Backdated LCWRA on Universal Credit

Hello,

I feel like we are getting no where with UC agents online, so I'm wondering if someone here could help explain my situation in accurate terms or if I'm missing anything:

Circumstances changed to unable to work: February 2019
Medical evidence submitted: February 2019
13 weeks from evidence submitted: May 2019
Home assessment: December 2019
LCWRA award letter: March 2020
1st LCWRA payment: March 2020 (3 weeks later)
Time between evidence submitted and 1st LCWRA payment: 44 weeks/10 months
LCWRA rate: £341.92 per month
Total backdate due: £3,419.20 (10 months)

Does this mean the DWP should be making the above payment at some point? If not, how much should it be (if anything)?
What other information am I missing to determine what the backdated amount should be/if I am entitled to it?
Does the DWP have a legal time frame within which they have to pay backdated sums?
What are my options to push this forward?

Case managers seem uncontactable, service centre agents don't seem to understand the question being asked (confirmation of amount of backdated pay due). We tried "when", to which the reply was "there is no timescale".

Any help appreciated, many thanks.

Hi Gordon, thanks for your reply.

What was the Effective Date of the Decision? Was there a date other than the date of the letter?

The letter was templated "UCD81" and was dated 5th March. No other date mentioned.

It said roughly: "Following WCA, we decided you have LCWRA. You may get extra money. Extra money is awarded from 3 months after the date you first gave evidence. If we owe you money, we will let you know when you get it. We will message within 7 days. You no longer need to send us fit notes. Tell us about any changes." etc.

We were then awarded LCWRA element in the next payment period, around 3 weeks after the letter. No other dates were provided.

I had weekly or bi weekly telephone calls with a case manager or work coach or some such person from change of circumstances whilst I was providing the notes. They said every week or so that there "was no new information on the system about the assessment" (which took until December to carry out), and then "no new information on the system about the decision" until we received the letter. I was then told I wouldn't need to have any more calls.

When did you submit your first Fit Note?

First fit note was submitted February 20th - 2 weeks after change of circumstances reported, covering from the date of my change of circumstances.

Did you provide Fit Notes from that date until the Decision was made?

Fit notes were then provided by my partner in person and scanned in until we received the letter in March. The notes stated unfit for work for approx 2-3 months each. My doctor explained he was making them as long as the system would allow.

So, fit notes were provided for >12 months, until we were told we did not need to send them any more when we received the letter in March.

Thanks in advance

Gordon wrote: RaisingAwareness

OK, you need to contact the DWP, I would call them but also put a note on your Journal

We have rung possibly 20 times, along with pages and pages of responses on our journal, of us asking (simply and politely) for confirmation and/or when it will paid.
To which we most often receive the reply "There is no timescale on this" from service centre users.

Other than yourself, who else can we speak to to resolve this when neither the call centre operators, nor the online UC service centre operators seem to be able to provide any information whatsoever?

Should we be seeking legal advice?