ESA has expired

mikey_burnsey

Hi, all April this year my ESA Contribution came to an end as I had been on for 365 days, and by law it could not be paid anymore. This then meant I was put on ESA Income of £21 a week, then I got another letter saying a change in my circumstance and your new award will be £16 a week.

The government seems that they don't care about the ill and unable to work, they trying to force sick people back to employment which is inhumane.

What else can I do, I can hardly work on 26 tablets a day and a morphine patch, sleep is less than 6 on a good night, I have loads of doctors letters, under care of the pain management and today Outlook South West as I have become very depressed and anxious.

What are other people doing in the same situation as me, when their ESA has been stooped? What can I do please help

Dunroamin

Presumably your ESA has been stopped because your household income is over the limit rather than because anyone thinks you aren't ill.

Does your partner work full time?

mikey_burnsey

Dunroamin wrote: »

Presumably your ESA has been stopped because your household income is over the limit rather than because anyone thinks you aren't ill.

Does your partner work full time?

No she has AS since the age of 16.

I have been looking around and I believe it is to do with the government saying a adult person can live on £99 a week, which means we have to live on £198 a week seems a lot but when you take that the water rates a month is £55, Electric £110, Gas summer time £40, TV £21, House insurance pet insurance petrol phone house hold needs like washing powder, soap toothpaste and so on. You can now see that what they say you can live on is a load of rubbish, I did not ask to be ill, I worked all my life and my last job for 19 years, then became ill due to my spine and then an operation which has now left me with chronic pain,
I feel I am being punished because I am unable to work.

pmlindyloo

A couple of suggestions.

Are either of you claiming Disability Living Allowance?

Post your statement of affairs on the DebtFree Wannabe forum (not just for those in debt). The folks on there are fantastic at helping you reduce your expenditure. Also there are lots of ideas on the various forums for also reducing outgoings.

Caz3121

mikey_burnsey wrote: »

I have been looking around and I believe it is to do with the government saying a adult person can live on £99 a week,

It is actually £71 for a single person or £111.45 for a couple which is obviously worse that you expected
As has said the debt free board may help, at first glance your gas/electric seems high so there may be cuts that can be made on your household budget

opus33

mikey_burnsey wrote: »

No she has AS since the age of 16.

I have been looking around and I believe it is to do with the government saying a adult person can live on £99 a week, which means we have to live on £198 a week seems a lot but when you take that the water rates a month is £55, Electric £110, Gas summer time £40, TV £21, House insurance pet insurance petrol phone house hold needs like washing powder, soap toothpaste and so on. You can now see that what they say you can live on is a load of rubbish, I did not ask to be ill, I worked all my life and my last job for 19 years, then became ill due to my spine and then an operation which has now left me with chronic pain,
I feel I am being punished because I am unable to work.

No, no one is saying you are not ill.
All they are saying is that you are within £16 a week of the weekly amount you need to live on.

How you choose to spend your money is your choice.

As for some of the items you mention, I have to admit that they are on the high side of ridiculous.

As others have said, you need to get your priorities right. Cancel things that you can live without, sell things you don't need and look for the bargains.
At a pinch you can go to a local charity foodbank and ask for 3 days food at a time.

Dunroamin

mikey_burnsey wrote: »

No she has AS since the age of 16.

I have been looking around and I believe it is to do with the government saying a adult person can live on £99 a week, which means we have to live on £198 a week seems a lot but when you take that the water rates a month is £55, Electric £110, Gas summer time £40, TV £21, House insurance pet insurance petrol phone house hold needs like washing powder, soap toothpaste and so on. You can now see that what they say you can live on is a load of rubbish, I did not ask to be ill, I worked all my life and my last job for 19 years, then became ill due to my spine and then an operation which has now left me with chronic pain,
I feel I am being punished because I am unable to work.

I think you'll need to look at your budget more carefully as the amount you're paying for utilities is absolutely enormous, even for someone with a good income.

LunaLady

Is it because of the ages of your children?

mikey_burnsey

Dunroamin wrote: »

I think you'll need to look at your budget more carefully as the amount you're paying for utilities is absolutely enormous, even for someone with a good income.

You say to budget more I don't set my water rates in the South West we have the highest water bills, Mine is £55 a month, noting I can do .
Electricity on a key meter we put in around £26 a week and gas about £5 a week in the summer. We need the car due to my illness, our two girls are in Uni. The TV licence is not set by me,iit will go down eventually to £12 a month. So please show me how to budget better, would be interesting to see

mynameistallulah

mikey_burnsey wrote: »

You say to budget more I don't set my water rates in the South West we have the highest water bills, Mine is £55 a month, noting I can do .
Electricity on a key meter we put in around £26 a week and gas about £5 a week in the summer. We need the car due to my illness, our two girls are in Uni. The TV licence is not set by me,iit will go down eventually to £12 a month. So please show me how to budget better, would be interesting to see

You need to do a breakdown of everything that you buy - I don't know anyone that could not cut down somewhere if they really looked into their spending habits.

mikey_burnsey

opus33 wrote: »

No, no one is saying you are not ill.
All they are saying is that you are within £16 a week of the weekly amount you need to live on.

How you choose to spend your money is your choice.

As for some of the items you mention, I have to admit that they are on the high side of ridiculous.

As others have said, you need to get your priorities right. Cancel things that you can live without, sell things you don't need and look for the bargains.
At a pinch you can go to a local charity foodbank and ask for 3 days food at a time.

As posted I do not set the rates we are not spending as you seem to think, why should I go to a food bank, I have paid my taxes and National insurance , my post is about the government and now it seems people don't care about people who are ill, we do use Charity shops and when I can boot sale,, and how dare you say ridiculous, we try and save as much as we can, I have already said it's no me who set the rates, see below about my water . I did not expect to get a lesson on how to budget, if you never been in a situation like mine, please keep you thoughts to your self.