventually you are assessed as having LCW/RA they will go back, recalculate and overwrite, and you'll want to be sure they've got the figures for the calculations of the underpayment right.

Lexicon5

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

One thing you could do is send a message in your journal to double check that you have indeed been referred for a WCA. 

They should have done the referral after the first month of no earnings (technically possibly the first month after claiming, depending on what your half pay was; if it was below 16xNMW/wk they could have referred you but the couple of months you had the extra pay could have complicated things.  I assume you don't claim PIP as you didn't mention it, but if you do then they should have referred you for a WCA at the end of the first month regardless of earnings).

For context/clarity:  DWP do the referral, then CHDA deal with it (sending the form out, doing the assessment, writing the report) before sending it back to the DWP who make the decision.

Thank you for your advice.

I do claim the enhanced rate of daily living PIP.

So just so I am clear, can you confirm that the best course of action for me to check if I have been referred for WCA by contacting ESA via my UC journal? 

Yes, you should definitely ask through your journal.  [I'm fairly sure it will be picked up by UC but as your UC claim was open first with handing in fit notes, it is they who should have referred you.]

Were you in receipt of PIP when you first claimed UC?  If so, they should have referred you from the 29th day of your UC claim, so it would be well overdue by now.

Yes I was in receipt of PIP before I first claimed UC. So I will chase them up. Thanks again.

In that case, if you are eventually assessed as having LCWRA and providing you have handed in fit notes that continuously cover your claim, you would be entitled to the LCWRA element backdated to the fourth month (payment) of your UC claim. 

The Work Allowance (an earnings disregard) would retrospectively be applied to the start of your claim if you are assessed as having either LCW or LCWRA which would result in a further underpayment for at least the months you were on half pay, and possibly the other couple of months too depending on just how much you earned.  I would recommend making sure you have copies of your current statements from those months, because if eventually you are assessed as having LCW/RA they will go back, recalculate and overwrite, and you'll want to be sure they've got the figures for the calculations of the underpayment right.

Thank you. 

I left a message in my Journal for my work coach to ask if I had been referred. She has advised that it didn't look like I had been referred. She is going to speak to a colleague that might be able to tell her more and will let me know if I can be referred.

I have left another message for her to advise that I have fit notes to cover the time I have been claiming UC and ESA and that I am in receipt of PIP.

poppy12345

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Lexicon5 said:

Spoonie_Turtle said:

One thing you could do is send a message in your journal to double check that you have indeed been referred for a WCA. 

They should have done the referral after the first month of no earnings (technically possibly the first month after claiming, depending on what your half pay was; if it was below 16xNMW/wk they could have referred you but the couple of months you had the extra pay could have complicated things.  I assume you don't claim PIP as you didn't mention it, but if you do then they should have referred you for a WCA at the end of the first month regardless of earnings).

For context/clarity:  DWP do the referral, then CHDA deal with it (sending the form out, doing the assessment, writing the report) before sending it back to the DWP who make the decision.

Thank you for your advice.

I do claim the enhanced rate of daily living PIP.

So just so I am clear, can you confirm that the best course of action for me to check if I have been referred for WCA by contacting ESA via my UC journal? 

Yes, you should definitely ask through your journal.  [I'm fairly sure it will be picked up by UC but as your UC claim was open first with handing in fit notes, it is they who should have referred you.]

Were you in receipt of PIP when you first claimed UC?  If so, they should have referred you from the 29th day of your UC claim, so it would be well overdue by now.

Yes I was in receipt of PIP before I first claimed UC. So I will chase them up. Thanks again.

In that case, if you are eventually assessed as having LCWRA and providing you have handed in fit notes that continuously cover your claim, you would be entitled to the LCWRA element backdated to the fourth month (payment) of your UC claim. 

The Work Allowance (an earnings disregard) would retrospectively be applied to the start of your claim if you are assessed as having either LCW or LCWRA which would result in a further underpayment for at least the months you were on half pay, and possibly the other couple of months too depending on just how much you earned.  I would recommend making sure you have copies of your current statements from those months, because if eventually you are assessed as having LCW/RA they will go back, recalculate and overwrite, and you'll want to be sure they've got the figures for the calculations of the underpayment right.

Thank you. 

I left a message in my Journal for my work coach to ask if I had been referred. She has advised that it didn't look like I had been referred. She is going to speak to a colleague that might be able to tell her more and will let me know if I can be referred.

You will know once you're referred because you will receive a letter on your journal. There will be no reason why you can't be referred.

Lexicon5

I have finally been referred and recieved my form yesterday.

If I am put in the support group will I receive an extra payment on top of my existing  ESA and if so will that extra payment be means tested for UC ? 

poppy12345

If you're placed into the Support Group you will receive extra money from the 14th week of your claim (total £114.10 per week) which will still be deducted in full from any UC entitlement. You will also be entitled to the LCWRA element in with your UC.

Lexicon5

I finally had my WCA yesterday, how long should I expect to wait for a decison? 

Thanks in advance for your help. 

poppy12345

Lexicon5 said:

I finally had my WCA yesterday, how long should I expect to wait for a decison? 

Thanks in advance for your help. 

Anything up to 12 weeks.