Chasing up a Right of Access Request

marcia_

huckster said:

Curious as to why people submit RoA's?

I can understand it, if there were benefit errors and they wanted to pursue this. But I wonder how useful the information is.

In my case for a CICA claim 

Robbie64

huckster said:

Curious as to why people submit RoA's?

I can understand it, if there were benefit errors and they wanted to pursue this. But I wonder how useful the information is.

For me, partially it's to answer a query re: my next WCA date. It's overkill asking for a print out of everything the DWP hold for me for ESA (and also now UC) just to get a straightfoward answer to that question but you'd be surprised at how many telephony agents have been unable to give the correct answer, or any answer at all. Waiting on hold for 1+ hour and then sometimes having to phone back again as the agent couldn't, or wouldn't, answer it is mind numbing and frustrating. 

It's also a way of making sure everything on my claim is correct. Having worked for the DWP, I know my way around the printouts so know what to look for. The end result is, of course, hundreds of pages of printouts, most of which never get looked at (for example, each fortnightly payment of ESA generates about 6 pages of printouts as the claim is effectively redetermined each time and so all the component parts of a claim have to be recalculated).

huckster

In regard to WCA reassessments, the reason they cannot tell you is that they don't know. When you last had a WCA outcome, a review date was added. But quite often this review date when reached does not trigger a WCA reassessment being arranged, as DWP have more needing assessments than capacity. Eventually DWP submit a reassessment request, the assessment providers send out the ESA/UC 50 to be completed and when the completed form is received nothing happens for a long time.  Have heard of people waiting over a year after submitting their forms before they had the reassessment.

Presume DWP prioritise new claim WCA's and reassessments are fitted in when there is capacity.

This may be why there is a current review including benefit assessments. I cannot see DWP assessment providers obtaining sufficient numbers of qualified health professionals to enable a better assessment service.

Robbie64

huckster said:

In regard to WCA reassessments, the reason they cannot tell you is that they don't know. When you last had a WCA outcome, a review date was added. But quite often this review date when reached does not trigger a WCA reassessment being arranged, as DWP have more needing assessments than capacity. Eventually DWP submit a reassessment request, the assessment providers send out the ESA/UC 50 to be completed and when the completed form is received nothing happens for a long time.  Have heard of people waiting over a year after submitting their forms before they had the reassessment.

Presume DWP prioritise new claim WCA's and reassessments are fitted in when there is capacity.

This may be why there is a current review including benefit assessments. I cannot see DWP assessment providers obtaining sufficient numbers of qualified health professionals to enable a better assessment service.

All I was phoning for was the date on the computer, not the date the actual WCA process would start as that is largely unknown these days. Sometimes I couldn't even get the agent to give me the date on the computer system. I'm aware that these days the date doesn't usually trigger an assessment due to backlogs etc but when that date passes, the system will automatically replace it with another, future, date. It's that date I was after. In the end I gave up trying to get it and, along with a need to check other things relating to my claim, just went down the Right of Access route a few years ago.

huckster

UC is different to ESA.

On the ESA system there is a date recorded, but this was often changed. I believe it is a manual process by the team that handles WCA processes. 

On the UC system they don't enter a date for review. They enter a prognosis review period of between 3 and 36 months.  So it will be number of months following the date entered for the last health journey start or new decision. And the UC system does not show the date of review. It would have to be worked out based on prognosis review months number added.

And when the review date is reached, it just shows up that the WCA is up for review. And in the background the WCA team then drip feeds the reassessments through.

If anyone feels they need a reassessment due to new health conditions or worsening health, they can contact the relevant benefits service to request earlier reassessment.

Robbie64

^

Thanks for the answer huckster. I did wonder how UC would display the WCA information. As the WCA process is led by UC for people also getting ESA with a Support or LCW element in payment, your post has cleared that up. I'm someone who has migrated from income related ESA to UC and who is also receiving conts (now new style) ESA. I'm assuming that when I was in the process of migrating that ESA will have forwarded to UC information regarding the date of my last WCA assessment (it was a paper assessment) as well as prognosis?

huckster

Yes there is a .migration team that input the WCA information including prognosis periods onto UC system taken from ESA.

UC is the primary benefit, so UC will trigger the reassessment at the relevant time. And the outcome will then apply to UC and NS ESA.

Bemmy2525

huckster said:

Curious as to why people submit RoA's?

I can understand it, if there were benefit errors and they wanted to pursue this. But I wonder how useful the information is.

I needed a copy of my NI number so I could prove my right to work(I didn't have a P45 and I didn't want to send my birth certificate to HMRC), unfortunately UC doesn't provide one. I asked for all my info in the hope I would get a copy of my number which I did from an old Carers Allowance and an old ESA claim

Robbie64

My SAR printout arrived this afternoon. I sent an email on Monday but looking at the date on the covering letter (28 November 2025) it's possible the SAR was already on its way to me.

The Universal Credit SAR printout is much easier to follow / understand than the ESA one which contains a lot of (for what I was after) superfluous information. As expected, the SAR arrived in a box and contained 1,154 pages - 577 sheets of paper - but at least it contained everything I was after. Not just the date of my next WCA date / prognosis but other things I was also after. It also cleared up why I hadn't received a letter or call about my NS-ESA Claimant Committment (moving from conts ESA). There's an entry in the SAR: "NS ESA dual claim - NS ESA requirement for Claimant Committment waived". There's other things that I wouldn't have got without asking for a copy of everything.