Applying for Universal Credit- disability- help with the process please?

[Firsttimer996]

Am helping a family member apply for Universal Credit, up until now they have been living on savings which are now under the 16k.
Family member is disabled and receives standard daily living pip.
Have submitted the online initial form, and they have gone to Universal credit offices today to provide Id. They now have an appointment after xmas.

They separately have an appointment at gp this week , I suggested they get a fit note (?) As when doing the initial application it said that will be required after 7 days?

My questions are-
What is the process from here - what is the appointment after xmas for ?
I know they have to fill out a form for their disability in order to get LCWRA, when do they receive this form?
When they get the fit note from the doctors (if required?) Do they upload this via the portal/journal ?

Many thanks on any guidance anyone can shed on this :)

Fit notes are the new name for sick notes - it’s the doctor saying you are too sick to work/or you can work in certain circumstances.

is your relative employed? Gp may not want to give a fit note if not.

the process for disability for uc is very similar to pip. The form is almost identical.

I think you can only have 6k in savings and then they take deductions out of their UC. Anything over £16k and they won’t be entitled to it.

The appointment will be to go over their work commitments which they’ll have to agree and sign to.

she will need a work capability assessment form. This process is going to take ages and ages in the meantime she’ll get 300 ? Or 400 quid a month from them. I might be wrong but I don’t think you can get that right away and it’s triggered after months of not working but you should definitely phone and ask on their behalf

@Octavia64 no they are not employed and are now to disabled to really get a job.

@CandyCaneKisses yes less than £16k in savings and aware it will be deducted. On the initial form we ticked the box for not working due to disability (cannot remember the wording) so I assume the work commitments won't arise ?

Yeah I did mine over the phone - they posted out the work commitments and I signed them (I’m severely disabled so didn’t have any - only commitment was to update them if my disability changed).

then that triggered form EA50 being sent, which I had a month to do. That month could be extended if necessary. That’s the one that’s basically the same as the pip form.

then a phone interview to clarify/check some stuff and then a decision a few months later.

@Octavia64 OK that's helpful thank you :)

I see the rate for Lcwra is going down from April 2026 so I won't hold my breath about getting it granted before then!

After 29 days of handing in fit notes they’ll be sent a UC50 to detail health issues. They’ll then be referred for an assessment bear in mind this can take a while I've seen people wait up to 18 months.

After the assessment there are 3 outcomes

1. Found fit to work
2. Awarded LCW - Limited Capability to work. this is no extra money and you can still have work preparation appointments

3.Awarded LCWRA - Limited Capability to work and work related activities. An extra 423.27 a month and no appointments

They need to keep handing in fit notes until your award decision
◦

@Burningbud1981 wow- 18 months!
I assume in this waiting period they won't need to be needing to keep up to date with work commitments and finding a job? (As ultimately we need the lcwra)
After 2.5 years they'll be at pension credit age anyway so fingers crossed it doesn't take 18 months

They may have to continue with appointments as fit notes don’t stop these. But they can ask for work commitments to be stopped.

@Burningbud1981 yes appointments are fair enough, good to hear they can ask for work commitments to be stopped whilst the process is followed

This was my DS’s timeline.

April -applied for UC, had an appointment to show ID

Got a fit note every month

Mid May received a form re LCWRA, sent it back.

November work capability assessment, LCWRA awarded and backdated to 3 months after UC claim started.

It is important to keep the claim open now and possibly they will get the higher LCWRA. Your friend can call Citizens Advice and they might also suggest claiming ESA but that needs going into things more. For this id suggest contacting as soon as possible due to time limits to claim

@Christmaseree thank you that's so useful!

@Sneezecough thank you! I'm not too sure esa will be payable as its done on Ni contributions isn't it ? My relative has only worked a few jobs , was mainly a housewife

There is something called credits only, I don’t know whether it is relevant or not - need to call

They may do an interview with them to discuss their illnesses and give more context to what they put on the initial forms. The first thing where you supply ID is literally just that. They don't ask you to do or say anything in that appointment. It takes like two minutes.

I'm not sure what the backlog is like on the actual award decision. Do they have an online UC account set up yet? With a journal etc?

@BillieWiper only applied at the weekend so have the log in and I think a journal or "to dos"

Ok cool. So that will update every time something is happening or she needs to do anything. So just keep logging into it every few days.

There's a payment section which will tell you when and how much you get paid. But that might not have anything yet as decision hasn't been made.

Any interviews or appointments will be in there too. If she has a question it's best to write in journal rather than phoning them as you have to hold for ages.

Hope she gets the award she was hoping for. X

Don't bet on the work commitments not arising ,the UC 50 health assesment is brutal.
We know from experience DW has mobility issues,osteoarthritis and was denied the UC health element they relented on one thing that she must keep her 16 hrs and a Dr had to say that's all she was capable of.
DW never said she wanted to stop working but that it was becoming much harder.
My DW has literacy and digital issues,the assessor said she could do a job sitting down ..such as?.

@Carlathomasillneverstoplovingyou
What was the outcome for DW?

Gosh I don't know what we'll do if they insist on finding a job-its not doable with the amount of pain they're in everyday

DW still works as a cleaner as she's done for 42 years at one point DWP wanted her to work 35 hrs..not feasible as she's broken doing 16.
She did qualify for ADP which is Scotland's version of pip which was a lot more humane.
I hope your relative gets a favourable outcome 🤞

To update, the GP gave my relative a 13 week fit note. Their Uc initial appointment has been moved forward by a week, am hoping this is a good sign to get the LCW assessment sooner

You’ll be sent the form once your relative has been claiming universal credit and submitted fit notes for three months.

@Christmaseree if the fit note is for more than 29 days the referral can be done almost straight away. If less than 29 days then it’s sent once 29 days have passed as long as there is a current fit note.
The whole process takes months though.

Ok thanks.
My DS’s fit notes were for one month but he had to wait three months.