How to get SSD for Lupus?

[ROSCHELLE]

One of my very dear friend has lupus for over 20+ years and she has been disabled since 1991, she has been in and out of the hospital for severe lupus flares, and have had over 20+ surgeries pretaining to her lupus flare ups, she applied for SSD three times now and still has been deined. They keep telling her that her husband makes too much money or she doesn't have enough points into the system.

[Hidden]

Hi Roschelle - are you asking about Severe Disablement Allowance?

I don't think this benefit 'exists' any more - in that you have not been able to apply for it since sometime in 2001. When it did exist - it shouldn't have mattered whether your friend had paid NI contributions or not, because the benefit was for people who had not paid enough of this.

Or are you talking about ESA - Employment and Support Allowance? The 'income related' branch of this is means tested, and her husband's income would count as household income. The contributions based branch requires her to have worked and paid NI contributions.

Forgive me if there is a benefit that I have missed. It is wrong that your friend cannot be treated as a person in her own right, and only as an appendage of her husband, but unfortunately - this is Cameron's "Big Society" (the idea of which seems to be that people have to look after each other in spite of having paid into a state system which is supposed to do just that).

Sorry I can't help (but please let me know if I've got the wrong Benefit(s))!

[Melinda]

She should apply for DLA, which is not means tested. You not asked questions about your partners income.