Fibro and benefits

[Michw66]

Hi,all newbie here,

Hope you are all well as can be expected,now for my 1st book lol,

I was diagnosed with fibro and arthritis 12mths ago,yes it's good to actually find out what's wrong but bad that it's not highly recognised,it's a very hard illness to describe to people and at the same time looking well from the outside.

I had a medical in July 2015 on which I received 0 points,the dwp now say I am fit to go bk to work,so they stopped my ESA and put me on jsa,where I have to sign on every two weeks,the thought of going never mind going really stresses me out,upto now I have handed two sick notes into the dwp from my doctors saying not fit for work,I do have other other health issues on top of the fibro,my prescription is upto 15 items to date,I am due to put another sick note in from the 18/10/2015,mean while I appealled against the decision,did a mandandortary,I got the same reply,so I sent my appeal to the courts,I am awaiting a court date,this upto now as took 3mths.

Can anyone help me understand any of this if they have been in the same situation.

Thanks.

[Regnofibro1]

Sorry I know someone will help you. I live in states. Administration I know will help. They are great! Just be patient one of them will pops on but they also deal with their own medical issues. Hang on ok

[BlueMermaid3]

Hi there

Welcome to our wonderful forum. As you have probably already seen we all try to help and support each other as best we can.

If you have a look at our mother site FibromyalgiaActionUk you will find lots of helpful information.

When you say you have to go to Court I'm guessing you have to attend a Tribunal? I can explain the procedure to you if you wish.

I'm so sorry to tell you this, but it took just over 18 months for me to appeal and I ended up having to attend a Tribunal.

Is there anything particular that you want to know? It does depend upon the area that you live in as to how long it takes.

All the best

Lu xx

[Michw66 in reply to BlueMermaid3]

Yes the tribunal,still waiting for court date,any information would be gratefully received thanks

[BlueMermaid3 in reply to Michw66]

Ok. I'll explain what my experience was tomorrow. You don't actually go to a Court house. It's basically a panel of usually 3 people. I will explain in more detail tomorrow.

Rosewine is an excellent person to chat to. She advises people really well and has a lot of knowledge to impart.

Catch up with you probably in the morning.

Lu x

[BlueMermaid3 in reply to BlueMermaid3]

Hi again

I'll just briefly talk you through what will happen at a Tribunal so that you have some idea of what to expect. The unknown is pretty daunting, so I hope this helps a little bit.

My Tribunal was held at a Community Centre. There was a security guard on the door which I found a little intimidating. I took my brother and an Advocate with me to my 'hearing'.

It is nothing like a Court setting. We went into a room where there were two people and someone in the corner typing up what was being said.

I was asked all manner of questions from whether I am able to wash and dress myself to how I cook a meal.

The panel were not happy that the man from ATOS who carried out my assessment, had blatantly lied! The doctor on the panel said I understand you drove yourself to your assessment. I said no. I did not drive myself I got the coach. The assessor had written that I had happily driven myself to the centre on my own. There were various other things that had been put into my report that were simply not true.

I had taken a letter to my assessment which the man refused to take from me. He said it would mean nothing to the assessors. When I told the panel they were not happy about that either.

The whole Tribunal lasted about an hour. We were then asked to leave the room whilst they made their decision.

I do not advocate lying in any way shape or form, but unfortunately you do need to keep remembering to talk about your worst days. Saying sometimes I can shower and other days I can't is simply taken as you are choosing what you can and can't do.

Silly things like I have to rest my arms lots of times whilst drying my hair and that I have to lean on the kitchen counter whilst preparing food is all things you need to talk about - which unfortunately never crossed my mind to tell the first assessor.

I hope that helps to have some idea of what will happen. From what I have read, I guess I was pretty lucky to have a two people on the panel who listened to me and the male doctor was very sensitive when asking questions about personal care.

It was very different from what I was expecting. Not as frightening as I had thought, if that makes sense.

I hope that is of some help. At least you will have an idea of what to expect. I know other members of the forum have had very different experiences to me, so this is just my experience.

I see Ken has given you some excellent links to look at. Good luck and don't forget to let us know how it goes

Lu xx

[rosewine]

Yes I had to help my Oh appeal and it took two Tribunal panels to decide and he went from 0 to 18 points. I am sure Painfulpixie can talk you through the procedure. You need to obtain a copy of your assessment and go through it word by word and pick it to pieces. My husband went with minor physical problems but at the time quite major depression and anxiety we were able to prove that the nurse had largely ignored the mental issues and concentrated in the physical. We also looked at how she had recorded the meds and she had made really basic errors the dosage she had recorded for the meds would have killed my Oh I'd it had been administered. You can see my drift. Make sure any additional evidence you sent was actually considered and referred to as often people have found that this has not been taken into consideration.

Benefit and Works have good guides about tribunals so well worth looking at the their suit as well. Good luck with it all and let is know how you get on.x

[Treewade]

I work full time with fibro and am in court appealing pip nil points on Friday some days I'm ace and can almost be human but then I go to bed n can't sleep as my body cramps and I hurt everywhere. But I work I'm a bookie who sits down all day I often get taxi s to work which I can't afford but I also can't afford not to work. How can pip say you can claim if you work but then say if you can eork you don't need it . I a. So tired all the time but cannot even afford to cut my hours. How do you get Sep to listen and why is my appeal in a court room. I'm rambling cos I don't think the dwp r going to listen and I don't know how long I can keep going for .

[TheAuthor]

Hi Michw66

Welcome to the forum and it is wonderful to make your acquaintance. I genuinely hope that you find the forum useful, informative and loads of fun! I have pasted you a link below to our mother site, Fibromyalgia Action UK which hosts loads of useful Fibro information: fmauk.org/

The CAB is wonderful for its help with benefits. Also, our parent site has a benefit helpline that you may find useful. I have pasted you a link for below:

fmauk.org/contactsmenu/help...

I want to genuinely and sincerely wish you all the best of luck with your court case and please seek help with this where necessary. Please keep us updated with how you get on.

All my hopes and dreams for you

Ken

[Royalspec01]

Hi there really know what your going through and its hell when it s peace and rest you crave, or at least that's how I felt back then. Due to the fog and my visual memory had to turn to manual labour (cleaning). Found a little hour number and thought it was great would always be able to work for one hour.. well say no more didn't do that for too long either. Your doctors sick not should support you in your claim but a letter explaining all the things you cant do so easily or how your conditions make you do your tasks differently than before. And to finish you need an advocate to support you may I suggest citizens advice. well sorry not able to offer any other advice but always come on line it helps one way or another and there's always all kinds of support up here x

[dawn21dawn21]

hi mich i went through the same as you only i didnt go on jsa i stayed on esa until my appeal got no points at medical won my appeal but placed in theworks group not happy just been again for another medical hope i dont have to do the same again i had to wait a year last time for my appeal make sure you take someone with you i had welfare rights good luck x