UC, WCA & SP

boobless

Hi all

Having a what to do moment.
I have been on UC for a year, for health reasons i was given the forms for a WCA, after waiting months, the appointment has arrived for 10th December.
I am back and forth because i reach state pension age and have claimed on 18th December.
Is it worth the travel, cost and stress of attending this appointment, i will have retired before a decision is made
I have a single claim

be grateful for any help

Spoonie_Turtle

If you're found to have LCWRA you'll get backdated money.  ~£400 extra each month backdated to the fourth full AP after reporting your health condition.
If you have earnings on your claim (and no dependant children) then an outcome of LCW or LCWRA would give you the work allowance which means they'll have taken off too much for earnings and they'll owe you money.

So financially yes there's a point to attending, it's up to you whether you think the money will be worth the effort.

boobless

Spoonie_Turtle said:

If you're found to have LCWRA you'll get backdated money.  ~£400 extra each month backdated to the fourth full AP after reporting your health condition.
If you have earnings on your claim (and no dependant children) then an outcome of LCW or LCWRA would give you the work allowance which means they'll have taken off too much for earnings and they'll owe you money.

So financially yes there's a point to attending, it's up to you whether you think the money will be worth the effort.

thank you
I migrated from JSA and had all my legacy health benefits carried over to my UC, will this make any difference to amounts ?

Spoonie_Turtle

What elements are currently included in your UC award?  (If you're not entirely sure, you can just copy and paste your latest UC statement, redacting any personal identifying info.)

boobless

Spoonie_Turtle said:

What elements are currently included in your UC award?  (If you're not entirely sure, you can just copy and paste your latest UC statement, redacting any personal identifying info.)

thank you

I cant find the latest statement with amounts on, but i have one with how your money is worked out.
It states
your living expenses
extra money because you are disabled.
extra money because you are severely disabled
extra money because of the disability income guarantee

Is this any help

many thanks

Spoonie_Turtle

I haven't dealt with migrated awards so I don't know if that's from UC or your previous legacy benefit claim?

For UC you log in, go to 'Payments and advances' then 'Payments' and you'll have a list of all your statements.  As shown in the screenshots:

boobless

What you're entitled to

Standard allowance

You get a standard amount each month. You said you're single

Transitional protection

You get this because of other benefits you were on before you moved to Universal Credit.

The payment will continue until you have a significant change of circumstances.

boobless

Spoonie_Turtle said:

I haven't dealt with migrated awards so I don't know if that's from UC or your previous legacy benefit claim?

For UC you log in, go to 'Payments and advances' then 'Payments' and you'll have a list of all your statements.  As shown in the screenshots:

the transitional benefits are the ones i listed above

boobless

transitional/legacy benefits on the UC statement are 

extra money because you are disabled.
extra money because you are severely disabled
extra money because of the disability income guarantee

Spoonie_Turtle

Ahh I see.

In that case, if the transitional payment is £423.27 or above there will be no extra money even if awarded LCWRA.  In that case it will depend on whether you have any earnings on your claim; if no then there will be no effect at all.

If the transitional payment is lower than that, the question then becomes how much lower it is and whether you think you meet the criteria for LCWRA or not, as to whether it's worth attending the assessment.


I'll copy and paste an explanation about how it's assessed from a recent comment, because I'm not up to typing something anew:

"This is a comprehensive explanation in case you don't already know how it's assessed: https://www.advicenow.org.uk/get-help/benefits/employment-and-support-allowance-esa/employment-and-support-allowance-esa
^ that page refers to ESA and the different groups but it's exactly the same for UC.  The work-related activity group is LCW, and the support group is LCWRA.

The activities mentioned also have to be able to be done repeatedly, safely, and without detrimental effects (similar to repeatedly/reliably for PIP) so if you can do the activities once or a few times but then have to stop because of pain or exhaustion, or you can do an activity on one day but it would leave you unable to the next, that doesn't count as being able to do it.  (I know our brains tend to be quite literal so it's really important to understand that point, and not accidentally assume you don't score because you can technically physically do the activities once or twice in isolation.)"

boobless

Spoonie_Turtle said:

Ahh I see.

In that case, if the transitional payment is £423.27 or above there will be no extra money even if awarded LCWRA.  In that case it will depend on whether you have any earnings on your claim; if no then there will be no effect at all.

If the transitional payment is lower than that, the question then becomes how much lower it is and whether you think you meet the criteria for LCWRA or not, as to whether it's worth attending the assessment.


I'll copy and paste an explanation about how it's assessed from a recent comment, because I'm not up to typing something anew:

"This is a comprehensive explanation in case you don't already know how it's assessed: https://www.advicenow.org.uk/get-help/benefits/employment-and-support-allowance-esa/employment-and-support-allowance-esa
^ that page refers to ESA and the different groups but it's exactly the same for UC.  The work-related activity group is LCW, and the support group is LCWRA.

The activities mentioned also have to be able to be done repeatedly, safely, and without detrimental effects (similar to repeatedly/reliably for PIP) so if you can do the activities once or a few times but then have to stop because of pain or exhaustion, or you can do an activity on one day but it would leave you unable to the next, that doesn't count as being able to do it.  (I know our brains tend to be quite literal so it's really important to understand that point, and not accidentally assume you don't score because you can technically physically do the activities once or twice in isolation.)"

Thank you so so much for your help.
yes the transitional payment is above £423

So i think i will just cancel the appointment and wait the 2 weeks i cant imagine there being a huge fallout, even if they cut off my final payment by 2 weeks

many thanks