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UC turned down, appeal questions

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2 years 5 months ago #264966 by GottaBe
UC turned down, appeal questions was created by GottaBe
Hi,
My claim for limited capability for work Universal Credit was finally turned down, 20 months after i started it. As my condition is unlikely to improve and I can't work, I feel like I have to appeal. I am now dependent on the kindness of my mother and (possibly) wider family and I will be very vulnerable if they aren't there one day and I cannot reapply for sickness benefits, as I understand is the case a situation where I have been declared fit for work and am no worse than the last time I was assessed.

However, my mother has a decent income and savings and says that she is happy for me not to claim jobseekers UC and have to search for work during the process of the appeal. This would be very hard for me to cope with, and also pointless, as i couldn't take up any job that i applied for anyway. So, is this something that I can do? Would i be able to do my appeal without me continuing to claim in the meantime, or would I have to go on jobseekers and get sanctioned or something? Gonna call my local advice centre tomorrow but I was curious to hear if anyone knew the rules around this
gb

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2 years 5 months ago #264975 by Gary
Replied by Gary on topic UC turned down, appeal questions
Hi GottaBe

We cannot answer your question as we do not have all the facts.

Claimants get turned down for LCWRAas they fail the second part of the test. In order to qualify for the LCWRA/Support Group you need to;

* meet one or more of the relevant descriptors, or
* meet one of the associated Exceptional Circumstances rules.

The LCWRA/Support Group descriptors and the Exceptional Circumstances are listed in the Claiming ESA guides in the members area.

Legacy benefits are no longer available to new claimants, so you would have to claim UC not JSA.

Gary

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2 years 5 months ago #264989 by GottaBe
Replied by GottaBe on topic UC turned down, appeal questions
Hi,
I was talking about appealing my Universal Credit fit for work decision. When i say jobseekers, i just mean that bit of Universal Credit, idk what the terminology is. I'm not able to work and, depending on what i'm asked to do, i don't think i'm fit for WRAG (i could take a phone call every few weeks but hour long meetings in the job centre would be very difficult for me). My illness isn't something that really fits into the 15 pt descriptors any more i don't think but i thought i would have picked up some points. Besides, none of that means i can actually do anything useful and i'd hoped that it would be understood that working would put my health in danger, tho apparently that didn't happen.

What i'm interested in is, what happens if i appeal the fit for work decision, but don't claim UC as a jobseeker? Do i just turn down new commitments (which are yet to materialise, i got the letter in my UC journal last night but nothing has happened yet), get my money stopped and get on with the appeal (mandatory reconsideration, etc)? Or is there more faffing about than that? i rung my local advise centre earlier and i'm hoping to get a call back today but they're not always easy to get hold of and i wondered what people here had to say.

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2 years 5 months ago #265002 by Catherine
Replied by Catherine on topic UC turned down, appeal questions
Hello GottaBe,

That is an interesting question. I would strongly advise you to talk to your work coach. I have found that generally they are really supportive of people who are in the process of appealing a Capability Assessment. Explain what you can do and what you cannot do and/or find too stressful to deal with. Hopefully you and the Work Coach will then be able to agree some minimal work-related activities which will keep you on the UC books, honours the system and allows you to stay sane.

Unfortunately I fear that simply allowing yourself to be sanctioned for noncompliance, at least without a honest conversation with your Work Coach, is going to push you into a tiresome cycle of being sanctioned, sanctions ending, having to have new commitments agreed, more faffing when you fail to do them, being sanctioned again and another time round the cycle.

What you talk to your Work Coach you need to be prepared to explain what it is that you have difficulty with and the impact that those activities have on your health. If you got a letter from your GP in support of your Capability for Work Assessment if could be helpful to let the work coach see that.

I hope that helps, please do come back to us if you want.
Catherine

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2 years 5 months ago #265006 by GottaBe
Replied by GottaBe on topic UC turned down, appeal questions
Thank you for your advice. I spoke to my local advisor this afternoon and she was of the opinion that I should tell them i was too unwell, but that i'd probably get sanctioned eventually. But the woman i've dealt with on the phone until now has seemed quite reasonable when there have been problems and doesn't seem to want people to lose their benefits, so something might come of it. It's possible that I'd be moved to someone else now tho.

I really would like to avoid job centre meetings: my symptoms are really hard to manage outside the house and i tend to wilt after a period of talking sat up, ending up exhausted or covered in sweat. Also, i'd need assistance, which would mean taking my 75 y/o mum to the job centre, and with the rising covid numbers i'd rather be able to avoid that (i don't think a round of covid would do me much good either). I'm still hoping that the government will chicken out and issue a work from home order before long and it can all go back on the phones for a bit, hopefully til i get a tribunal.

I did get a letter in support of my claim from my GP. The claim started way back just before the pandemic so it's probably a bit dusty now but I should be able to find it. I'm trying to get one to go along with the MR too (although I've been warned that the surgery might not do that) and I guess that that might be more useful given that it's more up to date? But would there be any value in getting a specific note from my doctor to address this particular issue? Whether he'd do it is another matter (my claim has been going on so long that my old Dr has retired since it started and the new one is a bit lame, I have ME/CFS and he has rather dubious opinions on the subject) but that would be something that I could ask about.

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2 years 5 months ago #265013 by Gary
Replied by Gary on topic UC turned down, appeal questions
Hi GottaBe

I would use the same letter from your old GP for your MR, just take a photocopy of it and send it.

Gary

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