DWP failure to action an SR1 or DS1500 from a terminally ill UC claimant

Use this letter if 

Your client:

• is terminally ill and has notified the DWP of this by providing an SR1 (or DS1500) form from their doctor or other health care professional
• has been told their capability for work must be assessed before they can be treated as having LCWRA and the LCWRA element can be included in their UC award

This letter assumes

(so can be edited if it does not apply)

• Your client has cancer,
• Your client is subject to work-related requirements.

The main legal arguments in this template are:

• Under schedule 9 of the Universal Credit Regulations 2013 (UC Regs), a claimant who is terminally ill is to be treated as having LCWRA and no work capability assessment is required.
• Terminal illness is defined by regulation 2 UC Regs, as amended by the Universal Credit and Employment and Support Allowance (Terminal Illness) (Amendment) Regulations 2022 as ‘suffering from a progressive disease where death in consequence of that disease can reasonably be expected within 12 months’.
• Regulations 27 and 28 of the UC Regs provide that claimants who are terminally ill are immediately paid an additional LCWRA element of UC.
• Under section 19 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012, terminally ill claimants must also not be expected or required to carry out any work-related activity in order to receive their benefit.

Information about your client

• name
• address
• national insurance number
• date of birth

Background facts relating to your client

• When they started receiving UC and their reasons for applying
• When and how they notified DWP of their terminal illness and when and how DWP responded
• Details of their current UC conditionality
• Whether they have incurred a UC sanction – and if so, when
• Consequential losses (financial and emotional distress) arising from any sanctions

Information relating to the decision

•  the reasons DWP has given for not including the LCWRA element straightaway, referring your client for a WCA, and subjecting your client to conditionality
• the dates of all relevant decisions
• any specific errors made by the DWP
• any steps your client has taken to clarify their position and the relevant dates
• how and when your client was notified of the refusal to include the LCWRA element / treat them as having LCWRA / amend their conditionality.

We've created this guide to help you successfully use our judicial review pre-action letter templates: Guide to using CPAG's judicial review pre-action letter templates

Once you've finished your letter, please email it to us at: [email protected] before you send it to the lawyers acting for DWP/HMRC/your local authority. We'll try to reply as quickly as possible and will do so within 7 days.