Is UC LCWRA automatic if you get ESA support group?

[ThinksTooMuch39]

Hi. Due to an obvious overpayment on my UC the other day, I went online and did a benefits check. To my surprise, I found out that I should have been getting the LCWRA disability element in my UC for the past almost 2 years but I definitely haven't been getting it- only the standard element and the housing element. I didn't know it existed...

Now, I did inform UC via my journal on 6th August 2022 that I had been awarded ESA support group. Was I meant to have done anything else? Surely, it's an automatic procedure anyway?

Anyway, I rang UC to make a mandatory reconsideration but was told I couldn't because there was no original decision whether to award me LCWRA or not. So I've put a message in my journal.

Any advice or reassurance that folks can give? How long should I give the case manager to get back to me before I complain?

Is this cont based/New Style ESA?

Yes, contributory/new style

The Work Capability Assessments in Universal Credit and ESA are, for all practical purposes, identical. If the decision is made in ESA it should apply to UC too.

You need to explain to them that you had an assessment in NS ESA and ask them what, if anything, they need to show the outcome of that.

Unless of course the overpayment is two years worth of arrears.....

Yes, you're a "dual claimant" - claiming both new-style ESA and UC.

I'd give it a couple of days for them to get back to you. And ask them to backdate it to the date you were awarded ESA. (I don't know how far they'll backdate it but it seems only fair to backdate to your ESA award date. I hope they do).

I was the other way round - I was awarded LCWRA and then claimed new-style ESA and was placed in the support group due to already having LCWRA. My support group component was backdated to the date I was awarded LCWRA.

All the best.

Sorry, I made a mistake on my post - my ESA support group component was backdated to the start of my ESA claim, not to the date I'd been awarded LCWRA. But because I had LCWRA already I was put straight into the ESA support group.

Thank you to those who have replied. That's really promising. I'll update when I have more news.

The overpayment was due to someone inputting my ESA money wrong into the system this month- they only had me getting £180 for the month, rather than the usual £500ish. So they've paid me for the first time ever- £130 now and £130 in a fortnight (I'm in Scotland). So in my alarm at getting over paid because of the hassle it'll cause, I used a benefits calculator for the first time to check. I've left a message for them to look into this as well.

It'll be interesting if a) they agree and b) they backdate- because it's about 21 months...