WCA · Universal Credit & ESA · Work Capability Assessment
Found fit for work? Get a professional mandatory reconsideration letter, in 48 hours.
A professional WCA mandatory reconsideration letter, built from your documents, arguing every activity, the LCWRA group and substantial risk. £49 flat fee. No percentage of your backpay. No hidden costs.
Not sure yet? See how we’d argue your case, free.
Tell us about your decision and the activity you find hardest. Within 3 hours you get a seven-page review of your case: your points against the 15, the LCWRA group, your deadline, and your hardest activity argued the way your full letter would.
Found fit for work, or put in the wrong group? An MR is your first step.
If the DWP decided you’re fit for work, or put you in the LCW group when you should be in LCWRA, a mandatory reconsideration is required before you can appeal. A different decision maker looks at your case again.
Universal Credit decision letters don’t show your points. Your letter is built from the assessment report (UC85 or ESA85), which you can ask for free, and from your own evidence.
One calendar month from the date on your decision letter, not when you received it. Late requests can be accepted up to 13 months with a good reason.
Four routes, argued in one letter.
The WCA has more than one way in. We argue every one that fits your case.
Every activity, scored
Each activity that applies, argued against the Schedule 6 descriptors and the points they carry, to reach the 15 for limited capability for work.
The majority-of-the-time rule
A descriptor applies if it fits you for most of the time, under regulation 40(4). We show how often, with your own examples.
The LCWRA group, where the money is
The Schedule 7 descriptors that bring the health element. Points don’t count here, one descriptor most of the time does.
Substantial risk, in the alternative
If finding you fit for work would put your health at substantial risk, you can qualify regardless of points. We argue it with the case law.
The report says one thing. Your letter puts it right.
Decisions often rest on a single line in the assessment report. Your letter answers it with what actually happens.
Mobilising: “How far can you walk before you need to stop?”
“Walked to the room without difficulty.”
A few metres, once, on the day. It says nothing about doing it again.
“About 50 metres, then the pain in my hips makes me stop. I can’t do it again for an hour, so I couldn’t do it repeatedly through a day.”
A distance, what happens, and whether it can be repeated: what the descriptors measure.
Fit for work, LCW or LCWRA: what each means.
The group you’re put in decides your work requirements and, for most people, whether Universal Credit pays anything extra.
| What | Fit for work | LCW | LCWRA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work requirements | Look for and prepare for work | Prepare for work only | None |
| Extra money in Universal Credit | None | None, for most claims | £217.26 a month, or £429.80 for earlier claims and severe conditions |
| How you get there | Under 15 points | 15 points or more | One LCWRA descriptor, most of the time |
Put in LCW when you should be in LCWRA? That’s worth challenging too.
One month to ask. Here’s your date.
Enter the date on your decision letter to see the last day to ask for a mandatory reconsideration.
Ask for a reconsideration by
Enter your date
One calendar month from the date on the letter, not when you got it. Late requests can be accepted up to 13 months with a good reason.
Start My WCA Letter — £49 →Ask for your assessment report. It’s free.
Universal Credit decision letters don’t show your points. The assessment report (UC85, or ESA85 for ESA) does: it shows what the assessor wrote for each activity. For Universal Credit, you can ask through your journal.
Send it to us with your decision letter, and your letter can challenge it line by line.
What’s included for £49
Everything you need. Nothing you don’t.
WCA Mandatory Reconsideration Letter
Drafted & reviewed by Neil Dhillon — former DWP decision maker
£49
Flat fee · One-time
Re: Your WCA reconsideration letter — what’s inside.
- A fully personalised letter — built from your decision letter, your assessment report and your evidence. Not a template.
- Every activity argued — against the Schedule 6 descriptors, with the majority-of-the-time rule applied to each.
- The LCWRA group argued — the Schedule 7 descriptors that bring the health element, where they fit your case.
- Substantial risk, in the alternative — with the case law, because the form and the assessment never ask about it.
- A step-by-step submission guide — how to send it for Universal Credit or ESA, and what happens next. Free revisions included.
What happens next: secure card payment → tell us about your health and upload your decision letter and report → we draft and deliver within 48 hours. Add 24-hour delivery (£19) or a Letter to Your GP (£9) at checkout.
Three steps to your WCA mandatory reconsideration letter. One outcome that changes everything.
£49 in. The right group, and the health element, out.
Tell us about your decision
Plus your letter and report
We draft your letter
Delivered within 48 hours
Review & send it
PDF and Word, with a guide
If your MR succeeds, LCWRA adds the health element to Universal Credit, backdated.
£217.26 a month for most new claims from April 2026, or £429.80 for earlier claims and the severe conditions criteria.
£217.26+
A month · LCWRA
Three ways to challenge a fit for work decision. Pick the one that fits.
Doing it yourself is free if you have the time and energy. Percentage firms take a share of your backpay. We’re £49 flat.
