Just when you think things cant get any worse

[trish1957]

Got my PIP taken away for mobility which I am appealing and now received a letter today for face to face interveiw wth DWP for my ESA claim ! Ive only been claiming since 5th August this year. Worked all my life and never as anyone for anything the stress of all this is making me ill. Anyone had a similar experience ?

[allanah]

I sent my pip report and told them I was too stressed to go another interview which they accepted.

Maybe I should have gone. Is after six months they said I hadn't told them about my nursing pension.... I absolutely did!!!

They took 586£ back and said well we don't prosecute u this time !!

Flaming angry I was !!!!!!! Anyway sorted now so I say get what you are did and make sure they document everything you say!!!

[trish1957 in reply to allanah]

Thanks for your reply. Doesn't this just make you angry ? I've been in tears all day. It's like the weak ones seem to get scrutinised relentlessly. I really don't think I can take much more.

[Janeellen in reply to allanah]

allanah I thought PIP wasn't affected by any other income?

[allanah in reply to Janeellen]

Pip isn't lovely but ESA is xx

[Janeellen in reply to allanah]

allanah ...I thought you were talking about PIP ..

[allanah in reply to Janeellen]

Rubbish aren't I! No my ESA I was talking about , stressful stuff !

[Janeellen]

trish1957 if you're a new ESA claiment you will get called to an interview, everyone does. Are you going to be claiming long term or are you making a short term claim?.

[manwithnoname]

Yep I've had the same. They said I needed to go to Bootle for an interview I told them I can't and anyway the office is on the 1st floor and as I walk on crutches it is not safe cos if there was a need to evacuate I couldn't cos I can't do stairs, so they said we need a letter from your Dr to do a home visit which they got and they still will not do a home visit and now say I need to go to some place called moon island in Liverpool and they would pay for a taxi great so I have to sit for 1 1/2 hours in a taxi but I am unable to sit for that long. Now I'm waiting for a reply to this.

Does anyone else fill that DISABLADED PEAPOLE ARE BEING DISGRIMINATED AGAINST.

[ThyroidThora]

Hi,

I went through the ESA claimant stage 3 years ago when my sick pay ran out following being sick from having thyroid cancer removed.

When you claim ESA they're supposed to give you a medical within 13 weeks of your claim to assess whether you're capable of work or not. If after the medical they think you're capable of work they put you into the Work Related Activity Group and you are expected to attend interviews at the job centre and prove that you are looking for work. If they assess you as unable to work they put you in the Support Group whereby you do not have to look for work but they will eventually reassess you to see if you can work or not.

I lost my job because of the cancer but I didn't have my medical assessment for nearly 6 months after my claim because the company contracted to do the medical was mucking up my appointments. I asked for my assessment to be recorded and because they were sharing audio equipment between different centres up and down the country they could only do the assessments on set days and they always seemed to coincide with my cancer hospital appointments and such like. In the end I went for my assessment and waited 3 hours to be seen after my appointment to then be told that there wasn't any recording equipment in the building. I went ahead with the assessment because I was just too stressed and upset wth it all. To top it all off my Mum had died only a few earlier and I was going through the grief of it all and sorting out her probate because she hadn't made a will. It was one of the worst times of my life and I would advice that you request your assessment to be recorded.

Good luck.

TT x

[trish1957 in reply to ThyroidThora]

Thank you so much for your advice. Im sorry to hear about all the things that have happened to you it must have been so stressful for you. I will be taking someone with me to take notes this time after to bad time I had with PIP assesment.

Trish x

[ThyroidThora in reply to trish1957]

Hi Trish,

Thank you for your reply.

Have you looked at the Benefits & Work website? There's loads of information about the benefits system on this site, it helped me.

TT x

[trish1957 in reply to ThyroidThora]

Thanks for that. I'm going to have a look now.

[ThyroidThora in reply to trish1957]

It's benefitsandwork.co.uk. You might need to subscribe so that you can access the paperwork for help with assessments and appeals and such like but there's always updates every 2 weeks telling you about benefit changes and stuff if you register with them.

Good luck.

[Hidden]

It's odd - Aren't public programs supposed to help you feel better, not make you sick.. I'm so sorry for this. It sounds like there have been some major changes for you all. Meantime in our country we are giving benefits to everyone in the county whether they legal citizens or not. Go figure...

[ThyroidThora in reply to Hidden]

Hiya,

You must have been very lucky because my friend in the US couldn't get benefits when she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the same time as me over 3 years ago. She had to appoint a solicitor and I wrote her a letter of support for her tribunal so that she could get some financial help. She was lucky and was awarded financial benefits but it was a very stressful period of her life. Something you shouldn't have to go through when you've been diagnosed with cancer and you have the stress and worry of your diagnosis.

TT x

[Hidden in reply to ThyroidThora]

No arguments there...

[trish1957]

This is a mad place we live in having to practically beg for help. I've worked all my life fit & healthy then bang this happens it's so depressing.

Trish

X

[ThyroidThora in reply to trish1957]

The system stinks!

The Welfare State is supposed to support people like ourselves but we are treated like criminals. It's all wrong.

TT x