Puddy_Tat
naturally fluffy
On behalf of friend (who now lives some distance away, so not sure I've got all the facts)
He was on Support Group ESA (mainly mental health related) although think he has improved a bit since last claim (housing situation has stabilised, and he's been doing a fair amount of volunteering when he's well enough, which I assume DWP have known about) so I would not have been that surprised if he'd been put in to the work related group this time round.
But at his latest 'medical' he scored so low he's been turfed off ESA altogether.
He is going down the path of reconsideration / appeal and so on (or at least I think he is) and I understand that if they say 'yes' then he'll get paid ESA back to when they stopped it.
He seems to think that if he claims JSA now, that's declaring himself fit for work and the ESA appeal will get stopped, so he's living on bugger all income and just about surviving through foodbank / generosity of friends and so on. Since he's diabetic as well this probably isn't doing him a lot of good.
Is the system now really that shit?
Can he claim 'hardship payment' rate of ESA in the meantime? (I've found references to this online, but this seems to apply if you get a sanction for not doing what you're told to do, not necessarily for being found fit for work)
Will he disqualify himself from getting ESA back if he goes on JSA (which he'll probably get sanctioned off for fucking something up due to his conditions)?
I've tried to persuade him that he needs to make an appointment to speak to a benefits specialist at local CAB or similar, and for reasons I'm not entirely clear on, this hasn't happened yet.
I am not really up to date enough to be sure what to suggest.
And think he's somewhere that Universal Clusterfuck has gone live.
Any bright ideas?
He was on Support Group ESA (mainly mental health related) although think he has improved a bit since last claim (housing situation has stabilised, and he's been doing a fair amount of volunteering when he's well enough, which I assume DWP have known about) so I would not have been that surprised if he'd been put in to the work related group this time round.
But at his latest 'medical' he scored so low he's been turfed off ESA altogether.
He is going down the path of reconsideration / appeal and so on (or at least I think he is) and I understand that if they say 'yes' then he'll get paid ESA back to when they stopped it.
He seems to think that if he claims JSA now, that's declaring himself fit for work and the ESA appeal will get stopped, so he's living on bugger all income and just about surviving through foodbank / generosity of friends and so on. Since he's diabetic as well this probably isn't doing him a lot of good.
Is the system now really that shit?
Can he claim 'hardship payment' rate of ESA in the meantime? (I've found references to this online, but this seems to apply if you get a sanction for not doing what you're told to do, not necessarily for being found fit for work)
Will he disqualify himself from getting ESA back if he goes on JSA (which he'll probably get sanctioned off for fucking something up due to his conditions)?
I've tried to persuade him that he needs to make an appointment to speak to a benefits specialist at local CAB or similar, and for reasons I'm not entirely clear on, this hasn't happened yet.
I am not really up to date enough to be sure what to suggest.
And think he's somewhere that Universal Clusterfuck has gone live.
Any bright ideas?