Write it yourself
Free
+ your time
The decision letter and your time
- No upfront cost
- Easy to miss LCWRA and substantial risk
- Written while exhausted and unwell
- A weak base for tribunal if it fails
Best if: you know the WCA descriptors well and have the energy to write a legal argument under stress.
Other firms
Up to40%
+ VAT, of your backpay
Example: on £1,304 of backpay (six months of the LCWRA health element), they’d take about £626.
Success rate: not published
- No fee unless they win
- Up to 40% + VAT of your backpay
- 2–4 weeks to receive the letter
- You rarely see the submission
Best if: you don’t mind losing thousands and won’t read the letter before it goes.
PIPAppeal
£49
Flat · paid once
Every route argued for you
- Every activity, LCWRA and substantial risk
- Delivered in 48 hours
- Reviewed by Neil — ex-DWP decision maker
- You read every word before submission
Best if: you want a professional letter without losing thousands to a percentage firm.
Start My WCA Letter — £49Not sure yet? See how we’d argue your case, free.
Tell us about your decision and the activity you find hardest. Within 3 hours you get a seven-page review of your case: your points against the 15, the LCWRA group, your deadline, and your hardest activity argued the way your full letter would.
Long COVID & Chronic Fatigue
“DWP conceded two weeks after my submission was filed. Never even had to go to the hearing. Enhanced rate on both components — I had no idea the written submission could do that.”
Fibromyalgia & Depression
“After two failed MRs writing my own letters, I used PIPAppeal for my tribunal. The submission was completely different in tone and structure. Won on the day. Got 18 months of backpay.”
Bipolar Disorder & Mobility Issues
“I was terrified about going. But the submission had laid everything out so clearly that when the panel asked questions, I just had to confirm what was already written. It felt like they were on my side.”
Meet Neil.
A former DWP decision maker who spent 15 years on the inside. Now he writes the letters that overturn refusals.
Inside the DWP
Welfare benefits decision making
Knows the criteria
Trained in current PIP assessment law
Personally reviewed
No letter goes out without his sign-off
Drafted by his team
Across MR and tribunal appeals since 2020
Found fit for work? Let’s get it corrected.
A professional WCA reconsideration letter, built from your documents. £49 flat. In your inbox within 48 hours.
Every route to the right group, argued in one letter.
- Every activity argued, with the majority-of-the-time rule.
- The LCWRA group argued, where the health element is.
- Substantial risk argued in the alternative, with the case law.
- A submission guide for Universal Credit or ESA.
- Free revisions if you remember something or get new evidence.
What happens after the mandatory reconsideration
Two outcomes that matter.
The MR succeeds
You’re moved into the right group. If that’s LCWRA, the health element is added to your Universal Credit, backdated, and your work requirements are removed.
The decision doesn’t change
You receive a Mandatory Reconsideration Notice, with one month to appeal to the tribunal. Around seven in ten people who attend a hearing win, and your letter becomes the foundation. See our WCA tribunal letter.
Haven’t sent your WCA50 yet? See WCA50 form help. Claiming PIP or Attendance Allowance too? See all our services.
Questions about a WCA mandatory reconsideration.
If your question isn’t covered, email us at support@pipappeal.org.uk and we’ll reply same day.
There’s no fixed time limit for the DWP to decide, and it can take several weeks. Your letter goes in once, complete, so the decision maker has everything at the start.
Your decision letter is essential. Your assessment report (UC85 or ESA85) helps a great deal, because Universal Credit decision letters don’t show your points. Add any medical evidence and your WCA50 answers if you kept a copy.
Ask the DWP for a copy of your UC85 or ESA85. It’s free. For Universal Credit you can ask through your journal. It shows the points the assessor gave for each activity.
For Universal Credit, through your journal with a posted copy. For ESA, by post. Your letter comes with a step-by-step submission guide.
Every activity that applies, argued against the descriptors with the majority-of-the-time rule; the LCWRA group; substantial risk in the alternative, with the case law; and the severe conditions criteria where they apply. It’s written in your voice, as a PDF and a Word document, with free revisions.
No. We are a professional letter-writing service, not a firm of solicitors, and we don’t give regulated legal advice. You’re free to speak to a welfare rights adviser or Citizens Advice at any point.
No, and you should be wary of anyone who does. We guarantee your case is presented in the strongest terms the law and your evidence allow.
Yes. The free WCA preview shows where you stand on points, your deadline, and your hardest activity argued, within 3 hours.
Universal Credit carries on while the DWP reconsiders, but without the health element. New Style ESA stops after a fit for work decision and isn’t paid during a reconsideration. Check your decision letter: some ESA decisions can be appealed directly, which is how payment pending appeal starts. GOV.UK explains mandatory reconsideration.
You can appeal to the independent First-tier Tribunal within one month of your Mandatory Reconsideration Notice. Around seven in ten people who attend a hearing win. Our WCA tribunal letter is the same £49 and builds on this one.
Yes, as long as you’re within 13 months of the date on your decision letter. Late requests need a good reason, such as being too unwell to act, and your letter includes that explanation.
Last reviewed