krtek a houby
Merry Xmas!
Please don't do this.Lee Harvey Oswold
Please don't do this.Lee Harvey Oswold
What benefit is he applying for?My partner has had to do a work assessment on the phone. Needless to say, he has failed to get a penny more than the derisory £334 a month and has been told he has 'limited capacity for work'. Not really inclined to list his ailments here apart from saying it is ridiculous that he could do any work at all, frankly. He can barely manage the stairs! Anyway, I guess we have to appeal - any ideas what we should be doing at this stage. His doctor is relatively supportive but has told him that has no problems writing him fit notes...although ATOS have decided he doesn't need any more sicknotes. His 'interview'' took 30 minutes over the phone and he has no clue what grounds for assessment have been made. He is just going through the shock and misery stage right now and gathering his wits to phone a DWP number but is all depressed and hopeless. Obviously, need to appeal but just now, he is feeling very dreary.
I'm sorry you both are going through this. You'll have more success the further you go through the appeals process in my limited experience. I've been to a benefits tribunal with another urban poster and it's worth pursuing.I don't know, Kevbad the Bad . He has been on UC since the start of the pandemic cos he had been self-employed. However, his health is so utterly shit I told him he needed to sign up for any sort of sick benefit whatsoever. He only has the minimum UC and has no other benefits (because off-grid living in a wood). I get ESA and so have a disability premium which means I get around £130 a week and cannot really manage on that so how an ill person is supposed to survive on £80 a week is beyond me. And what if he gets worse?
It was my fault cos I let him do the interview by himself...where he was totally clueless to the trick questions, the nasty trip-ups, the utter callousness of the system and answered as though he was actually trying to fucking minimise his problems (cos he is ashamed). O I am so fucking angry - mostly with myself for not being ahead of the game...and now, after waiting over a year, he gets a letter saying although he cannot work just yet, they think he may be able to in the future (in a fucking cocked hat). He is freaking 9stone, can hardly breathe and a total eccentric loon.
This business where some nurse asks questions over a phone then ticks a box designed to show you in the worst possible light so save the state some money...FFS. Who do we ask for a copy of the report. I have read that even appeals are rarely allowed...it is by no means a given right. I have been out of the benefits lark for a few years and have no idea how it all works now but surely, if his GP says he is too ill to work, some jobsworth at the DWP cannot overrule this...can they? Christ, I feel as though I have let him down and am deathly frightened for winter. As though we get 1 chance...and we have fucked it up.
O thank you, BCBlues - I am fired up and angry to get on it right away.
Ah, today has been horrible. He has spent a lot of it in bed while I am sitting in glum despair. It is so hard to fight this shit when you are already ill and weak. I am actually terribly frightened about his health which is failing on multiple counts while he refuses to countenance dealing with the GP (who are still only offering phone consultations and his symptoms are just...vague and overwhelming - it's hard to know where to start. I think he has given up. So sorry to be wobbling on here - I am normally competent and cheery (I know I don't come across like this but honestly, I am an optimist) but yep, it seems bitterly unfair because he is so fucking reluctant to ask for any sort of help at all and just seems stoically prepared to put up with shit. Very tearful and weedy, I'm afraid. So sorry, I know there are so many people worse off than us but I just don't think we can possibly even begin to make ends meet. At least I can work once I get my pension so there's that (although I can't quite see employers queuing up to employ a toothless, shy old bat)...
Who do we ask about getting a report. Should we write a letter to the DWP right away. Sorry, feeling a bit floored and vacant
I suspect there are incentives for them to say no whatever. I have a suspicion DWP (and the Home Office) turns people into monsters, rather than them recruiting “odd” people .Anybody else worked out that there is something really odd about DWP staff?
ie they're all GCSE failures - they struggle on the absolute basics.
Seriously, blame the system. Not the front line workersI suspect there are incentives for them to say no whatever. I have a suspicion DWP (and the Home Office) turns people into monsters, rather than them recruiting “odd” people .
Advice on this thread previously has been apply for everything.So, I am looking at this as an extended process with the initial assessment acting as only the first part of a much longer battle. Any ideas how long this might take? We are going to write the first letter tomorrow (having fortified ourselves with gardening over the weekend) and I am going to claim I am an independent benefits advisor...which is not exactly a lie since I have done many such forms for neighbours in precovid days...back when ESA was still a thing. They did ask my fella if he had any help with the form (he said no) so I think they may be a wee bit more circumspect if they get a whiff that no-one is simply giving up...yet. I have been reading some depressing stats though - the majority of appeals do not actually get further than mandatory reassessment because they can simply refuse to allow you to take it any further. It seems that there is no automatic right to any sort of appeal unless they agree...so fuck knows where you go if they just blow it out the window. Still, one step at a time. I feel I definitely need more advice but our Citizen's Advice are not known for being particularly helpful or dynamic and the drug clinic (CGL) are even worse, with key workers actually unwilling to involve themselves in anything at all ( unless it is signing you up for some fucking ear acupuncture or a (smirk) weekly group chat (which will never, ever occur). Think the GP might be a bit more forthcoming but not really sure how they would get involved as it seems the DWP are very keen to keep everything totally in-house (which seems insane to me - refusing to accept the evidence of an actual GP who has been treating sweetheart for the last few years(reluctantly, on his part, though).
Would it be worth applying for PIP? How likely would it be...to get a PIP award after an ATOS refusal?
I wasn't aware of this. Might be a good idea to double check it by trawling the news section and the forum at benefitsandworkthe majority of appeals do not actually get further than mandatory reassessment because they can simply refuse to allow you to take it any further. It seems that there is no automatic right to any sort of appeal unless they agree...so fuck knows where you go if they just blow it out the window.