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Free LCWRA backpay calculator · 2026/27LCWRA backpay calculator: how much are you owed?
If you’re found to have LCWRA after a reconsideration or appeal, the health element is paid back to when it should have started. See your estimated arrears, using each year’s monthly rate.
- Each year’s LCWRA rate, back to April 2023
- The April 2026 new rate included
- Free, and nothing you enter is saved or sent
Last reviewed
Work out your backpay
Two answers. Your estimate updates as you go.
- Your total LCWRA arrears
- A breakdown for each tax year
- What you’ll get each month from now
The monthly rates your backpay uses.
Universal Credit is paid in monthly assessment periods. Rates change each April.
| Tax year | LCWRA element (full rate) | New rate (claims from 6 April 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| 2026/27 | £429.80 | £217.26 |
| 2025/26 | £423.27 | – |
| 2024/25 | £416.19 | – |
| 2023/24 | £390.06 | – |
Monthly amounts. The new rate is frozen until 2029/30. See Universal Credit amounts on GOV.UK.
Win it first, then it’s backdated.
A fit-for-work or LCW decision can be challenged within one month.
WCA Reconsideration Letter
We argue the LCWRA descriptors and substantial risk, activity by activity, with your own examples and evidence.
- Written for your case
- Reviewed by a former DWP decision maker
- Ready in 48 hours
- £49 flat. You keep all your backpay
WCA50 Form Answers
Every activity on your WCA50 answered, with the LCWRA descriptors called out.
How LCWRA backpay works.
From when it should have started
Usually the end of the 3-month assessment period, counted from when you reported your condition and sent a fit note.
Paid in a lump sum
Once the decision changes, the arrears are added to a UC payment. Your statement shows the breakdown.
Ignored as savings for 12 months
Backpay of benefits doesn’t count as savings for UC for 12 months, and longer in some cases.
LCWRA backpay questions answered.
Yes. If a reconsideration or appeal finds you have LCWRA, the element is paid back to when it should have started, usually the end of your 3-month assessment period.
£429.80 a month in 2026/27 if you claimed before 6 April 2026, are terminally ill, or meet the severe conditions criteria. For most new claims from 6 April 2026 it’s £217.26. Earlier years: £423.27 (2025/26), £416.19 (2024/25), £390.06 (2023/24).
It’s usually added to a Universal Credit payment soon after the decision changes. Your statement will show the arrears.
Arrears of benefits are ignored as savings for Universal Credit for 12 months, and longer in some cases where the DWP made the error.
A few claims from before April 2017 include the old LCW element. Moving to LCWRA replaces it, so the backpay is the difference.
Yes, if a mandatory reconsideration or appeal decides you have LCWRA. Ask for a reconsideration within one month of the decision.
They’re similar. LCWRA is the Universal Credit version; in New Style ESA it’s the support group.
No. It gives an estimate using each year’s monthly rate. Your UC statements show the exact figure.
Found fit for work? Challenge it for £49.
We argue the LCWRA descriptors and substantial risk, activity by activity. Reviewed by a former DWP decision maker, ready in 48 hours.
This calculator gives an estimate using the published monthly LCWRA rates. Rates change in the assessment period that starts after each April uprating, so the DWP’s figure can differ slightly. This is general information, not legal advice.