Benefits

[Moon_maiden]

Not sure if this will be useful. If you are claiming benefits with a fit note but being asked to go in weekly or on any regular basis, you don’t have to. The job centre can make adjustments and provide support if needed.

They may initially try and say otherwise but it’s harassment and for their numbers. In the workplace an employer can’t keep contacting you with a current fit note, same applies looking for work.

I was reminded of this recently helping someone else out even though I’d gone through doing it for me 🤦‍♀️ Thought I’d pass it on.

That and make sure you’re getting the extra health payment, separate to PIP

[Littleone88]

hello. Love this post, currently doing this to me at the moment, every two weeks they’re making me go there.

With fit notes that last 3 months. Who do I need to contact to have this sorted please?

[Moon_maiden in reply to Littleone88]

sorry you’re going through it. I wrote messages after the initial meeting and I realised they’d ignored the medical side.

Tell them that you have fit note and that signs you off work and this includes looking for work. An employer isn’t allowed to harass a sick employee. You’d like them to also organise receiving the extra health payment. This can take time and they send a form but it can be backdated, especially if you haven’t received any advice and support.

I don’t know much about your background and what they’ve said but this other person had one previous visit and a phone call. They weren’t going to mess today 😂

Feel free if you want to pm anything you want to write to them and I’ll also look tomorrow to see what I write them and let you know. 🙂

[Moon_maiden in reply to Littleone88]

This is some of what I wrote to them via journal

I’m confused about the letter, it says that I have to be available for work, I thought the fit note and we’d discussed my health you’d said that was ok and would be recorded as such.

Please confirm the status of your expectations?

Their letter turned out to be a generic one, so I blasted them a bit that this shouldn’t happen 😂

their response;

My apologies for not getting back to you sooner. Your work coach is currently out of the office. I have just taken a look at the letter in your journal. It states that you are not deemed gainfully self employed and therefore would need to look for employment however, if you are currently under a fit note that is absolutely fine. If you think you will not be able to gain employment anytime soon and will continue to provide us with fit notes, we will need to start you on the health journey which will require a work capability assessment. The call booked in is to discuss this with you.

one of my responses, but I did make sure I wasn’t forgotten

Hi

My circumstances don’t seem to be being taken into account for this

‘If you have a disability or health condition

How much you’ll get Extra monthly amount

If you have limited capability for work and work-related activity £343.63’

I have a limited capability for work but no one has mentioned this extra payment.

—-looking back I likened it to Victorian England where you either worked or died and I’ve paid enough into the system 😂

You can potentially claim free prescriptions as well.

[Painfree101]

how do you get the extra health money?

[Moon_maiden in reply to Painfree101]

Hi, tell your work coach to add your claim to that part of DWP for assessment, and you’d like to backdate this as no one had mentioned it. They’ll arrange a form to be sent out to you. There is a wait list, but be sure to tell them if you are short on funds and if need be can it be sped up at all. Likely they’ll say no but always worth a shot.

🤞 for you. Please ask anything, if I can help I’ll try.

CAB is useful sometimes for benefit advice.

[Painfree101 in reply to Moon_maiden]

is this the work capability work assessment if so I had this the other day but I asked this morning about what you had written and was told this morning the extra health money you can only get if you are on the highest payment for pip 🤷‍♀️

[Moon_maiden in reply to Painfree101]

Hi, they’ve told you absolute rubbish, I don’t get PIP and it’s nothing to do with it. It’s an extra payment if your unable to work and tops up your money.

It is to do with work capability. I’ll look up info shortly

[Painfree101 in reply to Moon_maiden]

thank you! I’ll be ringing them up to complain and be changing my work coach for lying and misleading me information

[Moon_maiden in reply to Painfree101]

let me know how you get on

[Moon_maiden in reply to Painfree101]

Part of a letter

. This is because your health assessment outcome has been added to your claim and your earnings did not affect

I’ll pm you a link, but this is copied from gov website, it’s a table there.

If you have a disability or health conditionHow much you’ll getExtra monthly amountIf you have limited capability for work and work-related activity £354.28

If you have limited capability for work and you started your health-related Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claim before 3 April 2017

[Inonge1]

DWP are notorious for mis-information! I was told my PIP had no bearing on the universal credit.

[Moon_maiden in reply to Inonge1]

Aren’t they just, it’s like blood out of a stone.

I haven’t applied for PIP, more accepting I may have to rather than not qualifying 😂 I’m still hopping from month to month aiming to get back into work

PIP is purely health and disability, you could be on a high salary and claim, which is just as stupid.