LCWRA Pyments

Hi john,

Please see the response |I have made to your other post about LCWRA.
I am assuming this is for a UC claim - LCWRA or limited capability for work related activity is the terminology given to those people claiming benefit who are too ill/disabled to do any work, or searching for work, preparing a cv etc etc. Nowadays benefit for those that can't work is paid via UC (Universal Credit) - previous benefits that had to be separately claimed are now claimed altogether, so there's no separate claim for being too ill to work- you make an UC claim, and fill in all the questions, and if appropriate an element for LCW (Ltd capability for work) or LCWRA will be added to the total claim, as would an amount for eg housing costs.

UC claim (all elements) can be backdated for a month from the claim date. However, this is if there are exceptional circumstances - one of which could be being too ill to claim earlier, or being disabled. You would need to have evidence of this and satisfy DWP that this amounted to reasonable excuse for not claiming at the time. Normally the UC claim starts on the same day as you first contact DWP about a claim eg by phone/ or fill out the initial form, if no prior contact is made to DWP. (This is often when you press 'submit'.)

Of course you may have to wait a while for the benefit to be actually paid, but once the claim is accepted, the benefit will be calculated from the agreed start date, so either the first contact or a month before.

If something is wrong with your paperwork and this causes a delay, (defective claim) then it is possible that DWP can backdate benefit beyond one month if it takes longer to eg obtain the correct paperwork and return it. Again it depends on the cause of the delay and whether DWP thinks it was reasonable.

Please have a read about claiming UC on our memebers guides if you haven't already done so.
www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/universal-credit-uc

I hope this helps.

LL26

Hi john

When a UC claimant reports to the DWP that they have a health condition that limits their capability for work this would normally trigger a ‘Work Capability Assessment’ (usually this involves the claimant completing a questionnaire and phone/attending a medical assessment).

If they are found to have (or can be treated as having) a limited capability for work and work related activities, then the LCWRA Element should be included in the first Monthly Assessment Period after the end of their ‘relevant period’.

The ‘relevant period’ is a 3 month period which starts when the claimant first provides medical evidence to the DWP (including self-certification). The DWP should then take the claimant through the Work Capability Assessment (WCA).

Although the WCA process often takes longer than 3 months, the LCWRA Element should nontheless be included in the claimant’s UC award from the first Monthly Assessment Period after the end of their ‘relevant period’ regardless of how long the process has taken and even if the claimant goes to appeal.

Follow LL26 posts to see how LCWRA is awarded with links to our guides.

Gary