Working capability assessment

[Lesley25]

My son turned 16 and has SLD and a autism, so I have applied for the credits only ESA and universal credit , I assumed -and was told on the phone that the working capability assesment would be triggered through the ESA, it hasn’t been.
I spoke to UC who say I have to obtain a fit note to then trigger the working capability assessment questionnaire from their side.

my son will never work due to his disability, am I likely to get a fit note from hsi GP - is this standard? I have emailed the GP to ask, but am I missing anything?

When you made a credits only new style ESA claim did you not submit a fit note then? You should have. Getting a fit note is normal. A credits only claim will trigger an ESA50 form and then a work capability assessment (although this may be paper based). Although it isn’t instant. When did you make the claim?

At the moment, DS isn’t eligible for UC. A 16 year old in full-time education is eligible if they receive PIP and LCW/LCWRA has been established prior to the beginning of the course. (Or if they meet one of the other criteria, such as having a child).

So you establish LCWRA via a credits only new style ESA claim. Then when DS finishes the current course, you can claim UC. Fit notes and another WCA won’t be necessary again because the outcome from the credits only new style ESA claim will apply.

I claimed UC at the same time as the credits only ESA.

i didn’t submit a fit note but I have since spoken to UC who said they will trigger the work capability assessment on the basis of receiving a fit note - which I have asked for.
This is DSs GCSE year , he won’t sit GCSES but this tranche of education will finish this year, then its sixth form and more life skills and independence skills - so he would be eligible I think?

The docs wil supply the fit note, I will then give that to UC.
haven’t heard back from ESA despite many calls , it seems it’s just sat there. They can see it but the wCA team can’t see anything set up for DS or the form to come out to me.

But UC did say that the WCA will be put on both systems.

I made the claim the claim on the 8th September

As a 16 year old in full-time education without LCW/LCWRA having been established prior to the start of the course (the definition of course doesn’t just mean traditional qualifications like GCSEs. It includes things like life skills.), DS isn’t eligible for UC at the moment. The claim shouldn’t be allowed. See this page.

You need to establish LCWRA via a credits only new style ESA claim. You should have been asked to submit a fit note to ESA. Call them back.

If DS was able to claim UC, you wouldn’t need to make a credits only new style ESA claim as well. The whole point of the credits only claim is to establish LCWRA prior to the change of a course in preparation for being eligible for UC.

This booklet and webpage from Contact explain more.

Right , I’ll call ESA Monday am when I have my fit note so they send me out the work capability assessment. So, once that’s in and ds is assessed as not being capable of work, that just sits there on the system and next year when ds moves into the next tranch of education in September I can apply for UC for him.
I’ll tell the work coach who set up the UC that we have to wait, till all the above is in, and next Sept (?) we hen da starts 6th form

i just can’t understand why when I applied for the credits only ESA I specifically said “will the work capability assessment form be sent out” and they replied yes “, yet 2 weeks later when I called to say it hasn’t been received, they couldn’t tell me why, Or that I even needed to supply a fit note.
I know we are probably in the 0.1% population this applies to, so fair enough. Nothings simple!

Yes, the credits only claim is about establishing LCWRA. You can then apply for UC when DS finishes the current course.

Don’t be surprised ESA don’t know about credits only claims. Some don’t even know they are possible.

@EndlessLight ive received the LC50 form today! I’ll get that completed and then that will trigger the LCWRA forms to be sent out. Thank you!!

The UC50 form is the work capability form. There won’t be further forms. There may be a F2F, phone or virtual assessment or it may be paper based (with or without seeking information from any professionals involved.) You need the ESA50 for the credits only new style ESA claim which is nearly the same as the UC50.

Ah I see.

Ive sent it off this afternoon with reports , what shall do with the UC application in the system? The work coach is set to call me back mid Sept , do I cancel that completely as my ds isn’t eligible till next Sept .

I should wait till the systems catch up and it shows in the credits only ESA that he will not be capable for work BEFORE I claim UC for him next Sept.

That’s right isn’t it?

Yes, you will need to establish LCWRA before claiming UC when DS finishes his current course/starts his next course. You could close the UC claim or you could leave it running and they will (or at least should but not all know the rules!) eventually say DS isn’t eligible but this may lead to an overpayment.

I have problem, the no credits ESA has been closed , which means the esa50 has been discarded, I’ve been told.

This is because even though I’m not claiming UC for my ds - they can see a claim in the system from when I tried it establish a work capability assessment through UC.
so ESA closed the account as no payments are rightfully due - I was trying to establish the limited capability for work, so it was a credits only ESA claim.

so, now UC have said the best way to rectify this is to start a work capability work
assessment form through them, and they need a fit note to do this.

my sons Gp never responds to emails , it’s their busy time so I’ll have to get a telephone apt with any of the GPS and explain my predicament and hope the locum GPs write ds a fit note which would then generate the work capability assessment once UC gets this.

if anyone reading this has to do the same , please don’t apply for or go through UC, you’re far better off not touching the UC area and going through the credits only ESA via telephone, filling in the esa50 and then getting put into the Limited capability for work group before applying for Uc. Establish this first .

