Mental Health and Debt Help Booklet Discussion

thread_astaire

Thanks this is great, i made a thread about my debt & mental health issues in The Debt Free Diaries i didn't want to hijack this one.

MSE_Jenny

Vorobyey wrote: »

Great document.:T

I have one query based on personal experience:

p34
"Take advantage of disability discounts
If you receive disability living allowance (DLA), there is a raft of discounts available. One of the best is a Disabled Persons Railcard, which costs £18 and cuts a third off your ticket and an adult companion’s – they don’t have to be a carer.
To qualify, you must get Attendance Allowance or the disability living allowance."

I believe that Disabled Persons Railcard and other Travelcards are only available for people on higher rate mobility. Certainly on the lower rate I have been told that I cannot obtain one. Please tell me I am wrong because travel is getting so impossibly expensive.

Hi

I checked with the ATOC press office and it confirmed that people receiving Disability Living Allowance at the lower rate for mobility are indeed eligible for a Disabled Persons Railcard. The eligibility criteria is here http://www.disabledpersons-railcard.co.uk/what-is-a-disabled-persons-railcard/am-i-eligible

She says if you have any further queries, please email ATOC Customer Relations – [EMAIL="enquiry@atoc.org"]enquiry@atoc.org[/EMAIL] so they can respond direct.

darryluk

My partner has bi polar and went to CAB. 2 years later still being pestered by banks and credit card companies and debt collectors! CAB have advised that her advisor had 'personal' problems and has now moved on!!!! Nothing has been done and higher management have also failed to keep promises of contact/appointments/assistance!!!! This is driving me to distraction now, so you can understand my partners consternation. She is loathe to move to another organisation due to CAB having all her details, but we just dont know what to do for the best now.

snookey

Fantastic ,well done. As someone who has bi polar this is a great help.

whispywillow

darryluk wrote: »

My partner has bi polar and went to CAB. 2 years later still being pestered by banks and credit card companies and debt collectors! CAB have advised that her advisor had 'personal' problems and has now moved on!!!! Nothing has been done and higher management have also failed to keep promises of contact/appointments/assistance!!!! This is driving me to distraction now, so you can understand my partners consternation. She is loathe to move to another organisation due to CAB having all her details, but we just dont know what to do for the best now.

This EXACT same thing has happened to me! I suffer with Bi-polar too and have been with the CAB to try and help me sort out a problem with my energy suppliers (due to their mistake not mine!!) and i can totally sympathise I eventually called the CAB and spoke to the person who was dealing with it (who knows i have bi-polar) and basically his response was "well you never called me so I thought couldnt be bothered anymore' even though he was supposed to call me back! I am yet to actually DO anything about this case yet, its been quite a few weeks now, but the thought of it is just making me depressed! I just wanted to say that you are both not alone in this situation, and I hope you both get help with this issue as I know how distressing it is. xx

whispywillow

On another note to the MSE's!

On page 18 its talking about utilities disconnection, just thought i'd add that another sneaky way energy companies try to get the money back from you is to try and force you into installing a pre-payment meter and taking payment of your debt through the meter itself (usually at a completely unreasonable rate - they tried to make me pay back £50 a month even though im on benefits) Obviously if you think it will be easier to manage with a meter then go for it and negotiate a resonable pay back rate of the debt owed - but it means that the responsibility is with you and if you have no energy then the suppliers will do nothing to help. Not having a meter means they cannot shut off your supply.

eng_2

Thank you so much Martin. I have been searching for a resource that will be useful for my vulnerable son who wants to be independent and move out but doesn't have experience of life skills and would not cope. I want him to be independent but am scared for him.This along with financial education is something that will help him as well as helping me to help him.

poppy10_2

This looks very good indeed.

It would be nice to be able to print out copies to give to patients, but the copyright on the booklet expressly prohibits this. I appreciate you need to enforce the copyright to prevent the guide from being ripped off, but is there any chance an exemption could be given for health professionals dealing with clients with mental health difficulties? I suppose I could just direct them to the website to download a copy themselves, but any extra step cuts down on the number of people who will actually follow through.

JCC28

I have Bipolar Disorder and have struggled for many years with debt, paid it all off then racked it back up again. This guide is absolutely brilliant, simple to understand, not at all patronising and generally very useful. Well done!!

chelsearose

Martin, this is a brilliant idea and help booklet. Thank you. Will it be available in hard copy too? It would be very helpful if so.