Benefits and Work has now included a detailed section on the severe conditions criteria (SCC) for universal credit (UC) in our members’ guide to the work capability assessment.
If you are a current claimant - prior to 6 April 2026 - meeting the SCC should mean that you will not have to be reassessed for the WCA in the future, as your condition is viewed as being lifelong.
If you are a new claimant from 6 April 2026 onwards, the SCC will have much more far reaching effects:
- Claimants who meet the SCC will get the same rate of the UC health element as current LCWRA claimants.
- But new claimants who are found to have LCWRA from April 2026, but who do not meet the SCC, will get only around half the amount of money in their UC health element.
So, for new claims from 6 April 2026, the SCC will be exceedingly important.
We’ve drawn on a wide variety of sources to produce guidance on the SCC, including:
- DWP statistics
- Universal Credit Bill
- WCA Handbook
- Hansard
- Assessment provider’s training
- Upper tribunal decisions
One of the biggest issues, likely to be the subject of many appeals, is the definition of the word “constantly”.
Other areas of contention which we look at are around whether a claimant’s diagnosis is valid if it was not carried out by the NHS and whether a claimant will have the condition “for the rest of their life”, if there may be some form of treatment available.
Members can download the latest edition of the “Best Possible ESA and UC Claims: a guide to the work capability assessment”
Information on meeting the SCC begins on page 29.
