Limited Capability for Work Universal Credit - work coach meetings

[WiseKhakiGoose]

Hi all, can you please tell me, how often I should have phone calls or meetings with my work coach after receiving LCW? Because before I was awarded LCW I had it every four weeks. Now, after I've been awarded LCW they wanted to put it every TWO or THREE weeks! After arguing over the phone with my new work coach, he put it in another four weeks, instead of every two weeks.

If you have a link to government website where it clearly states how often I should have it, please let me know. Because it's affecting my mental health a lot.

I received the first time in my life LCW based on both physical and mental health issues. Now, I'm trying my best to retain online for another area and be able to work from home in the future. They have evidence that I'm retraining now. Why do I need to talk with them every TWO or THREE weeks if I even didn't finish my training? Why they pressure me so much with all phone calls?

Every 2 weeks is the norm in my experience. If they're keeping you while you retrain, I don't think that's much to ask.

"If they're keeping you while you retrain" - what do you mean they're keeping me while I retrain?

For my mental health every 2 weeks is a lot. Do you speak from your own experience after receiving LCW? Or you never had it?

If they're paying you benefits to live on and that's all you have to live on while retraining, they can pretty much dictate the terms. If you have another job that you're living on and can manage on, then refuse the meetings but otherwise I'd not rock the boat. Yes, my own experience and I had 2 weekly as well. 2 weekly is the norm for most 'signing on/work coaching' type meetings.

I'm glad to hear that your experience, having appointments every two weeks after receiving LCW was manageable for you. For me personally, it's not manageable because obviously I have different health issues than you.

All I wanted to find out where I can read the policy about LCW appointments on the government website.

The work coach can't dictate me or anyone else what we should do. The work coach job is to learn the government policy about what's acceptable and what isn't based on every individual needs and to accommodate the needs of disabled people. It's not the work coach who pays me, and I don't own anything to my work coach. It's the government who pays me my benefits after all taxpayers paid their taxes to the government.

I was really happy and proud of myself for years to be a taxpayer. I'm looking forward to become again a taxpayer and soon that's going to happen. I always was aware of how fair it is for everyone to make a contribution and pay their taxes. Because we all benefit from it, including healthy working people. For example, the work coach benefits from it, otherwise he wouldn't have a job and a wage.

The work coach also don't pay for my studies. It's the government program and everyone be it on Universal Credit or not, can apply for it and retrain for a new career.

I really don't think you will find any guidance on how often these appointments should be as I think they are at the discretion of the work coach. I have some clients ( as part of my work in benefits advice) who have been on LCW for years and actually haven't been re-assessed for years and they rarely have appointments because I guess maybe the work coaches know things aren't going to change or maybe they are approaching state retirement age.
If you aren't happy you can make a complaint or ask for a change of work coach.

Thank you for your answer and your advice.

I'll ask my work coach one more time for less appointments and I'll see what he'll say.

The lack of clarity from the government as to what 'work related activity ' actually means is a big problem for lots of people.

However, meetings every two weeks seems excessive. Consider getting your MP involved

Writing from a place of ignorance, what does a work coach do, do they help / support / train you on the path back to work? Do they think every 2 weeks may be useful to you? As well as keep a positive input.
I do think that if you’re on credits, and have a a chosen plan to move forwards to being self supporting, it’s worth supporting, and good for you!
you do sound a bit defensive and negative, which is why I’m asking.

"Writing from a place of ignorance, what does a work coach do, do they help / support / train you on the path back to work? Do they think every 2 weeks may be useful to you? " - from my own experience, the work coach doesn't help, support or train.

It's a loop for months, the NHS can't help you right now and tells you sorry, please keep waiting for your appointments. After waiting for your appointments, you hear sorry there's not a lot we can do. We don't know when you'll feel better. While the work coach constantly asks you why everything takes so long? When are you going to be back to work? Like I enjoy spending months at home in physical pain and emotional distress.

The work coach "support" is to ask me two questions at every appointment: "Do you feel better? Are you ready to go back to work?".
Like physical disabilities or severe mental health issues can be cured within a month since I last spoke with him. ☹️

I had some help from the NHS, but they couldn't do a lot for me, because there's no cure for all my long term diseases. I'm still on a waiting list for more help.

Other "support" from my work coach was to send me in my journal (in those months while I was feeling suicidal, really low and waiting for NHS appointments) some jobs to apply for: construction, retail, hospitality, postman for Royal Mail etc.... He saw me in person, had evidence from the NHS about my health issues and knew very well I can't apply for those jobs.

After several months, once I felt better, I asked him to help me find a course and apply for it. Because I wanted to retrain and work from home in the future. He told me to go home, browse online and find myself a course!

The moment I told him I started the course, suddenly he wants appointments with me every two weeks to "support" me! His support is to keep asking me if I feel good enough to go back to work?! While he knows very well I'm still studying?! That's how our appointments are going since I started the course.

There's zero support from the work coach with anything. All he does with his appointments is to make me feel worse than I already feel, because I constantly have to defend myself, tell him I can't go back to work now and I'm doing my best to change it.

I totally get why most people on LCW or LCWRA can't work, because it's impossible to do so while being in constant physical pain or with severe mental health issues. Even if I'll manage to finish the course and find a job to work from home in the future, I'm no evidence that everyone can do so. Because most long term severe diseases can't be cured by NHS or anyone else.

I agree with you. I think clarity from the government would help everyone. The system is very hard to navigate and nobody wants to really help. Even if everyone claims they will help you, there's plenty of help available, all you have to do is to ask for help etc. When you ask for help or guidance, nobody tells you anything or helps with anything. It's so confusing and hard to deal with... 🙁

I can't be especially helpful, but just wanted to say that your experience isn't unusual. The last government was very keen on posturing and claiming to be getting people into work, but never did anything to actually train or enable work coaches to help people into work. What you're doing by retraining to help you do work that will fit with your health condition sounds very sensible and is exactly what a jobcentre service that actually cared about helping people into suitable jobs would do. It's just stupid that they can't do that at the moment

What training are you doing, is it a computing class or an admin type course or an online colleague class or something that's proveable and beneficial in their eyes? Or do they think you're wasting your time and malingering?

Are they saying you need to work part time while you retrain?

Is there any support for you if you are out in a different 'box', eg 'in education' or something that would pay you more money while you are 'training'? Or would that be worse for benefits?

I don't know anything about the benefits system sorry, but wonder if someone's marked you down wrongly and that's why they keep phoning?

When they call do they start telling you about vacancies and ask you to apply and you have to say I can't because I'm fully engaged in this training and they don't believe you or something?

Do you have kids? Asking because I know someone who works two days a week on a checkout (I'm not saying you're fit to do that by the way) and she gets practically the same take home pay including benefits as I do and I work double that and don't qualify for benefits, so if you have kids and can work part time the money is way better than unemployment benefits.

according to policy/procedure and guidance the work coach is supposed to tailor the commitments etc around your needs, health conditions and that will include how many face to face meetings you require. this reasonable request could be down to finance/ travel expenses or any relevant health conditions. the work coach/DWP is duty bound under the 2010 equalities act to make reasonable adjustments.

The DWP has already set the president by allowing 4 weekly appointments in the past so i see no reasonable reason why they couldn't amend it . I would encourage you to download and read the u.kgovs own AMD policy/guidance on universal credit as its a riveting read which exposes a plethora of omissions which work coaches conveniently forget to mention or employ . No wonder the DWP is currently being investigated by the european court of human rights when it treats claimants with abject disdain and contempt.