Need benefits advice urgently please.

mazroy

A brief history 1st of my working life. Left school at 15 and went straight to work as a painter and decorator. Worked for most of the time in the trade apart from the odd spot when I had no work but only short term. From about 1998 I started having problems climbing ladders/kneeling and bending etc due to arthritis in my knees and back and this led to me having to give up my trade as the pain was so bad. After a year on incapacity i retrained and became a community learning mentor but also at around the same time i started to have a series of TIA'S (mini strokes) I also have high blood pressure and a kidney disease which is under control at the moment. I lost the community learning mentor job on medical grounds in November 2006 and since then have been on Incapacity benefit. At Christmas time I was told I had failed the medical for esa and a few months later I also failed the tribunal. Last week I finally got told I had lost my entitlement to ESA and would need to claim JSA and start looking for work. This morning I have been to the job centre to make a claim for JSA only to be told I wont be able to claim anything at all because my wife works full time. I really feel in limbo now, I wasnt advised what to do next or anything and trying to find out info from elswhere is proving a night mare. I dont feel part of this society anymore all through becoming ill and unable to work.

Wife works full time 36 hours a week.
1 son who is almost 17 and starts work in 2 weeks time as an apprentice joiner.
1 daughter who lives at home and pays £200 a month board.
No savings.
me ...nothing nowt not a pot to p*ss in and dont know where to turn. We have struggled a lot recently financially but have managed to keep a roof over our heads. I fear with this news it will be just to much and we could have to sell the house now to be able to get by. Jobs round here are hard to come by for someone without health problems so how the hell Im going to go on ai dont know.

Any advice would very welcome please as my heads spinning at the moment.

thanks.

princessdon

You are not entitled to contribtion based JSA as you have no NI contributions for relevant years.

As you have failed your ESA I don't think there is anything else.

mazroy

princessdon wrote: »

You are not entitled to contribtion based JSA as you have no NI contributions for relevant years.

As you have failed your ESA I don't think there is anything else.

Yes that's what I was told. I need advice on what I do next. If im not claiming esa or jsa am i not entitled to even get someone from the jobcentre to help me find work that I may be able to do such as a disability at work advisor or am I just a nothing now and dont get help with anything. Surely I should have been told something?



Should

princessdon

Have you put all your details into the online calculator to see if you are entitled to anything else?

You can still sign on with the Job Centre - this will give you NI credits for your pension and also access to help (not much I know).

Maybe another poster will have ideas I can't think of.

fishybusiness

Reading your first post I am not sure if you are able to work or not. ESA think so, but I'm sure you know the ESA medical is not a reliable judge of health.

You may be entitled to Disability Living Allowance if you are too ill to work.

Most areas of the country have advice centres that will help you understand the DLA system and the process of applying. If you do apply get some help completing the form one of the benefits advice centres.

Hope that helps.

mazroy

princessdon wrote: »

Have you put all your details into the online calculator to see if you are entitled to anything else?

You can still sign on with the Job Centre - this will give you NI credits for your pension and also access to help (not much I know).

Maybe another poster will have ideas I can't think of.

Ive tried the calculator and have to go back to it later when i get more details to hand.

What I cant get my head round is not being told anything at all. Good point about the NI credits for pension....does anyone have a number to call them just for advice because the one i have 08456060234 seems to be just for claiming which is no good to me.

McKneff

If the op is well enough not to get ESA, I cant see him getting DLA to be honest.

OP, you should still sign on at the JC to get your NI credits for future benefits and state pension. Ask if there is any practical help while you are there.

dandelionclock30

Many thousands of people who are in work or able to work claim DLA, I worked with a woman who got it because she had cerebial palsy.She worked full time in a well paid job and got middle rate DLA as well.
OP is best off getting the DLA forms and looking through to see if he thinks he meets the criteria.If so I would then make an appointment at the cAB and ask for help regarding filling it in etc. It can take a couple of hours and can be difficult if your not used to form filling.

Muttleythefrog

No expert at all on the wider benefit considerations.. but DLA is something you could look into.. it's non means tested... this link is a good one for determining whether you'd qualify in theory.
http://www.benefitsnow.co.uk/questions/dlagatewayquestions.asp

As for ESA... as 6 months have passed.. or are about to pass since you were turned down by DWP for ESA then you could probably make a new claim under cover of sicknotes. Problem is that unless you get into Support Group then payments when in WRAG is limited to 12 months for contribution based ESA (and I honestly don't know the rules or your circumstances well enough to know if you qualify for contrib based ESA)... and it doesn't sound like you'll be able to get income related ESA any time soon.

mazroy

I think I need to contact the CAB to be honest or im just going round in circles but thanks for the suggestions guys.

midnight_express

The bottom line is you are not entitled to JSA as your wife's income is more than £111 a week (the JSA rate for a couple). If she is on a low income you might be entitled to some working tax credit.