Incapacity benefit suddenly stopped

spring_chicken

I have been in receipt of Incapacity benefit now since 2003, i had a good job, but due to illness had to leave, anyway every couple of years or so i go for an assessment and each time I am told that I am too ill to work (which is true) well in June I went for another assessment and didn't hear anything until about 3 weeks ago I received a letter saying my benefit has been stopped, the reasons given were that I didn't have enough points, anyway on reading through the form, it soon became apparent that the person who did the asessment had not completed the form correctly, when I wrote down what the true score was, it came to 25, but he only added it up to 5, the error is on his part, but now I am told that I have to appeal (which I have just done) the annoying thing is, it wasn't my error it was the fault of the man that filled out the form, plus I can't receive any money as my husband works so I am not entitled to income support, and as I'm deemed unfit for work, I can't receive Jobseekers allowance either, I have been told that it can take about 6 months to get an appeal, but I don't think this is fair as it wasn't my fault. Has anyone else experienced anything like this, and if so, what was the outcome? thanks

healy

I assume you mean that the Doctor gave you a lower score than you thought you should get rather than making a mathematical error.

In this case if you appeal you have a 50 to 60% chance of success if you attend. If do not attend you could still win the appeal but your chances are reduced to about 15%.

It would be a good idea to get help with your appeal from a welfare rights officer, these can be found at the CAB, local council and at disability organizations such as DIAL. They can help with your submission and maybe able to represent you at the appeal hearing.

grilli

you can claim jsa while you appeal, they will allow you to claim while your appeal is ongoing and then if your successful with the appeal you'd go back onto IB

grilli

can i ask how you managed to add it all up to 25?

healy

grilli wrote: »

you can claim jsa while you appeal, they will allow you to claim while your appeal is ongoing and then if your successful with the appeal you'd go back onto IB

It may be possible to claim contribution based JSA if she has the right NI contributions but she would not be able claim Income based JSA as her husband works.

mrskaykins

I've been through this twice as I suffer from ME which is a hidden illness and poorly understood. Unfortunately, the Doctor made a load of assumptions during my assessment and awarded me the grand total of 0 points, despite barely having the energy to get out of bed each morning and recently suffering a nervous breakdown.

You must go to CAB and find a disability or welfare rights representative who specialises in this area and could help you. I was advised by a couple of people NOT to sign on and claim JSA as the DSS would assume that I was fit and willing to work and thus, could go against me.

This meant I suffered the humiliation of claiming a Hardship Allowance, which was only £30-40 a week or so. Pretty crafty of the DSS, as they obviously don't want people to appeal or challenge their doctor's report.

I won my appeal at the tribunal after a heavy grilling. Good luck!

healy

mrskaykins wrote: »

I've been through this twice as I suffer from ME which is a hidden illness and poorly understood. Unfortunately, the Doctor made a load of assumptions during my assessment and awarded me the grand total of 0 points, despite barely having the energy to get out of bed each morning and recently suffering a nervous breakdown.

You must go to CAB and find a disability or welfare rights representative who specialises in this area and could help you. I was advised by a couple of people NOT to sign on and claim JSA as the DSS would assume that I was fit and willing to work and thus, could go against me.

This meant I suffered the humiliation of claiming a Hardship Allowance, which was only £30-40 a week or so. Pretty crafty of the DSS, as they obviously don't want people to appeal or challenge their doctor's report.

I won my appeal at the tribunal after a heavy grilling. Good luck!

As far as the tribunal is concerned if someone claims JSA while appealing it will not go against them at their appeal. It will not even be considered and is not a part of the appeal.

spring_chicken

I can't apply for JSA as I am not fit for work! to get JSA you have to sign a declaration that you are actively seeking work, which I can't do, because of my condition. I worked out the score as 222 for going through the form and putting the correct answers down, it actually came to 22, not 25 as I said earlier, the person who carried out the medical didn't write down what I told him, if I didn't know better, I would say he lied on purpose to get me off of IB, all of my previous scores have been high, nothing has changed, if anything its got even worse.

I have been reading through some posts on here, and it does seem this is quite common. Its very traumatic for people like me who have anxiety and depression issues to deal with.

spring_chicken

grilli wrote: »

you can claim jsa while you appeal, they will allow you to claim while your appeal is ongoing and then if your successful with the appeal you'd go back onto IB

you can't claim JSA is you are medically unfit for work.

healy

spring_chicken wrote: »

you can't claim JSA is you are medically unfit for work.

It may not make sense but you can claim JSA whilst appealing an IB decision.

spring_chicken

healy wrote: »

It may not make sense but you can claim JSA whilst appealing an IB decision.

But the job centre know that I am unfit for work, so I would be lying, then knowing my luck I would probably get prosecuted for making a false claim, it really is a no win situation.