Personal Capability Assesment

In October 2008 the (DWP) introduced a new benefit for people who are unable to work due to illness or disability.

This new benefit is called Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) and it replaces Incapacity Benefit (IB) and Income Support (IS) on the grounds of sickness or disability.

ESA uses a new test called the Work Capability Assessment (WCA) to decide whether you are eligible for the benefit.

If you are currently receiving IB or IS on the grounds of disability your claim may, at some point, come up for renewal. The Department of Work and Pensions do want to gradually move everyone onto ESA, so it may be that your benefit claim is assessed using the old Personal Capability Assesment or the new WCA.

The Rethink Advice & Information Service has been contacted by many users & carers about the PCA and the problems it has caused for them, such as anxiety about going through the procedure, worries about being forced into work and the possibility of losing benefit. 

Many people who have had mental health problems for years are having to go through the assessment, perhaps for the first time and sometimes inappropriately. This may be because the government has said they aim to get 80% of the working age population into work and reduce the number claiming incapacity benefits by one million.

The term ‘incapacity benefits’ includes people receiving Incapacity Benefit itself, Severe Disablement Allowance or Income Support on grounds of sickness or disability.

What is the PCA?

For people who are unwell or disabled, Incapacity Benefit or Income Support (or sometimes a combination of the two benefits) is available to those who are regarded as ‘incapable of work’.  So the Department of Work & Pensions (DWP) assesses people who claim these benefits in order to decide whether or not they are fit for work.

The PCA is one of the two tests used to assess incapacity for work.  It assesses your ability to do any work by looking at your physical abilities (walking, sitting, standing, etc.) and also your mental health.

Note: If you have worked recently, you will go through the ‘own occupation’ test, which is different.

Who is exempt from PCA?

Some people are exempt from the PCA.  This group includes:

• People on the highest rate care component of DLA
• People who are assessed as 80% disabled
• People who received Severe Disablement Allowance before April 1995
• Some people with severe mental illness

What does the DWP regard as severe mental illness?

If the medical certificates provided to the DWP by your doctor show that you have mental health problems, the DWP will write to her or him to try to find out how severe your condition is.  The DWP wants to find out whether the person claiming benefit has:

‘a severe mental illness which severely and adversely affects his or her mood or behaviour and severely restricts his or her social functioning or awareness of his or her immediate environment’.

They have also issued guidance which says that the following features may indicate severe mental illness:

‘The need for on-going psychiatric care, perhaps where the person lives in accommodation where regular medical or nursing care is provided, or attends a centre every week where qualified nursing care is available, or receives weekly visits at home from a qualified mental health care worker, or gets long-term treatment with anti-psychotic or mood stabilising medication.’

If the DWP decides that your condition is not severe enough to make you exempt from the PCA, they will send you a questionnaire (form IB50) to test your capacity for work.  You may also be called for a medical examination.

What if I think I ought to be exempt but the DWP doesn’t accept this?

The Rethink Advice & Information Service has heard from many people who have been asked to go through the PCA when they appear to be exempt. 

If this happens to you, you (or a friend, relative, health professional or advocate) should write to the DWP to explain why you fit into one of the exempt categories.

Support from your doctor or psychiatrist would help but they may not know much about the conditions for exemption. So you could show them a copy of this information so they understand how you fit into one of the exempt categories.

Remember that in talking to your doctor or filling in the form, it does not help to withhold information about how your condition affects you. 

Some people do this because they are embarrassed about their illness or afraid that they might be sectioned into hospital or have their children taken into care, even though these things are very unlikely.  In fact, if your doctors understand more about the way your condition affects you, you may get better care and support.

If you decide to argue that you ought to be exempt from the PCA, you will still need to return the questionnaire within the 6 week time limit.