thankyou

[mildy]

just like to say thanks to everyone who gave me advice on my tribunal hearing for dla which gave me that extra bit of confidence to go in with,the tribunal was to be held on monday just gone and about 4 hours before i was to attend i was called to say it had been postphoned they needed more medical information they have now decided to send a doctor to my home to reasses me which hopefully will help my case and finally get my dla reinstated again i just feel a bit deflated as this has been ongoing since last june i just want an end to it and ontop of that i have been told that as of the end of april my esa will also stop and as it was contribution paid i am entitled to nothing and i was told i would have to live off my husbands wage,try telling that to the bank manager whos already took it to pay off the month befores over draft.ive been off work for 2 years due to my r.a and after a long conversation with my employer last week who has said theres nothing else they can offer me it makes me really sad because i always put work before everything else even doing 24 hour shifts because not enough night staff had turned in for their shifts,i worked in a care home as a senior care assistant.ive just had a phone call from local job centre offering me a return to work interview it feels like a kick in teeth but ive got an appointment to see them im open to suggestions,anyway enough moaning for now plus my fingers are killing me

[sylvi]

What can i say that will cheer you up. Don't give in at least the doctor who comes to your house will have first hand knowledge on how hard it is. Show him everything that you use,even special knifes and forks if you have them. I would appeal to the dwp as you can't live on fresh air.

As to work as i found out it makes no difference how reliable you are at the end of the day your just a number. If they have to finish due to your health surely you can go back on esa.

Sorry i can't be of more help, i hope you get sorted soon.

sylvi.xx

[lilly59]

Hi really feel for you I am so sorry you are having such a difficult time with claiming benefits

I myself have been off work for 22months now I am claiming contribution based ESA I am in the support group of which does not have a time limit as long as you are still not fit enough to work it is people that are in the work related groups that have to be re accessed

I also tried to claim DLA and have been refused but have not taken it to a tribunal because I just simply have not got the strength

I wish you well with your claim

I started off with Polymyagia of which has left me with RA

hope you get sorted soon

Lilly xx

[mildy]

thanks for your responses i was put in the work related group for esa but since then my r.a has got worse it only affected my knees at first but now its in my hands and wrists and my feet are so painful when i walk to far my toes are disgusting to look at on my left foot the toes are so far over i cant get any nice footwear and the supports ive been given to wear are so painful so ive had to take them out ive been to see an orthapaedic surgeon and he wants to operate on them but im not to sure about having it done

[LavendarLady]

Hi Mildy, I suggest you contact your local CAB for help with the ESA. Have you appealed the decision to stop it at all? You would have had 28 days to appeal from the date of the letter you received and also to ask for the written reasons for their decision. If you appeal they have to continue paying you ESA until the appeal is heard.

You say there is nothing your employers can now offer you having been off work for 2 years with RA. Have they offered you retirement on ill health grounds at all? Is there no job you could do which would mean you could sit down to do it andnot have to stand or run about or lift anything heavy? They do have a duty under the Equality Act to try and find ways round the problems to enable you to carry on working even if part time. But they may feel they have done enough.

Try not to worry about the work related interview - take along with you any medical reports you have to show them how bad you are. They are designed to assess your capability and whether you could do a part time job if conditions were put in place to help you.

The doctor coming to see you for the DLA will probably know something about RA but if he doesn't give him some of the NRAS booklets to read. He may then learn something useful when dealing with others with RA. Make sure he knows how you try to manage each day, the difficulties with walking, standing, sitting etc. Can you manage to make a drink for example. Have you got special utensils to help like a kettle on a tilting stand. Do you use a walking frame/walking stick etc and have you got a special chair, bed, toilet seats etc. All those things, you can show him. If the DLA is reinstated, it will be backdated to when it was stopped.

Unfortunately with ESA, it sounds as if your contribution record has run out now or you didn't have enough contributions to continue. Unless your husband works less than 24 hours a week, you won't get income based ESA so it is DLA. If the DWP says you can work even on a limited basis, you should then qualify for Job Seekers Allowance - this does not affect the DLA incidentally which you can claim whether you work or not - it is not a means tested benefit at present.

Good luck with it all. We will all try to help where we can. LavendarLady x

[mildy in reply to LavendarLady]

hi lavendarlady thanks for responding up until this wednesday i had no idea that my esa was to stop until i got a phone call to say that due to new government guidelines you could only get contribution based esa for 12 months and as i have been on it for that time already mine is to be stopped on 30th april i did tell the lady who rang that i thought i was in the wrong catogory anyway as my r.a had gotten worse she has sent me out a form to fill in to try to get my esa altered but as my husband works over 24 hours a week it doesnt look promosing,he only does this so we could pay our bills i at times when my r.a is bad could do with him at home a bit more to help me out.regarding work i spoke at great length with my general manager about doing other jobs every job was mentioned possible and there was always a stumbling block i just think they want rid and to be quite honest im quite happy for them to let me go but i am putting up a fight and im not going until i get what im owed if it wasnt for me contacting them id had no contact with them since last august the way ive been treated is disgusting ive worked for them since i was 17 im shortly 42 so to be fair i dont know if i d want to work for them anymore but because i wont put my notice in and my gp has told them he cant asses me properly hes told them to pay and send me to an o.t to see what they say then depending on what they come back with depends what they decide to do next,i think it may be worth going to the cab for guidance on what to do next

[Beth58]

Hi, it seems you've had lots of very good advice from LL, sadly the governments current legislation (contributions ESA only paid for 1 yr) is catching an awful lot of people out.

Do visit the CAB they can help with the DLA medical/appeal, also, is there any chance your partner could claim working tax credit as you are now dependant on him supporting you? You may be entitled to council tax benefits it's worth checking.

I've added the link for the benefit calculator.

direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoIt...

So sorry there's nothing else I can offer, I wish you well and hope you get a sympathetic doctor for your DLA assessment.

Beth xx

[mildy]

thankyou all for your responses i will be going to the cab next week to see if they can help it doesnt help when each time ive rang theyve told me something different i never thought for a minute id be out of work through illness but it can happen to the best so ill keep my chin up and take one of my dogs and sit begging in the street instead,lol