benefit changes

rome77

i have been on e s a since july and now i have heard that it will stop this july coming , the whole point of being on e s a is to get help to find work and or retrain but i am not able to either. i have spinal arthritis , neck problems for which i am to be seen about , suffer from depression, a deformaty in the lower spine ect, my advisor knows about this and i am due to have the nerves on the spine heated to a degrre that they stop sending the pain signals to my brain which only works for the time the nerves grow back if it works at all i have other problems but to get to the point how can i get put into the support group i have been told about pip but that sounds like a mare to get on im very down about it all and it is not helping me get better, has anyone got advice for me and help me get into a more permanment benefit so i can concentrate on my health as i am doing all i can even with my depression i am in a help group and getting cognitive behaviour therapy, sorry to go on so long

dreamdaisy

Hello, it's nice to meet you but I am sorry that you have had to find us. I cannot comment too much because I only claim DLA (now called PIP). The CAB is a good source of information and it may be worth your while ringing the Helpline on here - they are good listeners, give practical advice and it's a free 'phone call. The number is at the top of every page on here and they are open from 10am - 4pm. I wish you well. DD

rome77

thanks for your advice i am a newbe on here even though i have had my condition a long time . im confused by pip as not sure what qualifies for this , isnt annoying that instead of concentrating on health issues people like me have to worry about these sort of things . i thought the whole point of the benefit sort out was to get the people who were fiddiling the system , but it seems we have all been tarred with the same brush

dreamdaisy

The system required a general overhaul - I couldn't believe the ease with which I was granted DLA (this was back in 2002) - I was granted the higher rate of mobility without any checks at all being made. No wonder this was one of the favourite benefits to fiddle - did you see the pole dancing trampolinist in the papers at the week-end? I think she'd swindled around £300,000 on DLA, Housing Benefit, Council Tax benefit - it beggars belief. I know that when I am moved to PIP I will not get as much per month thanks to my use of walking aids, but that is fair enough; I use them so I can get more easily from A to B.

One of the biggest hurdles now is that the sick are being assessed by the healthy - how the hoo-hah does that work? The initial assumption is ;if you can breathr you can work' and it's up to the claimants to disprove it. Now that is unfair. DD

tkachev

I don't think PIP is difficult to claim, you just need lots of evidece(from GP etc) and it is non-means tested so is on the whole better than ESA which can be means tested. You can claim both. I think you need to appeal to get into another group on ESA where yopu are not expected to attend interviews/ retraining etc.

Elizabeth

tkachev

Yes it is the support group you need to appeal for if you can.


Elizabeth

ziggy

You can claim PIP whether you are working or not. It is not means tested so most other means tested benefits would not be affected. Just apply for the PIP forms ,you have to ring up and answer some questions and they send you the form.If you have problems filling them in get help from The CAB. There is alot of info online about how PIP works