jsa stopped/ esa refused/still off sick/ NOW WHAT

Why have you been turned down for ESA? Did you fail the medical/ WCA? Do you feel fit for work?

eliza71 wrote: »

esa refused because she didn't get enough points..... didn't get any in fact.. but feels she answered questions wrongly ie asked what time she gets up she said 7.30am.. thats to get her daughter to school.. didn't tell them she goes back to bed until her daughter gets home...cries for no reason and obviously not fit for job seeking but getting medical treatment and psycho therapy.... job centre told her that she has been assessed and HAS to seek employment in spite of this.. she has sent letter of appeal but meantime has no income

This happens a lot, it's all so very very British, stiff upper lip and all that. The trouble is the stiff upper lip approach masks the truth and the truth was what they needed to see.

If she talks to her Dr about how life is for her she may be allocated a CPN (community psychiatric nurse) or social worker. Don't worry about the social worker, they're from the adult team not the child team, there is no way they will take the child away, they're there to put Mum back on her feet. Taking the child away wouldn't be right for the child (and anyway it costs hundreds a week to put a child in foster care), whereas helping Mum is probably a matter of continued support a few hours a week. It's normal for a mum with depression to fear losing her kids if she asks for help, but actually it's the opposite. Depression tends to be progressive and worsen over time. I know you called this severe, but this is far from the lowest depths a depression could sink her to, she needs to understand that where she is is currently in the middle and she needs to opt for up rather than down and get support before things do turn into her fears and she does lose the little one.

If she is assigned some comminuty assistance, be that a CPN or social worker (they all work together anyway, so whichever she has they'll be on the same side) that person will help her appeal her benefits and get what is fairly due. Thier position means they are taken a lot more seriously by the benefits agency than just her alone. Also when depressed she probably doesn't have the energy to fight these battles herself. But she has a daughter to support and so she needs to call in the pro's to help her asap.

Tell her to get an urgent Dr's appointment and pour her heart out and ask for an urgent call from the CMHT (community mental health team, where the CPNs and social workers work) it truly is the best thing she could do now.

abhdad wrote: »

Eliza
30 years work, then business bust, lost house, loads debts, Mum died, son with leukaemia, wife went off with someone else, bitter divorce, 3 kids in the middle. all in 18 months.
No family or friends support, only GP
JSA used to watch me come in and sign in tears, no help offered, one staff gave me some 0845 numbers which i couldn't cope with, so everything got stopped. I went 8 months with nothing. Now improving, but going thru all the same old battles again, which drag me backwards.
What is ESA and who are you going to appeal to. The thing that keeps me going now is bitterness and anger, that i wasn't given help, and was left to sort myself out. I couln't even have typed this a year ago.:(

Sounds aweful and I would not wish it on anyone but did you actually ask for any help?

There does seem to be a gap between JSA and ESA. Last week our local radio was discussing a man with ME who had been passed as fit at a medical and so had lost his ESA. JSA was being refused because his GP has said that he is not fit to work and so he wasn't "available for and actively seeking work".

There are a lot of conditions - physical and mental - where someone can do all that's asked of them in a medical but, unless the effect of doing those things repeatedly during the day, day after day, is taken into account, it gives a false view of their capabilities.

The OP needs to get help from an advisor to put in an appeal.