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UC LCWRA appeal

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  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 18,880 Forumite
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    When you've been found to have LCW, you shouldn't be made to look for work or even forced to actually work. Prepare to work sometime in the future yes.
  • tifo
    tifo Posts: 2,107 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    When you've been found to have LCW, you shouldn't be made to look for work or even forced to actually work. Prepare to work sometime in the future yes.
    Yes, that's correct and what we will look into but he was indicating going into work asap so i asked the question on here.
  • tifo
    tifo Posts: 2,107 Forumite
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    If he has an employer in mind that can accommodate you will you welcome an interview or are you determined to be seen as unfit to work ? 
    The rules are what they are and we have to stay within them. I've lost a lot from this assessment because of the rules.
  • When you've been found to have LCW, you shouldn't be made to look for work or even forced to actually work. Prepare to work sometime in the future yes.
    But the OP has been allocated a work coach to help them find work eventually or look to improve their chances such as courses or voluntary work.
    If the OP turns down all options and refuses to engage positively are they in breach of their agreement and in danger of having their benefits stopped?

    I know plenty of disabled with limited capabilities who would love a work coach to help them find a way into employment and are frustrated when the DWP staff aren't able to help find or advise in anyway and only engage at the appointment. The OP might be found a work coach who is willing to search on their behalf and may encourage them to seek out those employers or charity organisations that can accommodate them, even if the ''work'' is only a few hours a week.

    The OP on this forum alone has shown an ability to use their device to do considerable research and use it for a reasonable length of time. There will be charities or training providers around who'd welcome the OP's ability to help others in the OP's position into guiding them on how to use the internet for example.

    Even the DWP ask claimants if they are willing to use some of their time to assist at the Job Centre with new claimants who are unfamiliar with online tools for work searching etc. I think the OP would be an asset even for a few hours a week and it'll go on their CV.



  • tifo
    tifo Posts: 2,107 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 12 December 2022 at 1:46PM
    When you've been found to have LCW, you shouldn't be made to look for work or even forced to actually work. Prepare to work sometime in the future yes.
    There will be charities or training providers around who'd welcome the OP's ability to help others in the OP's position into guiding them on how to use the internet for example.

    Even the DWP ask claimants if they are willing to use some of their time to assist at the Job Centre with new claimants who are unfamiliar with online tools for work searching etc. I think the OP would be an asset even for a few hours a week and it'll go on their CV.
    You're correct and there may be a future job here. My computer skills, esp online, are considerable and the work coach accepts that there is not much training they can provide in that area. In fact, I might know more than the trainers.

    It's not a job or voluntary work i'm shying away from, throughout this thread i've said it's the working reliably that's an issue due to random symptoms from my conditions. It would mean taking a day or 2 off. This can be an issue with work.

    Before coming to UC in 2019 i've been working for 20 years without the jobcentre and would have continued to do so.

    As an example, today i've been awake since around 4am with a migraine headache to my left side because of my eye condition (high eye pressure). If I was working i'd have the morning off as it got better later.
  • This was in benefitsandwork.co.uk in November and may be relevant.

    Sorry I can't seem to post a link.

    " Mel Stride, the new secretary of state for work and pensions, has said that a ‘prime focus’ of the DWP will be to support an alleged 2.5 million people who are long-term sick but want work back into the workplace. ....

      “We know that there is a long tail of people who would otherwise like to work but who are long-term sick—some 2.5 million in total—and, to go back to my earlier answer, it will be a prime focus for our Department, working with the Health Department, to see how we can assist and support them back into the workplace.” .....

    Stride seems to be focusing solely on the needs of the economy, claiming that “we have 9 million people who are economically inactive, and we desperately need to get as many as we can into the workforce”.  This ignores the fact that many sick and disabled claimants are either unable to work or unable to work without a level of support that is simply not available to them."

  • When you've been found to have LCW, you shouldn't be made to look for work or even forced to actually work. Prepare to work sometime in the future yes.
    But the OP has been allocated a work coach to help them find work eventually or look to improve their chances such as courses or voluntary work.
    If the OP turns down all options and refuses to engage positively are they in breach of their agreement and in danger of having their benefits stopped?

    I know plenty of disabled with limited capabilities who would love a work coach to help them find a way into employment and are frustrated when the DWP staff aren't able to help find or advise in anyway and only engage at the appointment. The OP might be found a work coach who is willing to search on their behalf and may encourage them to seek out those employers or charity organisations that can accommodate them, even if the ''work'' is only a few hours a week.

    The OP on this forum alone has shown an ability to use their device to do considerable research and use it for a reasonable length of time. There will be charities or training providers around who'd welcome the OP's ability to help others in the OP's position into guiding them on how to use the internet for example.

    Even the DWP ask claimants if they are willing to use some of their time to assist at the Job Centre with new claimants who are unfamiliar with online tools for work searching etc. I think the OP would be an asset even for a few hours a week and it'll go on their CV.




