Advice needed re transport rules

Tulip09

I need some advice if possible please

I currently receive ESA & DLA. I have to attend the Drs every Friday and the Hospitial every Wednesday for the forseeable future. I live in a rural area and am not allowed to drive so rely on taxies everywhere as no public transport (3 buses a week). Hospitial costs £37.50 each way & Dr's cost £15.00 each way.

I have been paying for this myself out of the money i currently get however i have now been told that i will have to go for weekly meetings at the job centre with an ESA advisor. I have no problem with this however it is next to the hospitial so i asked for it to be on a Wednesday but have been told it can only be on a Monday or Tuesday at 9am. I really cant afford to pay another lot of taxi fares out of my money and they said that they cant help me with travel expenses by taxi. (The hospitial cannot change my appointment)

Does anyone know of any way that i could get the ESA to change the day (official appeal?) or help with travel costs to get there or even better to get them to come to me (I wont have to leave my children home alone in the morning)

Thank you

MrsManda

I'm not sure about ESA transport rules but I wondered if you'd investigated whether you are entitled to recieve help with your transport costs to your hospital/doctors appointments?

Healthcare Travel Cost Scheme

Just realised that my letter for my ESA Pathway to Work Interview says that they may be able to help with travel costs and also for childcare costs if you contact them prior to the interview.

In terms of them coming to you, I have difficulty leaving the house so I called the advisor when I got my first interview letter and he changed the details so that I could have my first interview over the phone. He's put a request to have telephone interviews or for someone to come to my home on my file for future interviews but I don't know how that's going to work out as I haven't been contacted since.

Tulip09

Thanks for your reply. I have spoken to them before but they were not to helpful about it at all, but said they would call back sometime before my appoinment. I havent looked into travel expenses for the hospitial etc but i was told that as it was a taxi fare i couldnt get help? I will look into it myself though. The ESA i get just now is nearly less than my taxi fare to get to the meetings so if i cant sort it out , i will just have to not claim it. Thanks for your help xx

kingfisherblue

I am on income based benefits and care for my disabled son. I claim transport costs when I have to take him to a regional hospital (I don't bother if it is the local hospital as it is only four miles away and I drive). I believe that you can claim taxi costs if there is no other reasonable alternative and if it is agreed in advance. I know of a couple of children whose parents have been able to claim taxi costs when taking their children home after appointments such as minor surgery, where public transport would be unsuitable. This is in a large urban area with good transport links. Tulip, it's definitely worth checking if you can get some help with hospital and doctor appointment transport costs.

The Benefit Enquiry Line might be able to tell you if you can get help with transport costs for your meetings at the Job Centre - if not, they should be able to refer you to whoever it is that can help. 0800 882 200

Tulip09

Thanks for the number, i will give them a ring first thing on Monday and hopefully i will be able to get some help.