I’ve made a giant cock up thinking I’d be proactive and now I have to do the work capability assessment form all over again and try and get a fit note! Nightmare.!

@EndlessLight I just had a thought. Do the credits differ on the credits only ESA side as opposed to the UCs side? I have been reading that on UC they are classed as class 3 credits but on the credits only ESA it’s classed as credits 1 on NI.

i don’t know the difference and UC doesn’t know the difference, I wonder if I’m better off closing the UC and going back through the credits only ESA, but I don’t want to do that incase they achieve the same outcome which is ds gets out in the limited capacity for work related activity group, as I’ve already established a good relationship with the work coach and UC and to do it again in a year would be painful.

any thoughts?

Do you not have a fit note from when you made the credits only New Style ESA claim? Or has it run out?

Did you photocopy the ESA50? If so, the forms are slightly different, but the questions about the activities are the same. If you didn’t photocopy the form, you could ask for a copy. Make sure to photocopy forms going forward.

You could also complain the credits only New Style ESA claim was closed. You aren’t asking for money to be paid; it is a credits only claim.

You shouldn’t be able to claim UC for DS. 16 year olds in full-time education are only eligible if they receive PIP and LCW/LCWRA has been established prior to the beginning of the course. (Or if they meet one of the other criteria, such as having a child).

With New Style ESA you get Class 1 credits. With UC you get Class 3. I wouldn’t worry about the difference. It is to do with what the credits entitled you to. Both go towards state pension. Class 1 credits can go towards other things too. For example, someone with Class 3 credits couldn’t claim and receive money from a New Style ESA claim. The reason for doing the credits only claim isn’t to do with the type of credits you get. It is to do with establishing LCW/LCWRA prior to the beginning of a course.

I complained to no avail.
tofay I’ve applied again. I’m cancelling the UC so this doesn’t happen again . I hope this solves it.

It isn’t the route I would go down because it won’t delay DS receiving any money since he can’t receive UC until he changes course anyway, but if you wanted to, you could take the complaint further or appeal. I think it would be less effort to reapply, though.

I’ve reapplied for credits only ESA again today with a new fit note.

Ive closed the UC because even though I could establish LCW with this fit note , It wouldn’t surprise me if the DWP then closed UC because DS isn’t eligible for UC till next year, and i would have to establish LCW again.

I’ve raised a complaint in writing to the ESA dept and i have copies of the old esa50 I submitted so I’ll do it again.

In retrospect I didn’t realise how easy getting a Fit note would be for Ds, I made a telephone apt and it was done today.

If anyone’s reading this, persevere with just the credits only ESA when your dc turns 16, you have a year to sort it before you maybe allowed to claim UC. And you need months with the backlog!

For anyone who maybe interested and going down this path for their child, my son was put into the LCW group (limited capacity for work group ) this week .

It took 2 Esa50 forms (first one shelved because I went down the wrong process and started a UC application even though ds wasn’t eligible so they closed the first Esa50), plus a lot of medical documents proving his limited capacity, and I also send complaint letters. We started in Sept 2024. Granted Dec 2024.

Which means when he does start a new independent living skill course from sept 2025, he will be eligible for universal claims as his limited capacity for work has already been established before the course has started.
Essential for Uc to be paid.

If DS has been placed in the limited capability for work group (LCW) (also called the work-related activity group for ESA purposes) rather than the limited capability for work and work related activity group (LCWRA) (also known as the support group for ESA purposes), you should appeal.

Thanks@EndlessLight i will wait for the letter and then appeal if it’s the wrong group

@EndlessLight I’ve received a letter stating that ESA will be paid (must be an automatic letter) and that my son has been placed in the support group and this won’t change unless his health needs change.
How do I know if this is the correct one?

The support group is the right group.

Thank you
@EndlessLight

@EndlessLight hi I found this post super helpful. Thank you! please can I ask you a question about timing? my DD who is currently in year 11, will not turn 16 until the end of July 2025, but she is going to post 16 just one month after she turns 16 in September 2025. I called and tried to get a credit only ESA but was told to call again once she reaches her 16th birthday. However, the process will take months. If I call again at the end of July when she reaches 16, she will definitely not get the LCWRA prior to the beginning of the post 16 course which is in September just one month after her 16th birthday… do you think this is not fair for kids who have later birthday in the year? Any ways to go around this timing pls? Many thanks!

There’s no way to get around the timings. You cannot make a credits only ESA claim until 16, and in order to claim UC, LCWRA must be established before the beginning of the course. It isn’t really relevant as to whether anyone thinks it is fair or not. It is the rules.

Thank you so much for getting back to me. I guess in this case, we have to get LCWRA ready when DD turns 16, continue with her post 16 and the earliest timing to claim UC will be when she finishes the 2-yr post16 course and goes to college? Thank you. I really appreciate your knowledge on this matter!