1st Time claiming ESA for Husband

Cookiee

Thank you all for your advice.

I am not going to appeal the DLA as I don't think my husband will get it. TBH he is hoping to go back to work asap so would rather just try and cope on the ESA.

After having the ATOS medical, we are hopefully going to have the results by the end of the week. I will keep you posted

I guess it will depend on what happens with the result to enable us to decide what action we will take. From horror stories I have heard we will possibly have to brace ourselves for an appeal, of which you lovely people will hopefully help us on the correct path

Hammyman - What operation did you have? My husband is 37 and was till December physically fit. He has been told he will need to have possibly 2 pins in his lower spinal area, have 3 possible replacement discs and because 2 of the spinal fluid canals on the left are blocked, might have to have several ops to "strech" them to be able to let the fluid reach his back and legs better i.e. able to give him more mobility. How long was you able to walk and bend? At the moment I have to put his socks, jeans, trainers etc on as he cant bend or get out of bed without my help.

I will also check with our doctor about the "freebie" as we cannot afford to have this bill turn up. At the moment we are surviving on my credit card until he gets paid ... if he ever gets some money!!

lol cheers Cookiee :beer:

Cookiee

McKneff wrote: »

How can you be working full time and actually have no money for food. You must have a lot of big outgoings,
perhaps if you posted an SOA we could help you budget better.

SOA?? Where is this on the forum? This sounds like it could help me loads (sorry the curse of being a newbie lol)

sunnyone

Cookiee wrote: »

I will also check with our doctor about the "freebie" as we cannot afford to have this bill turn up. At the moment we are surviving on my credit card until he gets paid ... if he ever gets some money!!

You should and will be billed for the prescription that you fraudulently obtained, it has nothing to do with the doctor because the onus is on you/your husband (whoever completed the back of the script) to have the proof needed for free prescriptions which is normally a plastic card, you even have to pay for scripts until the card arrives and then claim back the money even when you are entitled to free ones.

suelees1

sunnyone wrote: »

You should and will be billed for the prescription that you fraudulently obtained, it has nothing to do with the doctor because the onus is on you/your husband (whoever completed the back of the script) to have the proof needed for free prescriptions which is normally a plastic card, you even have to pay for scripts until the card arrives and then claim back the money even when you are entitled to free ones.

As you know you should keep opinions like this to yourself. Don't judge until you know the full story

sunnyone

suelees1 wrote: »

As you know you should keep opinions like this to yourself. Don't judge until you know the full story

Telling the truth isnt an opinion, they have fraudulently filled a script while not being entitled to free scripts and the mechanism is their to make sure that people that do this are caught and billed, as it should be.

Tehya

sunnyone wrote: »

You should and will be billed for the prescription that you fraudulently obtained, it has nothing to do with the doctor because the onus is on you/your husband (whoever completed the back of the script) to have the proof needed for free prescriptions which is normally a plastic card, you even have to pay for scripts until the card arrives and then claim back the money even when you are entitled to free ones.

Sunnyone the differences in ESA for some people are too just complicated, it sounds to me like this was a genuine mistake.

What you say about having a card is wrong the JC+ do not issue cards and neither do the NHS for either IS, JSA, ESA or any other income related benefits. My hubby receives ESA income based and we are entitled to NHS exemptions but we do not have or even need a card. To get dental or eye treatment I just take along his ESA award letter.

The only people I know who have needed a card are those on working tax credits and even then the chemist can only ask to see the card but they can not withhold the medicines if the patient does not have it with them or have lost it etc.

Cookiee

Sunnyone - we have NEVER in our lives committed fraud!! This was an honest mistake done by my husband who did not fully understand what he needed to complete on the back of the form. My husband was in extreme pain so asked for help with the chemist on what he needed to tick off on the back. He stated that he was claiming ESA and that the doctor told him he needed to get these strong painkillers straightaway to start effect.

My husband and the chemist spoke to the doctor (chemist is in the doctors centre) and the doctor actually came out and said that my husband was to get these painkillers free.

I only found this out this afternoon after speaking to my husbands doctor and the advice given on the website about my confusion of the "free prescriptions". It was only on this occassion that my husband got these for free and from now on will need to pay. Thanks to the other lovely people on this thread have given me advice on ESA system and about pre-paid certificate to hopefully cover my costs.

I am a new member on this site and came here to get the correct advice and to make sure that I am aware of the financial help my husband and I will need in the next few years. Please do not accuse me or my husband of something before checking. As you can read from my previous posts we are only claiming what we have contributed for over our working careers.

I agree the system is in place to weed out the fraudulent people who abuse the system. But this is the very 1st time my husband or myself have ever claimed for any benefit and will do this correctly and legally.

dmg24

If you call the PPA you can arrange to pay for the prescription before they contact you. Their number is 0845 610 1171.

sunnyone

Cookiee wrote: »

Sunnyone - we have NEVER in our lives committed fraud!! This was an honest mistake done by my husband who did not fully understand what he needed to complete on the back of the form. My husband was in extreme pain so asked for help with the chemist on what he needed to tick off on the back. He stated that he was claiming ESA and that the doctor told him he needed to get these strong painkillers straightaway to start effect.

My husband and the chemist spoke to the doctor (chemist is in the doctors centre) and the doctor actually came out and said that my husband was to get these painkillers free.

I only found this out this afternoon after speaking to my husbands doctor and the advice given on the website about my confusion of the "free prescriptions". It was only on this occassion that my husband got these for free and from now on will need to pay. Thanks to the other lovely people on this thread have given me advice on ESA system and about pre-paid certificate to hopefully cover my costs.

I am a new member on this site and came here to get the correct advice and to make sure that I am aware of the financial help my husband and I will need in the next few years. Please do not accuse me or my husband of something before checking. As you can read from my previous posts we are only claiming what we have contributed for over our working careers.

I agree the system is in place to weed out the fraudulent people who abuse the system. But this is the very 1st time my husband or myself have ever claimed for any benefit and will do this correctly and legally.

I believe you that it was a mistake, but that dosnt mean that you dont have to pay for that script and it is better to do it now before they send you a bill because thats what most people would do once they realised that they had made a mistake claiming something that they are not entitled to.

Cookiee

sunnyone wrote: »

I believe you that it was a mistake, but that dosnt mean that you dont have to pay for that script and it is better to do it now before they send you a bill because thats what most people would do once they realised that they had made a mistake claiming something that they are not entitled to.

Sunnyone - If you had read my post it explains what happened and what the outcome was that my husbands doctor said to the chemist my husband was to have these for free due to the extreme pain he was in. I confirmed this on the phone with the doctor, however I will still go to the chemist in the morning and clarify. If they say I need to pay then I will happily pay. I dont want anyone to believe we would con anyone or falsify any claim we were not entitled to