    That's good news your advisor can then put a plan in and look for suitable work for you what you can do might be limited but they may put you forward to employers that can accommodate you.
    You can clearly use the internet and use devices connected to it for a not an insignificant period as you are demonstrating on this forum so they could find vacancies that allow you to work from home which covers your mobility issues. Other than that they can put you forward for voluntary work to build your skill set and I'm sure many will cater for disabilities
    And anything you earn will mean you are better off financially. Work for anyone is better than being 100% reliant on benefits even if its for a small amount.
    Your posts reads like Sermon on the Mount
    But if his Work Coach discovers a job or avenue into earning more money then the OP -his client- has improved his situation. They might be extremely limited in what they can do but you never know in an era of working from home the OP could avoid the issues of travelling to work and has shown on here an ability to use a device connected to the internet for a considerable time.
    I could be wrong... totally.. but reading between lines and with the LCWRA (and PIP) focus I do not think working is their current aim and so whether it would improve their situation is hard to know. Financially it should but medically speaking is another question and one largely beyond us here. They have variable conditions which psychologically alone I imagine would make someone hesitant to commit to long repeated periods of employment.

    "Work for anyone is better than being 100% reliant on benefits even if its for a small amount."

    Clearly there are people out there for whom even a small amount of work would not be advisable. Many you would expect to end up with LCWRA (or jail sentences!) and some may even have terminal illness.... the Op suggests a substantial risk to health if they engage work related activity but are currently recognised as having such elevated risk only for work. They cannot therefore be forced to take a job. The Op does have a computing background and I agree they have shown an ability to use an internet connected device... however I do notice they have done so in a way that might not be terrible efficient and particularly if human actors are directly involved. I think often people online make the same problematic extrapolations as often disability assessors do in that they take a fact and run with it or construct what they think is fact and so similar... to reach conclusions that are essentially without much foundation and possibly false. Like the Op I've had people on MSE over the years point out I can use a PC and the internet etc...(to the point I've been accused of playing the system or committing fraud - often by the same individuals who have gone on to criticise me for acting in a way that is consistent with the reasons for being awarded LCWRA).. but that ignores completely the inefficiencies of using technology due to illness and associated risks and I think it's dangerous for us here to try to convince someone they should be taking up work when already the state puts them into a category which removes this requirement based on evidence they have seen.

    They've got a work coach and need to engage WRA as required given their current award.... but like for many I suspect it'll be of limited value or even a distraction from more productive things. You've given them some ideas including the possibility of using their skills for a charity.

    "Do not attribute to conspiracy what can adequately be explained by incompetence" - rogerblack
  • tifo
    tifo Posts: 2,107 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Muttleythefrog, well said above  ...  you seem to kind of understand where i'm coming from.
  • tifo
    tifo Posts: 2,107 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    edited 21 February 2023 at 4:38PM
    Recently found out from my work coach (I have to go into the JC every 2 weeks for 'support' and to discuss how I can get into  work after LCW) that I was awarded LCW from Feb 2019 (when I came onto UC) till May 2023, 10 days less than what the tribunal recommended in June 2022, but a few days less is irrelevant as reviews are taking a long time anyway.

    So LCW from Feb 2019 to Feb 2022 then for 15 months from Feb 2022 to May 2023. Tribunal in June 2022 gave me LCW for 12 months from my assessment in September 2021. Because I was better at that time than 3 years earlier.

    Is this normal? How can they assess how I am in September 2021 and give it from Feb 2019 when i've not been assessed from that date?

    I know if there was any backpay or it was the other way around and i'd got worse in September 2021 than in Feb 2019 i'd gain, but in my circumstances I seem to have lost. There's no backpay for LCW and I wasn't well from Feb 2019, definitely LCWRA.
  • poppy12345
    poppy12345 Posts: 18,880 Forumite
    Tenth Anniversary 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    tifo said:
    Recently found out from my work coach (I have to go into the JC every 2 weeks for 'support' and to discuss how I can get into  work after LCW) that I was awarded LCW from Feb 2019 (when I came onto UC) till May 2023, 10 days less than what the tribunal recommended in June 2022, but a few days less is irrelevant as reviews are taking a long time anyway.

    So LCW from Feb 2019 to Feb 2022 then for 15 months from Feb 2022 to May 2023. Tribunal in June 2022 gave me LCW for 12 months from my assessment in September 2021. Because I was better at that time than 3 years earlier.

    Is this normal? How can they assess how I am in September 2021 and give it from Feb 2019 when i've not been assessed from that date?

    I know if there was any backpay or it was the other way around and i'd got worse in September 2021 than in Feb 2019 i'd gain, but in my circumstances I seem to have lost. There's no backpay for LCW and I wasn't well from Feb 2019, definitely LCWRA.

    It's all irrelevant anyway because it's an ongoing award until a new decision says others. Your LCW doesn't just end. What's expected of you will depend on your claimant commiments. It's not unusual for someone with LCW to have to attend appointments every couple of weeks.
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