Mandatory Reconsideration for UC

Hello all, this is my first post, so thanks in advance for any advice offered.

I have spent the past 3-4 weeks using your guides to complete my PIP form, which has now been sent off and draft a letter for mandatory reconsideration for UC, following my medical assessment.

I am past the 1 month deadline (26 May 2021), however guides state that there is a 13 month total deadline, as long as there is a acceptable reason for this. My social prescriber advised that 'deterioration in my mental health and waiting for Citizens Advice appointments' was an acceptable reason.

I tried to upload my letter to my UC journal, however, there is no option to do this. So I checked the gov.uk website and it clearly states that a mandatory reconsideration can be requested by phone, letter or a CRMR1 form. The letter should be addressed to the return address on the medical assessment letter.

The return address on the letter is FREEPOST DWP, Universal Credit Full Service. No street, town or postcode. So I rang the DWP to verify the address. The lady I spoke to was foreign and unsure but said it should be OK. I was not confident in her answer and so I posted a message to my work coach on my UC journal advising I had completed my mandatory reconsideration letter but could not upload it to my UC journal (no option), could they therefore verify return postal address.

Firstly, my work coach has argued that I am past the 1 month deadline and then says if my mental health has deteriorated, it may be possible to start the process again, but she is not sure of this. I replied that the law says 13 month deadline, please advise return address. She replied that she does not deal with work capability assessments and thought that I had to request an MR via my journal and has requested my case worker to respond. Then my case worker ignored my request for the return address and just asked me to be more specific as to what part of the original decision I do not agree with. I replied 'my letter is about 6 pages. The details are laid out in there. Please confirm return address as is stated. She replied 'I need you to be more specific, what would you like to raise a mandatory reconsideration for'. I replied 'I am awaiting a call back from the CAB, it may take a few days, please bear with me, I will reply again then'. She has again ignored my comments and replied 'Can you update me via your journal with information as to what you would like to raise a mandatory reconsideration for when you have this information'. I have since ignored her and am sticking to my statement, I will reply when I have received advice from the CAB.

I am not sure if this is bullying or just a misunderstanding on her part? I feel that I am being totally reasonable whereas it feels like they are not.

I have managed to verify that this is the correct address and have access to the full address with postcode, should I wish to add a stamp.

My questions are : 1. Am I within my rights to go ahead and post the letter, bearing in mind there is a 3-4 week postal delay with DWP or should I ask my work coach to add a 'to do' option to my To Do list so that I can upload the letter? 2. If they refuse to add a 'to do' option to upload the letter, do I have the right to refuse to give details arguing that I am submitting my mandatory reconsideration request by post?

Thanks very much.

Hi Gary

Thanks very much for your reply.

So to be more clear, my claim for UC started in Nov 2020. Submitted fit notes for anxiety and depression around Jan 2021. Completed a UC50 in March/April, had a telephone medical assessment (due to Covid) in April and the decision was 'limited capability for work' dated 26 May 2021.

Decided to request an MR for UC as I feel I should be in LCWRA group not LCW, because my mental health has got worse. Requested a copy of my medical report, disagreed with some of it and drafted a letter pointing out where I disagreed with the findings.

Meanwhile, I decided to apply for PIP. I have just done this and the form has gone off in the post to them.

I have still not heard back from the CAB but will chase them tomorrow.

Thanks for the information re everything else.

Please can you clarify why you think I would be sanctioned? There is nothing on my 'To Do' list - all it has is 3 boxes - 1. Health - declare a new fit note. 2. Health - declare changes. 3. We will contact you. The 2 health boxes are irrelevant and the third just says 'we are processing your claim, we will call you if we need to check any of the information you have given us' which I'm pretty sure has been on there since the start of my claim in Nov 2020. Am I missing something?? I did think, considering they found me to have 'limited capability for work' that although they stated I would not need to submit further fit notes or apply for jobs, they would have tried to send me on training courses or set up other tasks that help you prepare to get back to work. To be honest, I am unfamiliar with this process, this is only what I have stumbled across on your guides, where I found a list of simple, moderate and complex tasks.

Would greatly appreciate your reply. Thank you Gary.

Hi Gary

Many thanks for your reply and taking the time to share your knowledge and information.

Much appreciated.

Sherry